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This Unmillennial Life

Regan Jones, RDN, ACSM-CPT

A mixtape for: my life

  • 37 minutes 11 seconds
    no. 138 - The Protein and Perimenopause Episode

    Perimenopause can be a confusing time as our bodies change and our nutrition needs change accordingly. This podcast episode features a discussion between two registered dietitians clearing up the confusion about how much protein women need to aim for during perimenopause.

    THIS UNMILLENNIAL LIFE PODCAST SHOW NOTES

    LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    Jenna Braddock, RDN, ACSM-CPT

    The 2 formulas Jenna mentioned for calculating potential targets for daily consumption of protein:

    • 1.0 - 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight
    •  
    • 1.0 gram of protein per pound of body weight

    SPONSOR LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    :ratio protein dairy snacks (25 grams of protein per serving, the most in the dairy aisle!)

    EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50, protein, perimenopause,

    4 November 2024, 9:06 pm
  • 36 minutes 19 seconds
    no. 137 - The Omega-3s and Depression Episode

    THIS UNMILLENNIAL LIFE PODCAST SHOW NOTES

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    Previous Episodes with Dr. Chris Mohr:

    Self-Testing for Omega-3 Status:

    Regan's Recommendations for Omega-3 supplements with ~1000 mg (1 g) of combined EPA/DHA and "No Fish Burps":

    Additional Omega-3 links:

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    EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50

     

    21 October 2024, 8:00 am
  • 49 minutes 2 seconds
    no. 136 - The Perimenopausal and Menopausal Beauty Secrets Episode

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    Guest: Shani Gailbreath

    Regan's Current Fave Skincare and Haircare:

    Previous Related Episodes:

    GET YOUR FREE GUIDE TO DRUGSTORE CLEANER BEAUTY BUYS

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    EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50

    9 October 2024, 1:52 pm
  • 37 minutes 35 seconds
    no. 135 - The GLP-1 and Behavior Change Episode

    While GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro are popular for their effect on weight loss, some experts are concerned not enough is being done to help patients achieve the behavior change needed for long-term success. Today’s episode features an expert discussion on the neuroscience that creates lasting behavior change.

     

    THIS UNMILLENNIAL LIFE PODCAST SHOW NOTES LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    Previous Related Episodes:

    Updated Easy Sourdough Instructions on This Baking Life

    COMMERCIAL LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50

    9 September 2024, 2:21 pm
  • 38 minutes 7 seconds
    no. 134 - The POSTbiotics Episode

    Postbiotics are beneficial "inactive" organisms. In this episode, we discuss both what postbiotics are and how they support overall immunity.   

    What are Postbiotics?

    You've likely heard of pre- and probiotics, but the term "Postbiotics" may be less familiar. As a promising new tool to support immune health, postbiotics are unique. They aren't actually "live active" organisms. Instead, postbiotics are beneficial "inactive" organisms. In this episode, we discuss both what postbiotics are and how they uniquely support overall immunity.   

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    LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    ImmuseHealth.com

    Where to Find IMMUSE™ (LC-Plasma) Postbiotic (immusehealth.com)

    Twitter (X): @Immusehealth

    Instagram: @Immusehealth

    Facebook: @Immusehealth

    YouTube: Immuse Health YouTube

    PREVIOUS PODCASTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    no. 118 - The Probiotics and Metabolism Episode

    no. 46 - The Probiotics and Prebiotics Episode

    no. 130 - The Gut-Skin Connection Episode

    ODDS & ENDS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    Kara and Nate on YouTube

    DailyDrop

    White Collar on Netflix

    Google Lens

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    YourColorGuru.com - Coupon Code REGAN for 10% off

    EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50, nutrition, midlife wellness

    NEVER MISS A NEW EPISODE!

     
    16 May 2024, 5:12 pm
  • 31 minutes 30 seconds
    no. 133 - The Blessing Bags Episode

    Blessing bags are care packages filled with essential items and small comforts that are distributed to individuals experiencing homelessness or facing difficult circumstances.

    The contents of blessing bags can vary but often include items such as non-perishable food items, water bottles, hygiene products (like toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, and hand sanitizer), socks, gloves, hats, tissues, sunscreen, lip balm, and other items that can help address immediate needs.

    I was inspired to create my own Blessing Bags after learning about them from my friend Sally at Real Mom Nutrition. She's my guest on this episode of This Unmillennial Life.

    THIS UNMILLENNIAL LIFE PODCAST SHOW NOTES

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    YourColorGuru.com - Use Coupon Code REGAN for a 10% discount

    EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50, blessing bags

     

    2 April 2024, 12:43 pm
  • 38 minutes 4 seconds
    no. 132 - The Meal Sequencing Episode

    Did you know the order you eat foods could impact how effectively your body utilizes it? Is when you eat as important as what you eat? 

    THIS UNMILLENNIAL LIFE PODCAST SHOW NOTES

    LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    Nutrisense:

    Previous Episodes:

    Odds and Ends Ending:

    COMMERCIAL LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    EPISODE SUMMARY

    EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50

    What Is Meal Sequencing?

    Have you ever considered that the order in which you eat food could impact how effectively your body utilizes its nutrients? Welcome to the world of meal sequencing – an art and science that goes beyond just what you eat, to when you eat it or rather, in what order you eat it.

    Is meal sequencing the same as food sequencing?

    For the most part, yes. Meal sequencing is the strategic ordering of eating different food groups at different times within a meal to optimize digestion and establish more stable blood glucose levels.

    What food order do people use if they're focusing on Meal Sequencing?

    Experts recommend starting the meal with protein or fat (plus fiber, if possible) in the form of a small appetizer or salad rich in non-starchy carbohydrates (i.e. non-starchy vegetables.) Starting in this specific order as a part of the meal sequence has been shown to increase GLP-1 production. Next, the main course typically consists of eating protein first, followed by carbohydrates, with most experts recommending whole grains, based on their fiber content. Opting for dessert at the end of a meal, rather than on its own, also may help avoid a higher blood sugar spike and better overall glucose response. 

    What are the benefits of Meal Sequencing?

    Eating in this particular order may 

    • Improve digestion
    • Stabilize
    • Blood sugar levels
    • Provide sustained energy
    • Weight loss or fat loss

    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

    (transcript generated through AI; may contain spelling errors)

     

    19 February 2024, 10:00 am
  • 53 minutes 43 seconds
    no. 131 - The Q-Collar Episode

    In this episode, you'll learn about the FDA-cleared medical device that's been shown in clinical trials to reduce the risk and severity of brain injury in athletes.

    THIS UNMILLENNIAL LIFE PODCAST SHOW NOTES

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    EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50, teen athletes, repetitive head impact, concussion prevention

    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

    (transcript generated through AI; may contain spelling errors)

    0:00 If your skin doesn't know whether to breakout or wrinkle, if you're caught between planning the third grade class party and researching retirement plans or if you want to work out with the idea of CrossFit makes your 40 Something knees a you've come to the right place. Welcome to This Unmillennial Life.

