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Acne doesn't care how old you are. It shows up at 15, then again at 37, on the same side of the jawline, around the same time of the month, no matter what you change in your skincare routine. If you've been treating the surface while something else is running the show underneath, this episode is going to reframe the whole conversation.
This is the third and final episode in our Skin Series, and we're closing it out with acne. Not just the teenage kind. The adult hormonal kind that shows up like clockwork, concentrates along the jaw, and connects to a single enzyme most people have never heard of. Dr. Desiree breaks down the four types of acne, what makes hormonal acne structurally different, why your blood work can look completely normal and still not tell the full story, and how the research on Ganoderma lucidum triterpenoids connects directly to the enzyme driving sebum production. We also cover the gut connection, which maps more precisely to acne than most people expect, the psychological weight this condition carries at a level the research documents clearly, and where chaga fits in as a secondary supporting player.
What You'll Learn:
Why acne is actually several distinct conditions, and why getting the category right changes everything about how you address it
What malassezia folliculitis (fungal acne) is, why nearly 1 in 3 people diagnosed with acne may actually have it, and the one symptom that gives it away
Why hormonal acne concentrates specifically along the jawline, and what androgen receptor density has to do with it
The four-factor cascade behind every breakout and how one upstream hormone driver sets all of them in motion
Why completely normal blood work does not rule out hormonal acne, and what actually matters more than your lab numbers
What the research actually documents about acne's psychological impact, and why clinical severity doesn't predict how much it affects someone
The specific compounds in reishi's fruiting body that inhibit 5-alpha reductase, the exact enzyme converting testosterone to DHT in androgen-sensitive skin tissue
How a low glycemic diet connects to sebum production through a well-mapped biological line from food to insulin to IGF-1 to your sebaceous glands
The gut microbiome research connecting a specific lactobacillus strain to IGF-1 expression and oxidative stress in acne
Why dual extraction matters specifically for the reishi compounds most relevant to hormonal acne, and what to look for on the label
Your Next Steps:
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/
Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products
Take our wellness quiz to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz
➡️ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15 ⬅️ https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products
Picture someone waking up at two in the morning because the itching finally won the fight against their sleep. Not a mild itch. The kind that makes you consider, for one irrational second, whether scratching until it bleeds might bring relief. Or a parent standing in the pharmacy aisle at midnight, Googling one more cream, because nothing has worked yet and the pediatrician is six months out. That is eczema in real life. And it deserves more than another tube of cortisone.
In Part 2 of our Skin Series, we get into eczema, the one that gets dismissed as "just sensitive skin" more often than it should be. Dr. Desiree breaks down the Th2 immune pathway driving atopic dermatitis, the specific cytokines behind that relentless itch cycle, and why eczema in early childhood can be the first signal in a broader immune pattern that sometimes includes food allergies and asthma. She also shares her own experience developing adult-onset eczema from mold exposure, the invisible kind that took four years to identify. We cover how reishi's triterpenes connect to the mast cell and histamine side of the story, where the gut-skin research lands, and three concrete things you can do right now regardless of where you are in managing your skin.
What You'll Learn:
Why eczema is a mapped Th2 immune condition driven by specific cytokines, not just dry or reactive skin
The role of IL-31 in creating the itch signal, and why scratching sends the whole cycle into a physiological feedback loop
What researchers call the "atopic march" and what the data says about eczema predicting asthma and food allergies in children
Why mold exposure in the home is backed by a 2024 meta-analysis as a measurable eczema and asthma risk factor
The five distinct types of eczema and why getting the right diagnosis determines which approaches are actually relevant to your situation
Dr. Desiree's personal experience developing eczema as an adult after four years of unknowing mold exposure, and what finally changed
How reishi's triterpenes (specifically ganoderic acids unique to this mushroom) target mast cell histamine release at the source of the itch response
What makes reishi an immune modulator rather than a straight suppressant, and why that distinction matters for eczema
Why infant gut microbiome diversity appears as an early predictive marker for eczema risk, and how reishi's beta-glucans connect to that story
The three things to verify before buying any reishi product, and what to walk away from entirely
Your Next Steps:
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/
Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products
Find the right mushroom for you with our wellness quiz: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz
