The Made to Thrive Show

It’s not your fault, and you don’t have to wait for hope, it’s already here. That’s a message from today’s guest Virta Health CEO Sami Inkinen, the man on a mission to reverse diabetes in 100 million people. And guess what, he’s doing it. With a 60% success rate in type II diabetes, and an average weight loss success of 14 kilograms, Virta health is leveraging the power of data, AI and human expertise to maximum potential and changing people’s lives. If you are one of the millions and millions out there feeling hopeless, ashamed and given up on your chances of weight loss and diabetes success, stop whoever you are doing and listen to this potentially life changing 60 minutes.

Sami Inkinen is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Virta Health, the leader in type 2 diabetes reversal and creator of a new standard in medical care for people living with type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, or obesity. A data-driven technology entrepreneur, Sami's personal connection to diabetes and passion to advance health on a global scale was the motivation behind Virta Health and its innovative approach to diabetes care.

Previously, Inkinen was the co-founder of the leading online real estate marketplace Trulia, serving as its COO and president and board member until its IPO and eventual sale to Zillow Group. He also worked on Microsoft's strategy team for MS Office, and as a consultant for McKinsey & Company within the software, telecommunications, and government sectors.

Join us as we explore:

• Why metabolic disease is the health apocalypse of our times, with 50% of urban adults being diabetic or obese, and how metabolic disease is at the core of ill health.
• The story of how Sami’s company Virta began, and how they are winning their mission of reversing type 2 diabetes and obesity in 100 million people.
• The ins and outs of how Virta is reversing diabetes in 60% of their patients.
• Virta’s incredible, novel payment structure - no objective results, you don’t pay!

Contact:

Website: https://www.virtahealth.com

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As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I’d be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShow

Send me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308.

Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/

This is my topic of 2024 - food. We need it to survive, and we need it to thrive, but food is also the most frequent and widespread choice for abuse, over use and addiction.

My sense is that by better understanding and unpacking the human relationship with food in modern times, including ultra-processed food, the more people will feel able to break the chains of enslavement to food addiction, disorders and abuse that is at the crux of obesity, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease and many more diseases.

What I loved about this episode with Jillian Acosta was getting vulnerable about my personal food relationships, as well as Jillian’s unique twist on the concept of addiction.

Jillian Acosta, a registered dietitian, specializes in functional medicine and the psychology of eating. Owner of the nutrition private practice, The Root Cause Method, she guides clients towards health and vitality in unconventional ways. Jillian believes many of the chronic illnesses exacerbated by obesity are deeply rooted in trauma.

In her practice, she collaborates with physicians who administer ketamine, using this powerful tool as a means to help her clients transform their relationship with food, feelings and Self.

Uprooting what shapes our relationship with food is essential, in her experience, for reversing and preventing chronic illness, and can lead to true embodiment , fulfillment, and connection.
 
Join us as we explore:

What Jillian’s life and clinical experience has led her to believe is the root cause of obesity and its associated health risks.

The original wound at the heart of binge and excess eating, and why Jillian does not associate or work with the idea of addiction.

The psychology of unhealthy eating habits.

Unpacking Jillian’s Root Cause Method with my own food crutches I call Candice, Chelsea and Carly!

Mindful vs embodied eating.

Why Jillian believes healing cannot be fully accessed without stepping through one key doorway.

Contact:

Website: https://www.therootcausemethod.com
Instagram: @jillianacosta_rd


Mentions:

Book - Mother Hunger: How Adult Daughters Can Understand and Heal from Lost Nurturance, Protection, and Guidance, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55783993-mother-hunger 

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Support the show on Patreon:

As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I’d be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShow

Send me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308.

Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/

An enormous array of health and performance problems can be distilled into one word - disconnection. Mental health distress is usually a disconnection from our purposes and community. 

A disease like cancer has been described as a malady of separation. Diabetes is a disconnection from natural foods. And at a higher level, all of these are disconnections from the Earth. Which is why earthing or grounding is such a fascinating health philosophy, and one I explore in this episode with a true elder of the earthing movement, Clint Ober.