    Regan Jones 0:24 I'm your host, Regan Jones, and welcome to today's show. So this episode kicks off the second half of season seven, it is hard to believe that we are now in real-time going into the year 2024. That this is the seventh season of the podcast. As I have said a numerous times over the last couple of years, it's been a rocky couple of years, for me, and for many of us who has it not been a just a strange, strange time for but we hopefully continue to get back into whatever our newest normal is, and I'm hopeful for 2024 that it is going to be better than ever. Okay, so kicking off 2024 We're not going into any nutrition topics. Although I will give you a preview to tell you that I am about to hop on a plane in the next couple of days to head to an international nutrition conference. I haven't been back to this international nutrition conferences hasn't been held internationally since 2020. just mere weeks before the world sort of shut down was the last time that I attended this nutrition conference on an international scale. It was domestic last year and I attended it. But attending this nutrition conference often gives me some really, really challenging ideas about new nutrition and food topics to bring to you here on the podcast. I'm excited about that. But to kick off season seven, part two, we're actually talking about something that is completely really unrelated to nutrition, this could be filed under fitness, this could be filed under parenting, or just information that you likely have never been presented with. And that is the information about how a new FDA cleared device and it's actually not that new. You're gonna hear that here in the podcast, but it's new to many of us, an FDA cleared device is helping to reduce the injury problems, whatever you want to say associated would with repetitive head injury. Okay, I'm using the updated terminology right here in the beginning of the episode, because I already have the luxury of having gone through this interview and listen to all of this information. You'll listen to me start this episode, and my interview with my guest talking about concussion. And many of you probably if you have teen athletes or collegiate athletes that are in your family or even young athletes, you probably talk in terms of concussion and concussion prevention. We've had episodes related to concussions here on the podcast. But I think today's guest is a phenomenal job of helping us understand that the long term risks for our brain health is not just related to a once or twice, you know, incidents of concussion, but it's about this repetitive head injury. And my guest today is going to talk about how the topic that we're talking about the Q-Collar helps to seatbelt in an athlete's brain to help reduce the trauma associated with repetitive Head Impact. Okay, so joining me in today's episode is Suzanne Williams. Let me tell you a little bit about Suzanne. Suzanne is currently the vice president of sports marketing at q 30 innovations and they are the maker of today's topic, the Q-Collar at Q30 Innovations. Suzanne manages the company's relationships with professional and college athletes. And here's a little bit of Suzanne's background that I connect on a deeper level prior to q 30. She spent 17 years as an executive at Under Armour ating and it's transitioned from a startup to a globally recognized brand. And I say that I connect with that because Suzanne and I had a nice little conversation about Auburn University being one of the first, you know, universities to kind of take up Under Armour and many of you know or maybe you do or doubt that I'm an Auburn grad and I hope that if any of your Alabama grads don't lose you just with that acknowledging or or even Georgia grads, I've come to realize that even University of Georgia people don't necessarily like Auburn folks as much as I wish that they did. But anyway, so that was something that we connected on because I vividly remember when Auburn made that transition over to Under Armour and so she has just an extremely impressive background. She is also a mother to to young athletes, and I think that what you're going to hear in today's episode is just the vital importance of understanding what tools are available specifically the Q-Collar

    5:00 as a tool to reduce the potential impact for head injury and repetitive head impact on our athletes. Okay, so with that, I'll say Suzanne, welcome to the show.

    Suzanne Williams 5:12 Thanks, Regan. I'm so excited to be here.

    Regan Jones

    Thank you so much for joining me. This is one of those interviews that as I told you, before we started recording is way overdue. And the reason it's overdue as listeners of this podcast, no, you know, this podcast is called This Unmillennial Life, which translates to mostly my Unmillennial Life, things that are happening in my life, kids, you know, things, people who listen to the show, you've heard me talk about my children, they've kind of actually grown up here on the show, and I've done an episode in the past about concussions. And from a nutrition standpoint, and Suzanne, I don't know that, you know, we didn't mention it ahead of time. I'm a registered dietitian. So we've talked about, you know, concussion protocol, the importance of

    5:56 omega threes and even discussed creating on the podcast, you know, just in terms of that aspect. But one of the most important things that we've done, I think, in our family's life, is get a Q-Collar for my older son, who is a lacrosse player to wear after he experienced his first concussion. And as I was telling you, and I'll say to the listeners, you know, when people see this Q-Collar that my son wears, they will inevitably ask, what is that thing around your son's deck, and I'm able to tell them, It's a Q-Collar, I'm able to tell them, you know, that it's really intended to reduce his risk for concussion, but I cannot tell them how it works. So that's what you're gonna do here today, that and more is help listeners understand that because I have so many listeners who are in a similar position to me with sons and daughters that are playing lacrosse, that are playing football in a number of different sports hockey, for instance. And I really want to to help get this on their radar and help them understand. So unpack for us. How does the Q-Collar work?

    Suzanne Williams

    Yeah, it's a great question. And I'm excited to kind of give you the 32 second download. Because it's when you look at it, you know, it doesn't easily explain how it's working. But to give you a little bit of background on the Q-Collar, it's a class to medical device. It's FDA cleared, so it's safe, and it's effective. And what most people don't know about it is that it was actually inspired and designed to help war fighters in Afghanistan. So that was the real need for it. The US military came to a group of doctors and said, Look, our war fighters on the battlefield are experiencing high rates of TBI, traumatic brain injury, and they said, Can you build us a better helmet. And one of the doctors said, it's not the helmet, right? The helmet protects your skull from fractures, we need to make a device that protects the brain from brain slosh. Because when your brain moves within your school, that's where the injury occurs. And so this doctor said, I need to come up with an idea to create a seatbelt for the brain. And so he started focusing on jugular vein compression, which is how the Q-Collar works. So blood goes up in your head like normal, there's no changes there. But the Q-Collar puts slight pressure on the muscles outside of your jugular vein. So that's like right below your ear right behind your ear. That pressure is about the same as a necktie. So what it's doing is as bloods recirculating back to your heart, it's just compressing that jugular vein slightly, and it's leaving a backfill of about two or about one teaspoon of blood in the veins around your brain. And by doing that, it's helping to eliminate the extra space in your skull, that allows your brain to slosh. So your brain is a gelatinous material, and it sits in a bed of fluid. And when you move it moves within your skull. So it doesn't matter what helmet you're wearing. And it doesn't matter what plane surface you're on. If there's an impact, your brain can slosh within your skull. And that sloshing is what causes the injury. By backfilling that teaspoon of blood in the veins around your brain is essentially eliminating that extra space. And it's locking your brain in like a seatbelt, or like an airbag or think about bubble wrap, you know, we're bubble wrapping around your brain. So when you do have an impact, there's less opportunity for your brain to slosh, which means there's less opportunity for your brain to be injured.