➡️ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15 ⬅️ https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-productsThis is Part 1 of our brand-new Skin Series. We're starting with psoriasis because it's personal for both of us. Brandi shares her history with psoriasis starting at age 15, over a decade on a pharmaceutical biologic, and how she eventually found her way to remission through a combination of lifestyle shifts and functional mushrooms. Dr. Desiree breaks down the exact immune mechanism driving psoriasis, including the IL-23/IL-17 pathway, the TH17 cell overactivation loop, and the documented role of oxidative stress as a contributing factor in the disease process. Then we walk through why chaga is the functional mushroom most aligned with this picture, what the research actually shows, and how the gut-skin axis connects it all.📃What You'll Learn▸ Why psoriasis is an immune condition that shows up on the skin, not a skin problem, and why that reframe changes your entire support strategy▸ The IL-23/IL-17 axis explained simply: the self-sustaining inflammatory loop that drives psoriasis flares▸ What actually happens to skin cells during a flare (a 28 to 30 day cycle gets compressed into 3 to 7 days)▸ Why oxidative stress is a contributing factor in the psoriasis disease process, not just a side effect▸ The five types of psoriasis and why many people don't even recognize their own condition▸ The real mental health cost of psoriasis: the numbers are significant, and this episode names them▸ Why chaga has one of the highest measured antioxidant capacities of any natural substance researchers have tested▸ How chaga polysaccharides affect TH17 and T regulatory cell balance, the same immune players driving psoriasis▸ What the gut-skin axis has to do with psoriasis severity, and how chaga fits into that layer▸ Exactly what to look for on a chaga label, and why most products on store shelves wouldn't make the cut📃Your Next Steps▸ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/▸ Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products▸ Not sure which mushroom is right for you? Take our quiz: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz
You have read the books. You've done the retreats. You have overhauled your diet, your sleep, your morning routine. And you still feel the gap. Not broken, not lazy. Just caught in a loop that the next fix never quite closes. We want to talk about why.
This episode is about the biology of being stuck. Not the shame of it. The actual mechanism. We get into what is really happening inside a nervous system that has been running on chronic stress, why the search for the next solution is neurologically wired into that state, and what it actually takes to interrupt the cycle for good. We cover the 90-second chemistry of emotion, Hebb's Law, the reticular activating system, Viktor Frankl's stimulus-response space, and the neuroscience of mental rehearsal. This one is about giving you a real explanation for what has felt personal, and a real path forward.
What You'll Learn:
Why your body can become physiologically addicted to stress hormones, and how that keeps you unconsciously generating the exact conditions you are trying to escape
The 90-second rule: what Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's neuroanatomy research reveals about how long an emotion actually lasts in the body, and what everything after that means
Why insight alone cannot change your nervous system, and what your nervous system actually responds to
How Hebb's Law works in your favor: every time you practice a new emotional state, you are building real, measurable neural architecture
What the reticular activating system (RAS) is doing with your beliefs, and how shifting that filter changes what you are available to see and act on
Viktor Frankl's "space between stimulus and response," and why every external fix misses it entirely
What mental rehearsal actually is neurologically, and how elite athletes have used it for decades to become familiar with a state before they are living it
The identity question that changes everything: who do I need to decide I am for this to become true?
Your Next Steps
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/
Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products
Take our wellness QUIZ to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz
For 15 years, the world saw Samantha March's creative output: nine novels, a product brand, a YouTube channel, a loyal audience who shows up because she makes you feel like a friend. What most people didn't see was what was happening inside her body at the same time. Episode 60 is the conversation she's finally ready to have.
Samantha March is a lifestyle creator, published author of nine contemporary novels, and founder of By Samantha March, a brand of intentional living products including card decks, planners, and habit trackers. In this episode, Samantha shares the health journey she's kept mostly private until now: an adrenal PCOS diagnosis that took the better part of a year to get and four years of rebuilding her health from the ground up.
We get into the symptoms that started appearing in October 2021, why multiple doctors dismissed everything she was experiencing, and what changed when she finally connected with a naturopathic doctor. Samantha also talks about the shame that kept her quiet early in her journey, what it looks like to keep creating when your brain is foggy and your body feels like a stranger, and why she's sharing this story publicly now that she has four years of results behind her.