For more than 20 years, Earthing pioneer Clint Ober has dedicated his life to improving the health of everyone on earth. In 1998, after a successful career grounding systems in the cable television industry, he began investigating the potential to improve human health with grounding. 

Today, he is the founder of Earth FX Inc., a grounding research and development company based in California through which he helped to develop, and patent, the first indoor Earthing products. Earthing® and Ground Therapy® are sold by Clint’s companies on this website, www.Earthing.com, and also on Amazon.com and via other select authorized retailers. 

His products are used by millions of people every day around the globe to improve their quality of life.

Join us as we explore:

What is earthing, the difference to grounding, how much grounding we need and how humans have become decoupled from the earthy and why it matters.

How Clint discovered the link between inflammation, autoimmune diseases and shoes, which led him to researching earthing as a pain relief solution.

Are you grounded in your home, how geography matters, how building material matters and how we can choose and design our environment for increased grounding.

The medical miracles, from MS to lupus, Clint has see with his own eyes by restoring the bodies natural reservoir of electrical health.

The most necessary and effective earthing products.

Contact:

Website: https://www.earthing.com

Mentions:

Research - Earthing Research, https://earthinginstitute.net/research/

Book - The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life,https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/277641.The_Body_Electric 

Support the Show.

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Support the show on Patreon:

As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I’d be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShow

Send me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308.

Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/

I know how many of you feel. Ashamed at constantly failing a diet, ashamed you can’t lose the weight, wondering why you don’t have the willpower, embarrassed you don’t have the means or the time to treat yourself better. Well, there is hope, and that hope starts by admitting we are addicted, meaning we are enslaved to something - sex, drugs, money or sugar.

This episode was a sobering, clear-eyed realization that even someone like myself who is aware of the addictive nature of sugar did not fully appreciate the Thanos-like power sugar possesses and the havoc it is wreaking in people’s lives each and every day.

Bitten Johnson is a recovering addict since September 1985, with several outlets - the number one being sugar. When she looks back, she sees her sugar addiction started at a very young age. When Bitten was four years old, she stole sugar cubes in the kitchen whenever she could.

After being in treatment for alcoholism, a consequence of sugar addiction, Bitten started her journey into recovery. Today, Bitten’s mission is to free addicts, especially sugar addicts, from being a slave to the sweetness.

Take the sugar addiction survey here: https://tinyurl.com/bitten-sugar

Are you possibly a sugar addicted?

Bitten and her network of SUGAR/HMA certified coaches can help you: https://www.bittensaddiction.com/en/patients/help-available/

Join us as we explore:

The signs and symptoms of sugar addiction, from sluggish cognitive performance to shame and the type of sugar addicts.

Why sugar addiction is not just about “sugar” as you think of it.

Why Bitten has seen that the diagnosis as sugar addict is paradoxically the most important step her clients take.

The steps necessary to tackle sugar addiction, including what foods form the new foundation of your diet.

How your neurological makeup will inform the type of sugar addiction treatment prescribed.

Why we overuse the word addiction, why addiction is a brain disease and what the ultimate goal is of sugar addiction recovery.

Contact:

Website: https://www.bittensaddiction.com

Mentions:

Book - Optimum Nutrition for the Mind, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/715673.Optimum_Nutrition_for_the_Mind 

Support the show

Follow Steve's socials:

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Support the show on Patreon:

As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I’d be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShow

Send me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308.

Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/

Awareness is at the core of transformation. That’s why I believe so deeply in the data centric model, because by investing in your own data you become aware of your unique biological profile and take intentional, precise action to improve your health and life. That’s why my guest today and I go deep into the diagnostic tests out there and which are most crucial to start your data centric health journey.