    Regan Jones

    So the science is fascinating, and I appreciate you going through the detailed explanation of how it worked. I knew that there was something to do with the compression and blood flow, but I never really understood how that was helpful. Let so let me ask a couple of clarifying questions. When an athlete wears a Q-Collar and there is this the seatbelt for their brains, this slight bit of compression, do they notice anything different you know just in terms

    10:00 of like cognitive ability, you know, like you think about like, is this? Does this feel any different to them when they're wearing the Q-Collar?

    Suzanne Williams

    Great question. So part of the FDA approval process was that we had to, you know, confirm that that slight amount of pressure has no adverse effects on you. So no, you won't feel it. So blood goes up like normal. You don't feel any different with that slight backfill, it doesn't change your heart rate, it doesn't change your blood oxygen levels, it doesn't change your reaction time, you don't notice it. It's essentially like you're sitting at a church service or at a wedding wearing a necktie. It's that same amount of pressure. In fact, people compress their jugular vein all the time, and you don't know it. So if you yawn, you're compressing your jugular vein. If you sleep on the side of your body at night, you're compressing that side that's down, you know, closest to the bed. If you raise your arm above your head, you're actually compressing your jugular vein on that side. So compressing your jugular vein is not new, it's not foreign. We're just creating a consistent compression so that, you know that blood just helps backfill slightly, but it doesn't change the way you feel. Sometimes athletes will say, you know, the first week or so that they're getting used to the device. They feel a heightened sense of clarity, they said this, and this is open up a little bit. They definitely feel more alert, they feel a little bit more clear headed. But there's there's no you know, biological changes that are negatively impacting your body.

    Regan Jones

    Okay, so a couple of other questions. Well, and one just small question, I assume that it's that jugular compression that makes the Q-Collar different than you know any other helmet or like a skullcap or any of the other, you know, things that are out there that are marketed as having an ability to, you know, protect the brain is that the main difference? That is the main difference. So we are the only device we are, like I said, at class to medical device, we are the only device on the market that has FDA clearance. And that shows it's safe. And it's actually protecting your brain. It's protecting your brain structure. I think there's a lot of confusion around you know, protecting your brain and protecting your skull. And we actually can protect you from the inside out. I have experience with some different things that I know go through FDA clearance in terms of medical devices. And without going into any needless detail about that the question that I have for you is I know with some things, there's been clinical trials that were done. So how was how was the Q-Collar validated for this FDA clearance?

    Suzanne Williams

    Yeah, great question, because a lot of people get confused by FDA clearance and FDA approval. So this is a class two medical device that's cleared by the FDA, they essentially mean the same thing. It's just that this is a class two device, which means it's low-risk. It's noninvasive, so it gets a clearance marker, high risk, invasive devices get approval, so think like a stent inside your heart, right? Those are higher risk devices. So this is a class two device which gets cleared. And that clearance process was really extensive. So the FDA got involved, took about five years for them to clear the device. They analyzed and looked at all of the clinical trials and the independent, peer reviewed and published studies that were done over 25 are done over a 10 year time span. And what they had to do in order to clear it is they had to prove that number one it was safe for you to wear, which it is and then number two, they had to prove that it was effective. It was actually doing what the claims were saying. And so one of the clinical trials that they really looked at the hardest was done out of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. They found over 450 high school athletes, boys and girls, this is important because a lot of studies exclude females. As females add so many different variables to studies they can impact the outcome. So a lot of clinical trials will exclude women. The group that was doing this clinical trial was adamant that females had to be involved because of the high rate of TBI in women's soccer. They found soccer athletes, football athletes and ice hockey athletes. They MRI all their brains. So they got a baseline image of their brains. All the athletes were accelerometers. And this was done so they could assess the impacts the athletes were experiencing and the impacts they were giving so they could monitor. You know how hard how much G force their body was absorbing. And then half of those student athletes were giving Q-Collar and half or not, and they went out and played their entire seasons. And at the end of the year, they re MRI their brains and they looked at the changes in the white brain matter and

    15:00 what they found were of the athletes that were wearing the Q-Collar 77% showed zero changes in their white brain matter, meaning their brain structure had not changed from the beginning of the season to the end. But for the athletes not wearing the Q-Collar 73% saw significant changes in their white brain matter. While this is important to really clarify for folks because people get really confused about concussions versus repetitive head impacts. So concussions are a subjective diagnosis, meaning there's no reliable test that proves you had one or you did it, right. So typically, it's diagnosed by an athlete symptoms. So meaning an athlete has to have a symptom for them to be diagnosed. from a research perspective, you can't study something that's subjective. So the FDA, along with these research groups agreed that using MRI DTI scans and that actually looked at your brain structure was the best way to figure out if your brain had experienced any injury, regardless of whether you had a symptom or not. Why? Now, after a football practice, we hear a lot of kids say, I'm always headachy after practice, while you're headachy, because your body has been absorbing repetitive head impacts, or athletes will say I got my bell rung, but I didn't get concussed or I felt foggy, or I woke up the next day and I was just a little bit lethargic. Those are all symptoms of repetitive head impacts. But they aren't strong enough to be diagnosed with a concussion. So by using the MRI DTI scans, they were absolutely able to see the most minut changes in the brain structure, regardless of whether an athlete had any symptom associated with it. So that is how the FDA use the clinical trials to show that the device actually protects the brain structure from changes.

    Regan Jones 17:02 I know that Q callor mentions in some of its material, repetitive Head Impact, like what you've just detailed, I'm assuming now from hearing this, and this is really honestly all very enlightening and new to me because I you know, you heard me at the beginning of this interview kind of really focusing on this one concussion that my son had had. And now I'm like really thinking? Uh, wow, I hadn't even thought about it's it's from practice to tournaments, to games, it's everything that's happening. Is that why the focus is there for Q Callor? Is this repetitive Head Impact? Potential?

    Suzanne Williams

    Yes, right. And so here's what I always do this comparison to athletes and to athletic trainers and team positions and agents and kids is, you know, it's not one cigarette that compromises your health, right? It's years and years of cumulative use. It's not one sunburn that compromises your skin health, it's years and years of cumulative overexposure to the sun. That is the way you have to look at repetitive head impacts. It is not one hit necessarily, that's going to change it for everybody. But the years and years of cumulative impacts that add up over time, that slowly chip away at your brain structure can really affect your brain health. And so there's been numerous studies done and in fact, doctors and researchers independent of us obviously have come out and said, you know, they're not linking CTE to concussions, they're linking CTE to repetitive head impacts. It's the cumulative effect of taking repetitive hits to your brain that add up and they compromised the brain structure. And so from our perspective, if we can limit the RHI, the repetitive head impacts that are impacting your brain structure, we can limit the injury, whatever that injury is, is that injury, a diagnosed concussion? Is that injury, a headache? Is that injury feeling like you got your bell rung? Is that really an emotional change? So what we also remind athletes and doctors remind patients this is well, you know, when you have a traumatic brain injury, your symptoms can include physical things like headaches, aversion to light, you know, feeling nauseous, but they can also include emotional changes, depression, anxiety, mood swings, irrational behavior, your emotions are housing, your frontal lobe. And so when you compromise that structure, you're adding emotional changes, in addition to physical changes. And that is what we really talk to athletes about you want to protect that brain structure as much as possible.

