Episode Highlights

• What finally worked for me in healing my metabolism and thus losing weight, and it isn’t the conventional approach
• I had trouble learning to trust my body, and it was a slow dance I learned
• Yes, and when it comes to calories… there is more to the story
• If you want to make a fire hotter, what do you do? You add fuel, not take it away
• Our bodies are intelligent, so they adapt if we keep reducing fuel
• Reverse diets are gaining popularity, kind of like that, but there's more to the story
• How to really signal safety to your body with an abundance of protein and nutrients
• My mindset shift from restriction to focusing on maximally nourishing my body with whatever I ate that day 
• Learned to lean in and find joy and pleasure in nourishing my body and let go of fear and restriction

Resources Mentioned

• Clovis
• Beam Minerals
• Equip Protein Powder

Episode Highlights with Dr. Erika Gray

• Understanding privacy concerns with genetic testing, especially in light of the security breach with a major DNA company recently 
• Samples sent to testing companies are de-identified and not connected to personal data
• Security concerns and how to make sure yours is safe
• How their specific testing has layers of encryption and is not even mined for data
• You can use an alias on your genetic testing 
• The limits of genetic testing and what it can and can’t tell us 
• Genetics is a screening tool and not a diagnostic tool — related to cancer risk and expression
• More related to choline and how this can be really beneficial for focus and attention 

Resources We Mention

• My Toolbox Genomics - Use code wellnessmama for a discount

Episode Highlights With Dr. Erika Gray

• Important perspective about genetics and how to use this information for the biggest advantage
• The nuance when it comes to children and genes 
• Genes do not exist in isolation and why focusing on one gene is not helpful
• How understanding genetics helped her teens (and mine)
• What COMT is and how this comes into play with influencing our worldview
• Fast COMT break down dopamine and norepinephrine faster (linked to moving around, not sitting still, etc.)
• How this understanding of genetics can relate directly to how we parent 
• Yet another reason protein is so important, especially for kids and teens 
• Genes related to serotonin and dopamine and neurotransmitters
• We have 2-5 lbs of bacteria in our gut, and there is a gene called FUT2 that ties to lower levels of bifidobacteria, and this can be linked to anxiety, longevity, and more
• Understanding choline genes and why this is a game changer for so many people, and this is critical for pregnancy and brain development 
• Some caveat around MTHFR and why we might be overdoing our response to this
• Serotonin-related genes to look at if you get your kids' genes tested
• What BDNF genes can tell you
• MC4R is a snacking gene, and how to understand this
• Bitter taste receptor genes and how these can make kids more picky

Resources We Mention

• My Toolbox Genomics - Use code wellnessmama for a discount
• Kion Aminos

Episode Highlights With Michael Ruscio

• His own journey into the work he does now and the tough lessons he learned about gut health
• All disease begins in the gut but how to know what is going on 
• What gut types are and how this helps explain why people can have such drastically different reactions to gut interventions
• Fungal vs bacterial overgrowth in the gut
• Things that are universally beneficial to the gut: exercise in the right amount, mindset, unprocessed foods, time in nature
• The diet that helps heal you isn’t the forever plan 
• His take on parasites and parasite cleanses 
• Why parasites are relatively rare but people will see benefit from parasite cleanses for other reasons
• The problem with an overly sterile environment and the fascinating theory around this
• Some signs that you may have a fungal gut type or an underlying fungal overgrowth 
• “The better I eat, the worse I feel” and what that might mean about your gut 
• Why carnivore might work so well for some people: it's low FODMAP and low carb 
• His take on carbs/fiber and the nuance on these as we heal
• The things that are universally helpful and his take on probiotics 
• What vector-born infections are and how they relate to gut health
• Why we need more electrolytes and salt when we go lower carb

Resources We Mention

• Dr. Ruscio - Website
• Gut Health Essentials Guide
• Just Thrive Probiotics

Episode Highlights With Katie

• Katie answers reader questions
• What have been the best/favorite forms of healing I’ve tried
• Habit stacks and best routines
• Wellness trends I regret, if any
• What I could change if I could go back to my early adult years
• One thing that has made the most difference in life
• Day in the life
• Where would I go if I could live anywhere or if chaos hits
• Do I believe we can detox and stay healthy by our state of mind rather than things outside
• The highest ROI things if I was on a very limited budget
• My feelings on spirituality

Resources Mentioned

• Hope Program
• Organifi
• Awareness by Anthony De Mello

Episode Highlights with Liz

• The importance of eating enough protein, especially as a mom and in families
• Tips for incorporating protein at different times of day
• Why protein at breakfast is so important 
• Other breakfast options if you don’t like smoothies 
• Her top easy protein sources to work into your diet
• Tip: eat non-breakfast foods for breakfast 
• Easy high-protein snacks that can be added in for a protein boost 
• One easy tip to double the protein in a recipe: double the meat the recipe calls for