Reed Davis, Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner (HHP) and Certified Nutritional Therapist (CNT), is an expert in functional lab testing and holistic lifestyle medicine. Over 20 years ago, Reed Davis recognized people were caught in a “cycle of trial and error” and he committed to being the last person they needed to see.

While working with top leaders in alternative medicine, he ran thousands of labs on thousands of people and learned to identify “healing opportunities.”

Using all-natural, drug-free protocols, Reed made observations about who got better and who didn’t, codifying which “general principles of health building” would outperform “specific treatments” being provided by standard and even alternative medicine.

And through this work, he then developed the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Certification Course and D.R.E.S.S. for Health Success Protocol® to educate and empower as many people as possible about how to get well and stay well naturally, so they, in turn, may empower others to do the same.

And because you are a loyal listener, Reed is offering you FREE access to one of its most popular webinars called Step by Step System to Overcome Unwanted Health Issues at www.functionaldiagnosticnutrition.com/madetothrive

Join us as we explore:

Healing opportunities - An entirely new paradigm!

Why it’s never a root cause, but a multitude of root cases and their network of interactions.

DRESS”ING for health.

The most important diagnostic tests to run if you are struggling with mysterious, “untreatable” health concerns.

Health coaches, why Reed is trying to up-skill them and how your “ladder” has to be on the right wall.

Contact:

Website: https://www.functionaldiagnosticnutrition.com

Program: https://www.anw5astrk.com/381DJJT/2CTPL/

Support the Show.

Follow Steve's socials:

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Support the show on Patreon:

As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I’d be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShow

Send me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308.

Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/

Migraines are crippling experiences for their sufferers. They often also come in concert with a host of other devastating symptoms that can wreak havoc in people’s lives. Yet, they have eluded medical treatment for years, with success here and there for certain types and some lucky patients, but overall, many remain quote unquote untreatable. Well, Dr Kevin Smith and his 90% success rate has something to say about that.

Dr. Kevin Smith is one of the few facial plastic surgeons who is board certified by both the American Board of Otolaryngology (ENT) and the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery as well as a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is the first Black American to have completed a residency in Otolaryngology at the University of Texas Medical School, for nearly two decades has served as an Assistant Clinical Faculty Member, and was appointed to the Texas Medical Board.

As a facial plastic surgeon, Dr Smith has performed thousands of facial plastic surgeries. At the same time, he developed a niche treating migraine headache patients with a little known cure, identifying that in more than 2,000 patients the migraine was caused by a deviated septum or bone spur in the nose, and when properly diagnosed and removed with his unique treatment technique the success rate is nearly 90%.

Join us as we explore:

How run of the mill sinus/deviated septum surgeries being performed by Dr Kevin Smith have morphed into a 90% success migraine treatment miracle.

Nasal abnormalities and migraines, the link between the nasal anatomy and a HUGE variety of symptoms and where the abnormalities originate from.

Can’t eat pasta and pizza? It could be starting in your nose!

Could there be a momentous link from migraines to dementia or Parkinson’s?

Modern lifestyles, impact on facial structures, breathing patterns and migraines.

-

Contact:

Website: https://kevinsmithmd.com

Mentions:

Treatments - Dr Smith’s treatments, https://kevinsmithmd.com/migraine-treatment/

Support the show

Follow Steve's socials:

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Support the show on Patreon:

As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I’d be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShow

Send me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308.

Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/

Are we all addicts? When it comes to processed food I am concerned. This is a sobering episode about the horror processed food is wrecking in people’s lives who are largely totally unaware of what is happening to them. With 93% of adults in the US having a metabolic diagnosis of some kind, we as a culture need to wake up quickly because processed food seems to be coming for all us. You need to know this, and share it with family and friends.

If this episode speaks to you, join Dr Joan’s daily support system ARC: https://www.foodaddictionreset.com/offers/GLtnGux5/checkout

Since 1996, Dr. Joan Ifland has helped people recover from diet-related disease by focusing on addiction to processed foods. As both an academic and a front-line guide, she has taught thousands of compulsive eaters how to find  peace with food and recover from diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression, fatigue, isolation, and obesity.