    Regan Jones

    Yeah, I think that's one of the things that my perception is has really gotten on the radar of so many parents. Just understanding now, the long term risk for some of the things that you talk about some of the emotional issues that can that have inevitably come up with players who

    20:00 have experienced these repetitive head impacts. So a couple of other questions that come to mind. Well, first and foremost is a very practical question. I admitted that my son has been wearing a Q-Collar for a couple of years. But you know, equipment wears out, you know, is there a timeframe? Should we have a Q-Collar? I'm thinking about - Well, he's bigger now than he was before. And this was not something that I had initially thought about asking you, but are there guidelines into when you should get into a new one? How do people understand the fit? kind of walk us through that a little bit.

    Suzanne Williams

    Yeah, great question again. So the way the Q-Collar works is, it's got a spring that gives it the right amount of compression or pressure to put on your jugular vein to give you the right amount of protection. That spring has about a two year lifespan two to three, depending on how often you open and close it depending on how often you use it. This was clear this was a part of the FDA clearance. So this was studied, how often you open and close it how often you wear it affects at some point that springs you know, compressive nature. So there's a measuring tool that comes with every Q-Collar, all you have to do is every time you put it on or once a season or you know, once a year, you just want to use that measuring tool, because it'll show you if the tips are in the correct place, you're getting optimal amount of compression, you're getting the optimal amount of pressure. If those tips move outside, then that just means that the spring has probably worn out and need to get a new one. The other thing that I would tell you though, is most kids outgrow it long before they wear it out. So you know, it's just like cleats, you know, if your son you know is 150 pounds in eighth grade and then by 10th grade ease 175 pounds, you know there's a good chance that his neck has gotten bigger. And so you just want to keep measuring it to make sure that a the spring is still healthy and be your son or daughter doesn't need it to go up a size based on growing.

    Regan Jones

    Okay. And on the Q-Collar website. Are there guidelines for you know, a kid whose 250 pounder versus you know, 150 pound or like there are there guidelines and how people can know which size to buy.

    Suzanne Williams

    Yeah, there are but the easiest way to do it is if you have a soft measuring tape at your house, you take a soft measuring tape, and you want to measure the very middle of their neck. So that's the skinniest part of their neck. You want to have their chin straight or down so that the neck muscles are relaxed, then you measure a second skin measurement. So it's not so the measuring tape is snug, it's very tight against the neck, that measurement will correlate to a size. So my neck measures about 11 and a half inches, I wear a size 11. And you typically go down because the Q-Collar fits like a cuff, you know there should be a two inch gap in between the two tips. And that gap is so that the pressure is off your trachea is off your windpipe. So it fits like a cuff that measurement will align to a size. And most athletes, you know, they'll get there if they get a dress shirt made and there are size 16 and a quarter dress shirt they would wear a size 16 Q-Collar.

    Regan Jones

    Okay. Okay, very, very helpful. I know that's one of the things that's going to be on the minds of parents. One other thing that I would ask I'm just curious, if you know are Is there any type of movement within different athletic communities to begin to make this an across-the-board requirement? You know, mouthpieces are required. I know in the lacrosse community, there has been an upgrade in what's required in terms of chest protection. You know, like for cardiac protection, if someone gets hit in the chest? Do you know if within any of the athletic communities there's a move toward making this something that they you know, require for kids to wear?

    Suzanne Williams

    You know, you know, that's our hope one, you know, at some point that does happen. I think right now, you know, we're new enough. Most most teams and leagues look at it like they want their athletes be educated on it, and then they can make the decision for themselves. Sure. What I tell people all the time is introducing and changing equipment is a very challenging prospect. So to give you some context, when the NFL introduced helmets for the first time making them illegal for for athletes to wear hard helmets. It took over 10 years for every player in the NFL to adopt a hard helmet. So wow, me excuse me a face mask when they introduced face masks. It took over 10 years for every NFL player to adopt a face mask in the league because it was optional. In regards to ice hockey, it took over 18 years for the entire NHL to adopt helmets. So they introduced, they allowed athletes to start wearing helmets, but they grandfathered in existing players that could opt in or opt out of helmets. And that took 18 years in the NHL before every athlete was wearing a helmet in hockey. So I always use those examples for folks to understand like, it really comes down to personal decisions, leads, teams are really hesitant to ever mandate anything. Sure. And so we always encourage athletes and their parents to be their own advocates to do their research to learn about it, and then really do what they think is best for them.

    Regan Jones

    Yeah, I mean, I totally understand that and definitely respect, you know, a parent's ability to kind of weigh in on what he or she wants to, to add to the equipment list for a child. I will say personally, I think that one of the things that's gotten you know, in our family, one of the things that's made it even easier to have a child wear it is the fact that he sees other people wearing it now, I mean, I told you before we started recording, we were watching an NFL game, not too long ago, and there's an NFL player wearing a Q-Collar. And I do think that small things like that, for younger children, you know, young teens or older adolescents to kind of see that on the national stage. It definitely lends I guess it's some form of credibility that maybe when something is new, and you hadn't heard of it, you really know about it lends a little bit of credibility.

    Suzanne Williams

    Yeah, no, and Regan, that's been my job coming to Q-Collar is, is my role has been to educate, and really help elite athletes understand, number one, What are repetitive head impacts. And then number two, how the Q-Collar helps protect you from them. So I work with our NFL athletes, I work with our PLL lacrosse, athletes, collegiate athletes, it's super rewarding. It's literally a passion mission. For me, as we spoke about I have sons, they love football, all they want to be as an NFL football player. And so for me, I really love working with our elite athletes, because they do have so much ability to to be role models for our children. And we just got a slew of amazing NFL guys that they're doing it for multiple reasons. They do it because they love the game. And they want to keep the game safe. And then they want to keep the game the way it is. They do it because they want to achieve their dreams. They're no different than our children, right. They have really high bars and dreams for themselves. They want to play multiple years in the league, they want to be, you know, franchise tags, they want to take care of their family, they want to help their team win, you know. So they, they do it because they're dedicated to their sport. And then they do it because they love their families. And they want to be there for their families. And they're incredibly gracious to work with. And I will tell you, our NFL athletes, they swear by it, you know, they feel better after games, they don't feel the fogginess, they don't feel the headaches, they sleep better at night, they feel fresh the next day. And it really has traveled through word of mouth in the locker room, that's really been our grassroots initiative has been, you know, you wear it, you care about your teammates, tell your teammates about it.