What You'll Learn:
Why Samantha's symptoms were dismissed by her OBGYN, primary care doctor, internist, and endocrinologist, and what finally broke through
What adrenal PCOS is and how it differs from other types, plus why the condition recently got a new name that actually fits better
The brain fog moments that genuinely scared her, including a preheated oven she had no memory of turning on
Why she pulled back from talking about her health publicly early on and what gave her the confidence to come back four years later
How hormone labs gave her more answers in one appointment than years of guessing ever could
The specific changes that made the biggest difference: an elimination diet, stress management, low-impact movement, and functional mushrooms
Why Turkey Tail was recommended to Samantha by two completely separate practitioners at nearly the same time
How Lion's Mane shifted her concentration and mental clarity within weeks
What it looked like to keep writing novels and running a brand through a health crisis
Why shame keeps women silent about their health and what shifts when they finally start talking
Resources Mentioned:
Samantha March on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marchbeautyword/
Samantha's website and novels: https://bysamanthamarch.com/
Your Next Steps:
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/
Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products
Take our wellness QUIZ to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz
You paid good money for a mushroom supplement. You took it every single day. And you felt absolutely nothing. Before you write off functional mushrooms entirely, there's something you need to know.
In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the three categories of mushroom products on the market right now, and why the one most people are buying is the one least likely to do anything at all. Brandi shares the story she's never told on the podcast before, the one that led to Eversio existing the way it does today. It starts with a white plastic bottle, organic brown rice, and a very expensive lesson. Dr. Desiree walks through the biology behind what actually makes mushrooms work, and together they hand you a checklist so you can evaluate any mushroom supplement in 90 seconds flat.
If you've ever bought a mushroom product and wondered why you felt nothing, this episode is the answer.
What You'll Learn:
The three distinct categories of mushroom products on the market and why most of what you'll find falls into the least effective one
What mycelium on grain actually is, what's inside that capsule, and why the label is allowed to say "mushroom" anyway
Why "polysaccharides" on a label is not the same thing as beta glucans, and what that difference means in your body
The real reason Brandi felt nothing from the first mushroom supplement she ever took (and why it wasn't her fault)
How to read a mushroom supplement label in 90 seconds with eight specific questions to ask before you buy
What extraction method tells you about a product's potency and why "mushroom powder" is not the same as "mushroom extract"
Why a certificate of analysis from an independent lab is non-negotiable, and what it means when a brand won't give you one
The caffeine problem hiding in "mushroom" products that makes people think they're feeling the mushrooms when they're not
What USDA organic certification actually means, how to verify it, and how to spot the fake version
Resources Mentioned:
Episode 2 (Brain Health): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_064s35G0qs
Mushroom Math Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbAh8iTyK7w&t=15s
USDA Organic Integrity Database: https://ams.usda.gov/organic-integrity
Your Next Steps:
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/
Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products
Take our wellness QUIZ to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz
Your dentist has never grabbed your tongue, checked your nose, and asked you about your sleep but maybe they should.
In this episode, we're sitting down with Dr. Laura Caylor, a dentist in Chilliwack, BC who has built her practice around a root cause approach to oral health. Dr. Laura didn't set out to become the practitioner who looks at your airway, your tongue tie, your jaw posture, and your nervous system in a single appointment. She got there through her own lived experience as a parent, breastfeeding struggles, chronic congestion in her kids, and a magazine article that changed everything. What she discovered is that the mouth is not a separate system. It's the beginning of the whole story.
Dr. Desiree found Dr. Laura while recovering from mold-related health concerns, looking for a dentist who understood airway health at a root cause level. And after that first appointment? She called Brandi on the way home. That's the kind of practitioner Dr. Laura is.
What you'll learn:
Why the mouth is for eating and the nose is for breathing and what happens when we mix those up chronically
The connection between mouth breathing and your oral microbiome (yes, your mouth has one too)
How nitric oxide production from the nose affects your blood flow, immune function, and cardiovascular health and how mouth breathing bypasses all of it
What snoring is actually telling you and why it's never the starting point for treatment
The role of tongue position in guiding jaw development, airway patency, and your midface structure
Why a tongue tie isn't just a newborn breastfeeding problem and the signs to watch for at every age
How the trigeminal nerve connects jaw instability to nervous system dysregulation and compensation patterns through the whole body
The fascial line that runs from the tongue all the way to the toes and what happens when it's restricted
Dr. Laura's family's nasal hygiene routine, including the xylitol nasal spray that changed her son's chronic congestion
The truth about mouthwash, fluoride, hydroxyapatite toothpaste, and when to brush relative to coffee and lemon water
Resources Mentioned:
Nelson's Naturals hydroxyapatite toothpaste (BC-based): https://nelsonsnaturals.com
Dr. Laura Caylor on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.lauracaylor/
Dr. Laura's clinic: Vedder Dental, Chilliwack, BC https://vedderdental.ca/
Tongue Tie Course for Parents: https://www.thetonguetiecourse.com
Dr. Laura Caylor's website: https://drlauracaylor.com/
Your Next Steps:
Follow Eversio Wellness on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/
Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products
Take our wellness QUIZ to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz
You're not depressed. You're not in crisis. You're functioning, showing up, holding it all together. But something is still off, and you can't quite name it.