Through adaptation of drug and alcohol addiction recovery methods, Dr. Ifland gives practitioners and clients new insights into why food addiction recovery can generate extraordinary health outcomes. With the publication of her textbook, Processed Food Addiction, she is considered to be the world's leading expert in processed food addiction.

Join us as we explore:

The foundations of food addiction, the frightening science concerning processed food addiction - sugar is MORE addictive than cocaine - and the unjust moral judgment this addiction puts us in.

Unintended use, cravings, proximity, failure to cut back and time spent - the insidious strategies addicting people to processed food.

Why addiction to processed food is NOT an accident, the unbelievable link to tobacco companies and addiction strategies (5As, 3Ms).

The social and environmental pressures and messaging all around us that makes overcoming processed food addiction brutally difficult.

“Keto candy”? Yes, the keto snacks are ultra processed and will addict you.

How you and we collectively can break the processed food addiction cycle (hint - we need “mirrors”!)

Contact:

Website: https://www.drjoanifland.com

Mentions:

Study - Refined food addiction: a classic substance use disorder, Ifland JR, Preuss HG, Marcus MT, Rourke KM, Taylor WC, Burau K, Jacobs WS, Kadish W, Manso G. 2009, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19223127/

Study - Clearing the confusion around processed food addiction,  Ifland J, Preuss HG, Marcus

Support the Show.

Follow Steve's socials:

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Support the show on Patreon:

As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I’d be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShow

Send me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308.

Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/

This is an episode I wish everyone would listen to. Gut health genuinely builds the foundation of our health, but it is far more nuanced and fascinating than even I realized! Gut types and probiotic types are crucial to any decision we make about what we eat and the types of gut health optimization products we buy or waste money on. This is a gut game-changer.

Dr. Michael Ruscio is a DC, Naturopathic Practitioner, researcher, and clinician. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Bridgeport and has published numerous papers in scientific journals.

Dr. Ruscio’s mission is to empower people on their journey to optimal health through accessible and evidence-based information. Every piece of content is focused on demystifying complex concepts, breaking down cutting-edge research, and providing actionable insights.

Join us as we explore:

The unexpected diagnosis that changed Dr Ruscio’s path forever, why it’s more common that you think and why it would be prudent for you to test for it.

Gut health! It’s been a buzz word for a while now, but too few really understand how to prioritize, maintain and optimize it.

The three “types” of guts, how to identify yours, GI mapping and how this is crucial to deciding what and how you should eat.

Stools! Yup, poop. How often, what it looks like matters and why you should be observing it and using that data to make food choices.

A 101 masterclass on probiotics, enzymes and gut supplements.

The anti-nutrients- oxalates, histamines and lectins.

Contact:

Website: https://drruscio.com

Mentions:

Study - Ebrahimy F, Dolatian M, Moatar F, et al. Comparison of the therapeutic effects of Garcin(®) and fluconazole on Candida vaginitis. Singapore Med J. 2015;56(10):567-572. doi:10.11622/smedj.2015153, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4613933/

Chart - Bristol Stool, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_stool_chart.svg

Guide - Low FODMAP Diet Guide, https://drruscio.com/getlowfodmapguide/

Guide - Histamine Intolerance Handout,  https://drruscio.com/histamine-ebook/

Podcast - Dr Sally Norton, https://youtu.be/k7pamqVKb4g?si=Fz_N9tZ-AKIRJ_qp

Podcast - Dr Tania Dempsey,

Support the Show.

Follow Steve's socials:

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Support the show on Patreon:

As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I’d be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShow

Send me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308.

Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/

It’s everywhere. Our homes, our clothes, our water, our food, our bodies, our lives - plastic! This episode is stunning, and sadly scary. At the same time, a plastic-free or at least plastic-less world is possible. Find out how you can be part of this future with this courageous plastic warrior Frede Magnussen.