    Regan Jones

    And that's the word of mouth that I certainly have in mind for this particular podcast and sharing with other parents because like I said, you know, it's something that we sort of took on blindly in the hopes that it would be beneficial for my son. And now just, you know, hearing you kind of go through it, I am extremely thankful that we made that decision and extremely thankful that you know, Q-Collar has been cleared has been developed, and it's something that is available to so many people. Okay, so let me ask one more question. And then I want to make sure that people know, you know, kind of how to find Q-Collar and connect with you guys online. Is there any other feedback that you hear from athletes about wearing the Q-Collar?

    Suzanne Williams

    Yeah, it's really consistent. We are our largest partners, actually the military, right? So department defense, they work with over 20 Special Ops units use the Q-Collar so think Rangers marshals, Delta Force, Greenbrae seals, SWAT teams, and Secret Service, all these groups use a Q-Collar and the rewarding part is that the feedback they give us is the same as our football players as our lacrosse players, right? They feel better. They know they're doing everything they can to be protected. You know, think about these athletes, these soldiers they eat right? They train right? They recover, right? You know, they do all these things to put themselves in the position of success.

    30:00 and protecting yourself is a part of that, right you want to avoid injury you want to stay available. So they they have peace of mind knowing that they are doing everything they can to be available and to stay healthy. But then they also talk about, you know, enhanced performance, they feel sharper, they feel clearer. You know, being tackled in football is the equivalent of being in a car accident. So if you go through four quarters of car accidents, maybe you're not as sharp at the end of the game, maybe you are making quote unquote, mental mistakes, you're tired, fatigued, you're lethargic, you got your bell rung a few times. So they really feel a difference in their performance, because they can stay sharp and focus through the course of the game. And then lastly, what you know, our soldiers and our athletes tell us across all sports, we have MLS, national men's soccer league players wearing it is that they sleep better at night. So after a game, you come home, if you're headachy, you're kind of tired, you're foggy, it actually affects your ability to fall asleep and have a nice deep recovery sleep. So our athletes, our soldiers talk about, you know, you come off an eight hour training mission, in a firing range, where you're discharging a weapon for eight hours straight, all that recoil, all that force is coming back on you. When you try to go to bed that night, you know, you're tossing and turning your headachy can't fall asleep, you actually feel hungover. That's how they describe it. After the Q-Collar were of the same eight hour, you know, firing range training session, they come home and they don't have the headaches, they don't have that hungover feeling. They can go to sleep easier sleep more restfully. But the best part for them is that when they look at their accuracy ratings, their accuracy, their target ability, stay consistent through the entire eight hour session versus not wearing it, you can actually see your accuracy, ability decline, as the session goes on. So, guys, it's about feeling good. It's about being available, but it's also about being able to perform at your best.

    Regan Jones

    And I mean, I certainly can acknowledge sports are one thing, and they're so important. But you know, in terms of military, really, in some instances, you're talking life or death. And so mental mistakes that lead to an interception, or you know, are very different than mental mistakes that happen, I guess, you know, within the context of the military. So thank you so much for going through all of that, before we move on to telling people not only about a special offer that you have for them, and where they can find you online. Is there anything else about the Q-Collar I haven't asked you about that you want listeners to know.

    Suzanne Williams

    So I always give folks this this comparison. So every time you get in your car, you put your seatbelt on, whether you're going down the road a mile, or you're going on a 50 mile road trip, right your seatbelt is just a part of your your equipment that you use when you get in the car and you do it because you know it mitigates injury, that if there's an accident, wearing the seatbelt is the best way to mitigate the injury. Now, just because you put it on, it doesn't mean you think you're gonna get an accident every time but you're just prepared for it. And I tell I tell athletes, so when you put that seatbelt on and say you, unfortunately are in an accident, maybe that seatbelt bruises your ribs, but it keeps you from flying through the windshield. So you still have to recover from an injury, but it's much less severe. I tell athletes, that is what the Q-Collar is trying to do for your brain, right? It's a seatbelt for your brain, you wear it every practice every game, because you don't know when a hit is going to happen. And the idea of it is that it can help mitigate injury, you know, it can help keep you from being injured. But it can also help limit the severity of an injury if one does occur, right? Nothing is 100% preventable. So we can't tell people, you know, this is where this and you're never going to have a TBI, you're never going to be injured, no one can do that. But if we can tell you wearing it helps mitigate the injury or mitigate or lessen the severity of it, you know, you're just putting yourself in a better position. So think about it, like wearing a seatbelt, you wear it all the time, it just becomes a part of your, you know, process of getting in your car before you turn the key on.

    Regan Jones

    This may be one of the most impactful parts of this entire interview for me personally, and my family because as I said, my son's already wearing the Q-Collar, but I'm gonna be honest with you, I think he's only wearing it during games, you know, like not when he's in competition with his own teammates. So it's a there's gonna have to be a big correction that that happens around our house. It's kind of like you say, it's like, we don't let you drive to, you know, just the local grocery store really nearby the house without your seatbelt on. We're not going to let you just be at a local practice without your seatbelt on. So I really appreciate that explanation.

    Suzanne Williams

    Well, Regan, I laugh about this, but I'm at the age where I remember when seatbelts were optional to mandate it. And so for me growing up, seatbelts were just

    35:00 a part of life. You just put it on. And but you know, my parents' generation, that was not the case, they were oh my gosh, like now we have to use our seatbelts what we wore, it used to be a choice. And so I just always use that because I'm like, our hope is that the next generation, your son, my son's generation, this just becomes like a seatbelt. They just put it on before every time they take the field.

    Regan Jones

    Yeah, we've made it very clear to him, that there's no game without the Q-Collar. But now we need to be clear, there's no practice without the Q-Collar either. So you've made it, you've made an impact on my family immediately. Okay, so let's do, let's tell people both where they can go to find more information about the Q-Collar, where to order it. And then I know that you have a discount code to share with them.

    Suzanne Williams

    Q30.com Q, like the letter Q three zero.com. We sell them online. So you can go online, it shows you how to measure, all the studies are published on our website. So if you want to do some research, you can look at it. Athlete testimonials, you can look at our ambassadors just really all the information you need is going to be on that website. And then we want to thank you so much for having us. I mean, like I said, this is really a grassroots initiative, we're trying to educate people. So for your listeners, we want to offer a 10% discount, and you can go and just use the code REGAN. And so you pop that into in the checkout discount code will give you 10% off, I should tell you, the Q-Collars are $199. So they're about $200. Again, they last for two-plus years, depending on use. And the other fun fact is because it's a class two medical device, you can use your HSA or FSA accounts.