This episode is for that person.
Brandi and Dr. Desiree Caruso, ND sit down to break down the real biology behind low-grade mood dysregulation — the kind that doesn't show up in standard bloodwork but is absolutely happening in your body. We're talking about two specific functional mushrooms, lion's mane and reishi, and going straight into the mechanisms: the actual compounds, the actual pathways, and the actual research that explains why these mushrooms have a genuine relationship with how you feel.
This is not a vibe episode. This is the science.
We've been asked over and over again whether functional mushrooms can do something for mood, and if so, how. Today we answer that question properly. If you've ever walked out of a doctor's appointment feeling dismissed — told everything looks normal, maybe it's stress, maybe it's your age — this episode is what comes next.
What you'll learn:
Why mood is a physiological state, not just a feeling, and what that means for how you address it
The specific terpenoid compounds in lion's mane (hericenones) that can cross the blood-brain barrier and what they do once they get there
Why BDNF is the mechanism most antidepressants are thought to work through, and how lion's mane stimulates it directly
How 90% of your serotonin is produced in your gut, and exactly how lion's mane supports that pathway
The three-directional approach lion's mane takes: blood-brain barrier, neuroinflammation, and gut-brain axis simultaneously
What the HPA axis is, why chronic stress dysregulates it, and how reishi's ganoderic acids help restore the natural cortisol rhythm
Reishi's relationship with GABA, the brain's calming neurotransmitter, and why that explains the felt sense of settling down
The 2026 randomized controlled trial showing measurable reductions in anxiety, cortisol, and inflammation at 12 weeks
How disrupted sleep literally changes how your brain processes emotional information, and the two specific mechanisms reishi addresses to help with that
How to self-diagnose which mushroom fits your experience right now, and what to track over four weeks to know whether it's working
Resources Mentioned:
Dr. Andrew Huberman episode on adenosine and coffee: https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/using-caffeine-to-optimize-mental-and-physical-performance
Vigna, L. et al. (2019). "Hericium erinaceus Improves Mood and Sleep Disorders in the Elderly." Journal of Medicinal Food, 22(5).
Contato, A.G. & Conte-Junior, C.A. (2025). "Lion's Mane Mushroom (Hericium erinaceus): A Neuroprotective Fungus with Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Antimicrobial Potential — A Narrative Review." Nutrients, 17(8), 1307.
Frontiers in Nutrition (2025). "Benefits, side effects, and uses of Hericium erinaceus as a supplement: a systematic review." Frontiers in Nutrition, 12, 1641246.
Ratto, D. et al. (2023). "Hericium erinaceus: Acute and Chronic Effects on Cognitive Function, Stress, and Mood in Young Adults." Nutrients, 15(22), 4842.
Cui, X.Y. et al. (2012). "Extract of Ganoderma lucidum prolongs sleep time in rats." Journal of Ethnopharmacology / Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. PMID: 22297086.
Yong, V.K.J. et al. (2026). "A blend of medicinal mushrooms including Reishi reduces anxiety, cortisol and CRP in a 12-week randomized controlled trial." Brain and Behavior.
Your Next Steps:
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/
Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products
Take our wellness quiz to find the right mushroom for you: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz
You could be eating well, supplementing intentionally, and doing all the "right" things and still be quietly working against yourself every single day. Not because of what you're not doing, but because of what you're putting in and on your body without realizing it. Nobody told us either, until someone who loved us did. Now we're telling you.
This episode is a swap episode. Six things, three from Brandi and three from Dr. Desiree, that we have personally changed in our own lives. Not from a place of panic, but from a place of having the information and making the obvious next move. The science on what's in conventional cookware, makeup, lotion, and coffee isn't obscure. The product industry just hasn't had much incentive to share it. We do.
Brandi walks through her swaps from body butter to wooden kitchen utensils to a blood-sugar-stable chocolate bar that actually tastes like a chocolate bar. Dr. Desiree covers the research on non-stick cookware and forever chemicals, the fragrance loophole hiding in your makeup bag, and what's really in most commercial coffee. None of these swaps require blowing up your life. Most of them cost the same or less than what you're already using.