Resources We Mention

• 30-minute One Pot Healthy Dinners Ebook
• Free 5-day email series - Protein
• Equip Protein
• Paleovalley
• The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
• Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Episode Highlights With Liz Marino

• Her journey into real food and the strategies she’s learned to do it affordably and with time constraints
• The three big things that help with time and money when eating healthier
• Focusing on basics: shop the perimeter, protein +vegetables+ healthy carbs, make simple recipes
• The benefit of two weeks of rotating meal plans to simplify things
• Why frozen vegetables can be a lifesaver for time and budget
• Shopping once a week can save so much time and money
• How to use your freezer more to save time and money with chili, soups, stews, etc.

Resources Mentioned

• 30-minute One Pot Healthy Dinners Ebook
• Free 5-day Email Series - Protein
• Real Plans
• Thrive Market
• Big Horn Infrared Cooker

Episode Highlights

• Trends I expect to become more popular in 2025 and my take on them, with one easy action step for each (that is free)
• Minerals: Why I feel they're important and what I take (key takeaway, salt water in the morning for energy and hydration)
• Functional movement like kinstretch, walking, climbing, getting back to simplicity
• TIP: go for a walk or do air squats after each meal
• Whole food single ingredient eating over complicated diets: my approach
• LIGHT and circadian health — Courtney Hunt says: sunrise, sunlight, sunset, repeat
• Key takeaway: prioritize watching the sunrise and set and see the difference in your sleep and energy
• Dark environment at night
• Directing our own health with the availability of data, we are each our own primary healthcare provider and companies like Function make it easier
• Community — not really a trend but vital for human survival, but I think we will see more community focus on wellness in groups, group sauna, etc.
• SLEEP hygiene: environment, timing, consistency, my routine
• Natural fibers for clothing: wool, organic cotton, linen

Resources Mentioned

• Eidon Minerals
• Magnesium Breakthrough
• Activated Salt
• Kinstretch class by Hunter Fitness
• BONCHARGE light bulbs
• Joovv Red Light
• Function Health

Episode Highlights With Anjan Katta

• His own experience with the pitfalls of modern technology 
• The downside of so much blue light at all times of day and night
• What the designer of LCD screens thought they would be used, and what he would have done differently if he had known we’d be using them this much
• Light is a master signaling mechanism for hormone and circadian health
• What are the most harmful negative impacts of modern technology
• Evolutionary mismatch with modern technology 
• The comparison of the evolutionary mismatch with sugar
• What flicker rate is, and why it's important to understand 
• The real deal with blue light and how this confuses our nervous system
• Light is the master switch for so many aspects of hormones and health
• The evidence that a lot of ADHD is a circadian dysfunction and how light comes into play
• What screen apnea is, and why it's an emerging term
• Nature deficit disorder 
• How screens affect even our breath rate and thus our nervous system 
• The circadian-aligned computer he created that is blue-light-free, flicker-free, and usable in the sunshine 

Resources We Mention

• Daylight Computer
• BONCHARGE light bulbs
• Flicker Free Bulbs

Episode Highlights With Dr. Cathleen King

• What happens when we get to a place where our set operating mode is that things are chronically unsafe
• How the immune system comes into play here
• Perception is key for retraining the body 
• How to shift mindset and take personal responsibility 
• What happens when we are stuck in story or mind theory
• When the mind is engaged with a story, the limbic system stays overactive and the body’s ability to process goes way down 
• How to cultivate a conscious awareness of when your mind is stuck in story
• Learn to be with the feelings, the sensations, and the emotions and create a boundary around what the mind is doing 
• How to stop waiting for external factors to come save us
• How to step into choosing to be responsible for the meaning that I’m making
• Sitting with the core belief that something is wrong with me and needs to be fixed, and how to let this go
• Where the idea of primal trust came from and how she learned to create trust in life itself 
• Being with what comes up, even if we don’t like it
• Resolving the territorial conflicts inside and releasing blame (and how this ties to digestive health)
• Choosing to live our values and what we love and how this can shift mitochondrial 
• A strong correlation between chronic Lyme and family conflicts 
• Acknowledging how illness is actually serving us and learning to cultivate those things without the illness 
• Asking, “For what purpose is this happening”
• Reframing to develop the most perfect mother-child relationship with your own body

Resources We Mention

• Primal Trust
• Free Primal Trust™ Guide to Self-Healing