    Regan Jones

    Yeah, that's a great clarification. I actually had never really thought about the fact that you could use HSA or FSA money. So I appreciate you sharing that. Okay, so for listeners, I will of course, as I do with every episode, be sure to place a link in the show notes to the q30.com. website. I will recap in the shownotes that the code for 10% off is Regan - R e g a n - and I believe that code will be active for 30 days after the release of this episode. Is that correct? Correct. Okay, all right. Well, Suzanne, you have been just super helpful today, not only in educating, but just really inspiring me to talk to more and more of my fellow lacrosse parents about the importance of this and my hockey parents, soccer, parents, football, parents, all the all the different teams that I know that I have parents listening in the audience, so an inspiration, education, and I really am honored that you would take the time to join me today. Really appreciate it.

    Suzanne Williams

    Well, thank you for having me. And I'm just so blessed that you know, I get to be a part of this and help spread the message.

    Regan Jones

    Yeah, absolutely. Thanks so much.

    Okay, that wraps up my interview with Suzanne. Now I know at the end of every episode, I always encourage you to share this with a friend but I really am encouraging you today to share this episode with your fellow athlete parents. I don't get any compensation from this episode. I don't get any compensation from you choosing to buy a Q-Collar. So I want to state that upfront so that you know that I'm not asking you to do this solely for my benefit. I mean, yes, I'd benefit when this podcast is passed around because I I love to get new listeners on the show, but I don't I'm not financially being incentivized to promote this product to you. I am however very thankful that queue caller was willing to give us that this 10% discount on any purchases that are using the code Regan with their purchase. But do note that what was said in this episode is it is a 30 day window. And for most of you that's not a big deal because I know the majority of the the downloads and the listens happened in the first 30 days. But don't sit on this. If you are interested in moving forward with a cue caller go ahead and do that now. Use that code Reagan. And please feel free or feel encouraged or requested to share this with your fellow parents of athletes because I just know that as parents we put so much time and care into taking care of our athletes and this is Truly I believe one of the best things that we can do for the preservation of their brain health moving forward. Okay with that I am going to take a quick commercial break. And when I come back, I have a couple of different things to talk to you about for the odds and ends ending of today's show.

    Regan Jones 39:42 Today's episode is brought to you by your color guru, your color guru.com is where I went a few years ago now at this point to have my colors done and as I have said on previous episodes, the idea of having your colors done is something that I find a little bit comical for those of us who were unmillennial because it's certainly something that people were talking about and read books about in the 80s. But what your color Guru is offering is so much more comprehensive than that. And frankly, it's so much easier. The whole process to have your color guru do your customized color palette that essentially makes pulling together a wardrobe that makes you look your best. The way they do that is so simple and so easy. It's as simple as going to your color guru.com, filling out some information, uploading some pictures, and then you get back a customized color palette that frankly, takes so much of the guesswork out of figuring out what to wear. Now, you've heard me mention this in previous episodes, how much I love your color guru and how I think it's absolutely transformed. Like even the compliments that I get. It's so much easier to put something on nowadays and someone say oh, that looks nice on you, or oh, that really brings out the color of your eyes. That's one of the big benefits. But recently, as I was last minute trying to get ready to go to someone's home or a very casual holiday dinner, I realized I had not figured out exactly what to wear. But what I have increasingly started doing is only buying clothes that fit my your color guru color palette. I'm a moonlit summer so when you get yours done, I'd love to hear from you what your color palette is. But once you start choosing clothes that fit your color palette, what you realize is that all of those clothes work together. So in putting on a jacket that I just grabbed out the pair of boots that I had with the top that I was wearing, it all coordinated really well in a way that frankly, I just don't have the fashion aptitude to put together on my own. And the only reason that it worked is because they all fit together in my moonlit summer color palette. So for listeners of This Unmillennial Life that would like to have your colors done or gift it to someone it would make a wonderful gift at the holidays and especially if you're you know shopping last minute it can all be done digitally. You can go to your color guru.com and use the code Reagan, R e g, a n or 10% off your color consultation. So again, that's your color guru.com use the code Regan for 10% off there is a link in the show notes.

    Regan Jones 42:20 In today's odds and ends ending I'm going to be talking somewhat about a topic that probably a lot of people are talking about because this is the month of January and it seems like everywhere you look people are talking about dry January or Dryuary, that's a new term for me this year, I've always heard it referred to as dry January, I've never heard it referred to as dry you airy. But I know a lot of people are doing dry January. And if you've been a listener for the show for quite some time, you know that I did my own sober September a few years ago, I'll place a link in the show notes. If you've never listened to that episode. It is it's a good one. It was very raw and real about what I experienced is one of the best things that I ever did. But it's pretty far in the distance of my mind now and I have not embarked on any type of you know, dry January sober September sober October since then, and I'm not planning to do are not in the midst of a dry January at this point. The reason I'm bringing this topic up is because I want to let you know about a different approach. And so and at least one tool that I've learned about that really falls into what you would call maybe a damp January now I didn't make this term up. But I discovered in the last part of 2023, a podcast called The Alcohol Minimalist. And I really was intrigued by a lot of her episodes. Now I'll tell you up front, she gives a weather report at the beginning of every episode. And I know that there are things that I do in this podcast that probably drive you nuts, if you want to send me an email or a message and tell me what that is I will take it to heart. But please be kind. But I often want to say to the podcast host, you know, a little weather report is okay but most of us don't really need to know what the weather is like in Oregon every single time that we have one of your episodes. So it's just a reminder that you guys that stick around for these podcasts, you have to put up with all of our little quirks. But she has so much good information that she talks about in her podcast. And she really I think one of the things that she does that I really appreciate. And that is something that I'm challenging myself to do going forward into 2024 and beyond is to really abandon all an all or nothing thinking and that's all or nothing thinking in terms of alcohol consumption all or nothing thinking in terms of like meat consumption or sugar consumption. It's no surprise to most of you who have listened to my podcast for a while, but there have been periods of my life where I would completely sort of swear off x, y or z or completely adore

    45:00 one eating pattern to the exclusion of others. And I really do think that life is just too short for some of that rigid rule-oriented behavior. Now, that's not to say that general guidelines aren't good for us, they absolutely are. And I hope that you'll always stick around for me to bring you the latest, greatest newest news in terms of nutrition and fitness and other topics. And that's also not meant to imply that I in any way think that if, if you or someone that you know, has chosen to be completely alcohol-free for any myriad of reasons from religious convictions, which I wholeheartedly support, to concerns about alcoholism, whatever the case may be nothing about this is meant to call that into question, it's just meant to say that there is for many people an opportunity to have less of an all or nothing approach to not only alcohol consumption, but many things within our lives. But what I really appreciate about what she talks about in her podcast, and again, the name of the podcast is the alcohol minimalist is that for many people who are trying to reduce their overall alcohol consumption, because maybe they've gotten into a daily habit that is not serving them, or serving their health and wellness, is that that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to abandon all alcohol consumption altogether. And that really is kind of what I have always viewed sort of the dichotomous thinking. And for many of you, you may think, like, Why didn't really think that I only drink, you know, a drink when we go out to dinner or, or, you know, only, you know, drink on occasion, on a special occasion. That's great, that's wonderful. But there are actually a lot of people who tend to have what I would say is a daily alcohol habit. And the only way they seem to move forward is to have a no alcohol habit. And, again, what she talks about in her podcast is being more mindful and intentional about the alcohol that you do choose to drink. So again, alcohol, minimalist podcast, lots of good information, she gives a weather report from Oregon at the beginning of every episode, I wish she would not. But that is, it's well worth listening to that little part of it to get all of the other good information. Okay. And so with that being said, I wanted to tell you about a conversation that I had at a recent party that I went to, where one of the friends that I was standing there talking to she was talking about the fact that she was doing a Dry January, and another friend that was standing there, this was kind of interesting, she said that she had listened to and I'm just sharing something with you to kind of is food for thought, if you've ever thought about doing a Dry January, but it's too overwhelming to you. Especially if you are someone who tends to have a daily alcohol habit.