What You'll Learn:
Why the first ingredient on most conventional lotions is water and what that means for your skin barrier
What Chaga's ORAC value actually is and why applying antioxidants topically to inflamed or psoriatic skin has a real mechanism behind it
What happens when a plastic or silicone spatula sits in a hot pan (and why "BPA-free" didn't solve the problem)
Why monk fruit has a glycemic index of zero and how that changes what happens to your energy an hour after a sweet snack
The PFAS "forever chemicals" in conventional non-stick cookware, what temperature matters, and the simple technique that makes stainless steel actually work
The fragrance loophole in US and Canadian cosmetic labeling that lets one word hide dozens to hundreds of undisclosed compounds
Why coffee is one of the most heavily pesticide-sprayed crops in the world and how mycotoxins get in before the bag ever reaches your kitchen
How L-theanine in matcha changes the quality of caffeine in the body and why it may matter more for perimenopausal women managing cortisol
Four free apps and databases you can use right now to check what's actually in your makeup before you repurchase it
Resources Mentioned:
EWG Skin Deep database (free ingredient safety ratings): https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
Yuka app (scan product barcodes in-store for ingredient scores): https://yuka.io/en/
SkinSafe (developed with Mayo Clinic, helpful for sensitive skin): https://www.skinsafe.com/
Merit makeup: https://www.meritbeauty.com/
Your Next Steps:
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/
Shop Eversio Wellness and save 15% with code PODCAST15: https://www.eversiowellness.com/discount/PODCAST15?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fall-products
Not sure which mushroom is right for you? Take our free quiz: https://www.eversiowellness.com/pages/take-our-quiz
If you've ever woken up at 3 a.m. for no reason, walked into a room and completely blanked on why, or felt like your brain was wrapped in cotton wool... this episode is for you. These are not random complaints. They are among the most common early signs of perimenopause, and most women have no idea that's what's happening.
I took a perimenopause symptom assessment through my Oura Ring recently and my results came back as mild across the cognitive and sleep categories. My first thought was, "mild doesn't sound that bad." Then I read what actually falls under "mild," and I recognized myself immediately. That was enough to make me sit down with our naturopathic physician, Dr. Desiree Caruso, ND, and record this episode.
Dr. Desiree breaks down exactly what is happening in the brain and body during perimenopause, why the symptoms are real and measurable, and what the research says about how functional mushrooms can support women through this transition. We cover lion's mane, reishi, cordyceps, maitake, and tremella, and I share why all five of them ended up in Eversio's Five Mushroom Blend.
If you have a woman in your life who is in her late 30s, 40s, or early 50s, this episode is worth a listen even if perimenopause isn't on your own radar yet.
What You'll Learn:
What perimenopause actually is (and the clinical definition that finally makes it clear), and why it is not a disease or a dysfunction
Why the brain feels hormonal fluctuation so directly, including which brain regions have estrogen receptors and what that means for memory and decision-making
How lion's mane supports the same nerve growth factor pathway that estrogen was protecting, through a completely different mechanism that does not require estrogen
The research behind lion's mane and cognition, including a placebo-controlled study done specifically in menopausal women showing improved focus and reduced anxiety after four weeks
Why reishi does not sedate you the way a pharmaceutical does, and how it works through the gut-brain axis to support your body's own melatonin production
The GABA connection: how declining progesterone disrupts sleep and how reishi's triterpene compounds appear to support that same calming pathway
What cordyceps does for energy and adrenal function during perimenopause, and why adrenal health becomes increasingly important as the ovaries step back
How maitake supports metabolic health and glucose regulation as estrogen declines, and why that matters more than most women realize
Why tremella earned its place in the blend, and how its polysaccharides support skin hydration from within as estrogen drops
What "standardized to 35% beta-D-glucans" actually means and why that number on the label makes a real difference in whether a mushroom product works
How Dr. Desiree thinks about functional mushrooms in relation to other perimenopause support options, including hormone replacement therapy, with an honest look at what the research does and does not yet show
Resources Mentioned:
Eversio Five Mushroom Blend: https://www.eversiowellness.com/products/5-mushroom-blend-organic-extracts?variant=45340200599751
Oura Ring perimenopause symptom assessment feature: https://ouraring.com/womens-health
Atomic Habits by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
Your Next Steps:
Shop Eversio Wellness: https://www.eversiowellness.com/collections/all-products
Follow Eversio on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eversiowellness/
Try the Eversio Five Mushroom Blend: https://www.eversiowellness.com/products/5-mushroom-blend-organic-extracts?variant=45340200599751 -- use code PODCAST15 at checkout for 15% off your entire order
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