Frederikke (Frede) Magnussen is the co-founder of A Plastic Planet, PlasticFree.com and the Plastic Health Council. Her mission is to ignite and inspire the world to turn off the plastic tap. However, instead of shaming ordinary people about often unavoidable plastic use, the goal of her organizations is to work with local and international governments and businesses as well as to educate and demonstrate to individuals directly that alternatives already exist.

Check out her websites and the links below for practical tips to be more plastic free:

https://www.beatthemicrobead.org

https://www.foodpackagingforum.org/food-packaging-health

Join us as we explore:

We all know what plastic is but do we really know what plastic actually is, what it's made from and how perversely plastic has infiltrated our planet.

The scary statistics and studies showing how deeply plastic has penetrated our bodies! 

Could parents in the modern world be infertile in just 20 years because of plastic?

What you can do today to reduce the plastic burden in your life.

The myth of plastic recycling.

The incredible packaging alternatives that already exist, and how to incorporate  them into our lives.

Contact:

Website: https://aplasticplanet.com
Website: https://plasticfree.com
Website: https://plastichealthcouncil.com

Mentions:

Person, Professor Lukas Kenner, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/03/240306150719.htm

Fertility Crisis, Most couples may have to use assisted reproduction by 2045, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/28/shanna-swan-fertility-reproduction-count-down?CMP=share_btn_url

Heart disease, Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Even

Support the show

Follow Steve's socials:

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Support the show on Patreon:

As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I’d be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShow

Send me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308.

Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/

The state of health seems like a never ending stream of crisis - mental health, metabolic disease, obesity, neurodegeneration, fatty liver and on and on and on. But there may be one health crisis that permeates into all the others, and could be the single most powerful lifestyle change that creates positive change to every other health issue - aka sleep.

Devin Burke is a professional coach, teacher, and the founder of Sleep Science Academy which helps exhausted insomniacs get and stay asleep using a unique holistic approach called Dynamic Sleep Recalibrating (DSR).

He developed this unique approach to sleep transformation over the last decade and has taught it to thousands of people around the world with extraordinary results.

He has a Ph.D. in client results with much of his education has been outside traditional learning settings and has come from “in the trenches,” helping thousands of people get results. His work springs from a 15-year study of dozens of modalities from multiple psychological, physiological, and spiritual traditions.

He was named one of the “Top 25 Health Coaches in America” out of over 100,000+ other coaches for his innovative coaching methods and results.

Join us as we explore:

The history and current state of sleep architecture, quality ratios, quantity boundaries and why sleep is unique to everyone.

The ROI of sleep, why it’s a mindset, key data points and a comprehensive rundown down of ALL the most successful sleep hacks.

The state of insomnia, how to define it and the dangers of sleeping medication.

Tracking sleep with wearables, the difference between precision and accuracy and why data can be dangerous without knowledgeable interpretation and guidance.

The super sleep supplement you’ve never heard of and the number one sleep hack that is super simple and super effective.

Why your sleep is a reflection of your life, sleep and mental health, and whether chronotypes are legit?

Contact:

Website: https://devinburke.com

Mentions:

TEDx -The ROI of Sleep, https://youtu.be/rsfpJ23kDX4?si=AA2zyuIKzRoXxb8N

Test - MEQ, https://qxmd.com/calculate/calculator_829/morningness-eveningness-questionnaire-meq

Book - The Power of When, https://www.amazon.com/Power-When-Learn-Best-Everything-ebook/dp/B01CHNXBNK

Support the Show.

Follow Steve's socials:

Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | TikTok

Support the show on Patreon:

As much as we love doing it, there are costs involved and any contribution will allow us to keep going and keep finding the best guests in the world to share their health expertise with you. I’d be grateful and feel so blessed by your support: https://www.patreon.com/MadeToThriveShow

Send me a WhatsApp to +27 64 871 0308.

Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all of our content: https://madetothrive.co.za/terms-and-conditions-and-privacy-policy/