    47:54 What I'm going to give you is some numbers and some math to try to just think about and what the friend was saying was that she had listened to I think it was a podcast, who knows? Maybe it was an Instagram real, I'm not really sure. And what they were saying was if you actually took a week off from alcohol, and let's say it's only five days is the workweek week, once a month, that would be 60 days worth of being alcohol free. And that that would actually total over the course of the year, two months of being alcohol free.

    Now, I can tell you having done a sober September before that more than likely what you would experience if you did the five days is by the time you got to the six or seven, there's a good likelihood that you might think that I'll do a few more or who knows, you may think, no, that was enough. But this is just a way to kind of again, be more mindful and think about what you're trying to achieve in reducing your overall alcohol consumption. And being able to spread that out over the course of essentially 12 work weeks, adds up to the same amount as if you took January and February off. I'm not trying to convince you to take either one, I just want to give you some tools that if it's something that's been tugging at your heart, it's something that you've wanted to try try for yourself, but 30 days seems overwhelming. I think alcohol minimalists can give you some tools to look at a dri or month and sort of see how to do that. But then I can just give you these tools to say like, Hey, this is just really a math exercise and consider that Okay, and so then the last tool that came up at this party and it's just, you know, kind of fun to be at a party where there are some people who are drinking alcohol and some who are not drinking alcohol and have these conversations about dry January and and a lot of the new tools and, and tips and strategies that are out there. One of the main strategies that one of my friends shared with me that she was trying in terms of just reducing her overall alcohol consumption, especially if she's at a party and I heard this from another friend as well,

    Unknown Speaker 50:00 is to incorporate a product called Athletic Brewing. Now, I'm not sure if you've heard of athletic brewing, they've been around for a while. But they're just now I think, at least where I live getting mainstream enough that you can get them like at Kroger, I can get them at the place where I typically buy nicer wines. And I hesitate to call them a beer because they're, they're not a beer, they don't have any alcohol in them. But Athletic Brewing Company is essentially a nonalcohol brew, modeled after beer, and it is so close to the taste of beer, you would be so surprised, I know that there are other nonalcoholic beers out there, but I've never tried any of them, I think that there tends to be maybe a little bit more stigma associated with them. And I'm not a huge beer drinker and don't have a lot of experience in that. But I can tell you right now that if you at all, like the taste of beer, and you want to have something you know, a little bit festive to drink, I guess at a party or maybe when you get home at the end of the day, or when you you know, walk out of your home office, and you're making dinner or whatever, and you want to pour something cold to enjoy while you're cooking dinner. Athletic Brewing is really good. And one of the other things to note about the athletic brewing nonalcoholic brews is that they do have a gluten-free version. So that's also very interesting to me, because beer is one of those things that are is off limits for so many people who are gluten free. And there are some gluten free beers out there. But they're they're gluten free non our alcoholic brew is quite enjoyable. So I hope that you'll check them out again, I have no affiliation with them. I'm not promoting them, you know, for any financial reason I just had been told before how good they were. And I finally took the time as I'm doing what I would call more of a Damp January - being more mindful and not having this all-or-nothing thinking pattern. As I look to you know, not pour a glass of wine while I'm cooking dinner every night. Instead grab something else. That's just been really fun. And a good good substitute. My hope and wish for the future is that somebody perfects non alcoholic wine I tried a couple of years ago, I you know, it was actually pre COVID I think so gosh, that's been what, four years ago Time flies, I guess when you're having so much fun. I tried to go and get a large sampling of non alcoholic wines to try and hopefully come back to the podcast with some recommendations. And they were terrible. Just I couldn't I didn't taste anything that was good. They all reminded me of a vinegar and not not a good vinegar. Just it was not pleasant at all. So if you happen to know of a non alcoholic wine that you think is good, please let me know because the consensus among the people that I talked to is that it just does not exist yet. But I am hopeful that it will be something that is available maybe in the future. Okay, so that's going to wrap up today's episode as I've already made my plea for, please share this episode with friends. I'll also make a plea that if you've never taken the time to rank and write a review for This Unmillennial Life podcast on whatever podcast app you're listening to it on. And if you are a fan, I would love for you to share that with other people. So as I say at the end of every episode, thank you so much for listening, subscribing, downloading, and for sharing with a friend. I hope you have a great week.

    15 January 2024, 10:00 am
  • 49 minutes 54 seconds
    no. 130 - The Gut-Skin Connection Episode

    Research and clinical experience clearly supports the gut-skin connection. This episodes uncovers how gut health is related to healthy skin and how those suffering with skin conditions can best address their problems.

    THIS UNMILLENNIAL LIFE PODCAST SHOW NOTES

    LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    Erin Kinney, MS, RD, LDN, HCP, NASM-CPT

    Faith Driven Entrepreneurs

    COMMERCIAL (Affiliate) LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50, gut health, skin health, parents of teens

    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

    (transcript generated through AI; may contain spelling errors)

    Regan Jones 0:00 If your skin doesn't know whether to breakout or wrinkle if you're caught between planning the third grade class party and researching retirement plans or if you want to work out with the idea of CrossFit makes your 40 Something knees ache you've come to the right place. Welcome to This Unmillennial Life.

    I'm your host, Regan Jones and welcome to today's show. First of all, I want to say a quick thank you to those of you who have reached out to let me know how helpful you found the previous episode of This Unmillennial Life, episode number 129 the uterine fibroids episode, how helpful you found that episode to be, I want to say upfront that in the spirit of transparency, this podcast truly is a labor of love. It is something that I am opting to continue to do because one, I thoroughly enjoyed doing it. Researching topics like this diving deep. Finding information that not only helps me but also helps you really is a shot in the arm, so to speak, to keep it going. The reality is and again, being totally transparent. This podcast barely pays for itself. And I don't say that to garner any type of sympathy, I know that you hear some advertisements that run here. And those are important because things like podcasts and websites and any type of media that you're hosting yourself are producing yourself, for the most part, not counting your time that it takes to produce it, it actually requires money to have server space, and it costs money to do those things. So that amount of advertising that you allow me to share with you really does help offset the costs of hosting this podcast. But for the most part, within the seven seasons of doing this podcast, and this is the case for many podcasters podcasts aren't actually typically monetized near as well as some of the other activities that people do like social media, being influencers or having a website where there's consistent advertising. So the reason I want to be transparent about that is one, it definitely affects how much I am able to or how frequently I'm able to release episodes because I am in a rebuilding season after COVID and in my cancer treatments, rebuilding my career in a way that I've not had to do in a really long time. And that requires me to spend a little more of my time on projects that are providing revenue, which I'm sure you can understand. But knowing that these episodes are being listened to and downloaded and shared and are helpful, absolutely makes it worth it. So thank you when you reach out and let me know that something that I have done as an episode, something that I've released as an episode has been helpful to you. So I appreciate that. And I'm hopeful that today's episode is also going to be helpful. I think it can be helpful for many of us, not only for ourselves, but certainly for those of us who are parenting, you know, teenagers and young adults, because today's episode while it is the gut skin connection, and I'll tell you about my guest in just a second, we are going to have probably a stronger focus, I would say on acne in particular, you're going to hear my guest and I talk about acne and then I encourage you to hang around after my interview and I want to give you some just personal experience and some anecdotal evidence about some things that I've seen with one of my children. Okay, so let me tell you about my guest. My guest is Erin Kenny, Erin is on Instagram, as nutrition rewired you may have seen her because she is quite popular. In fact, she has over 93,000 followers on Instagram and for good reason she is on there all the time, but not in a fillip your feed with useless information way that some influencers tend to be. Erin is full of high quality, solid nutrition information, primarily specializing in gut health. And that is one of the reasons that I'm having her on today. You're gonna hear us mentioned a couple of times in the episode that the way we met was through our faith driven entrepreneur group. I've mentioned that at least once or twice maybe here on the show, I'd like to do an episode about the faith driven entrepreneur group in the future. But I'll give this little plug we will be starting a third round of this eight part Bible study in 2024. If you are a registered dietician and you are interested in potentially being a part of that, please reach out to me message me on social media or send me an email or leave me a voicemail you can leave me a voicemail at this This Unmillennial Life .com Or you can send me an email Regan at this unlink neolife.com If you are not a registered dietitian, and you are an entrepreneur, just know that faith driven entrepreneurs is open, available free to everyone. It is an extremely high quality, impactful, well done eight part series that you could do on your own or put together a group. That's honestly what I did just pulled together. Some registered dieticians in 2022. To work our way through the eight part series. We pulled together a new group and I say we, myself, my colleague, Jenna Braddock, you've heard her here on the show my colleague, Jim White, you've heard him home on the show. We've pulled together, you know, a second group for this last year, and we're going to pull together a third group moving forward. So you know, whether you're a registered dietician, or whether you're not, if you are someone who would like to deepen your understanding about how the work that you do on a daily basis in your vocation, can be something that is serving the kingdom, I highly recommend faith driven entrepreneurs. Okay, so let's get back to Erin. Erin Kenny, is a dietician who helps individuals address their digestive issues from a root cause perspective, conditions like SIBO, inflammatory bowel disease, IBS, constipation. And you'll hear her talk about her story. But it was really after healing her own gut, after feeling very disappointed in conventional medical treatments, that she made it her passion to help others. And that's what she will be doing for us today as she unpacks this topic of the gut skin connection. So with that, I'll say, Erin, welcome to the show,

    Erin Kinney 6:44 Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to discuss this topic today.

    Regan Jones 6:49 We have done gut health topics over the years. And as listeners know, my my good friend and colleague Kate Scarlatta has often joined me. But once I had the pleasure of meeting you through our faith driven entrepreneurs group, and really learn more about you your story, and most importantly, just started following you and saw all of the amazing information that you were sharing online, I knew I wanted to have you on the show. So before we jump into to this topic today, do give listeners a little bit of background on you, and how you specifically got interested in this area of nutrition.

    Erin Kinney 7:24 My journey into dietetics really stemmed from my own issues with gut health and skin issues. And I think like most dietitians, when they tell their stories, they kind of talk about a lot of their history when it comes to nutrition and this evolution, evolution of learning about how nutrition and lifestyle can impact certain areas of the body. And my personal story was a very long one, we don't have time to cover everything today. But I really struggled with digestive issues from a very young age and over time that eventually led to horrible acne, and skin issues that really were not being able to be treated by conventional medicine and feeling very frustrated and overwhelmed and confused. I decided to educate myself and basically heal my gut and learn how to address my skin from the inside out. So that's really, you know, the big picture of how I became a dietitian. And now I'm very passionate about helping individuals do the same and really find a journey that allows them to find sustainable healing.

    Regan Jones 8:38 Eventhough I know some of your background and some of your story, I actually didn't even realize that it were it was the connection between skin and gut health. That was really the first starting point. I mean, I know you now as a gut health dietitian, who works with a number of different conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, constipation, IBS, you know, SIBO, I knew that I didn't, I didn't even realize that the skin connection was really the beginning. So that makes it even more special that that's the topic that we're we're talking about today. So let's transition over to actually talking about the gut skin connection. Unpack for listeners, what skin conditions that, you know, research has shown has been associated with gut imbalances.

    Erin Kinney 9:21 There's actually several different skin imbalances that have been shown in research to be influenced by the gut microbiome or at least there to be a correlation between the two. Acne is the most common one that I typically talk to my clients about. eczema, psoriasis, rosacea. udah Karissa, also known as hives, dermatitis, and even vitiligo, and if you even dig a little bit deeper into the research, you'll see a connection between skin cancer and and gut issues. So there's a wide variety of connections here and not limited to just acne and psoriasis.

    Regan Jones 10:00 Ok I did not know that. And I will tell you from a selfish standpoint, and people know this, that I've been listening to the podcast now for seven seasons, that often these topics come up because there's either something happening in my life or the life of someone in my family, that kind of leads me down wanting to know more about it. And specifically, when I saw one of your posts that talked about skin issues, and the the connection to acne, I mean, I'm the mother of two teenage boys. And so that is something that's certainly on my radar radar. So I'm really excited to kind of unpack this a little bit and see if the knowledge that I gained from you can actually help them. So let's talk about getting some of that knowledge. How long really are we talking about, that you would take someone to see some changes in their skin health, when they're working on healing their gut. And I think one of the most important things that we need to talk about is like when we say healing your gut to change skin issues, like we have to talk about what does that look like? So let's talk about both of those things, the timing, the timeline, and then really, functionally, what are we talking about in terms of, of healing the gut?

    Erin Kinney 11:09 Yeah, and this is, this can be very frustrating for a lot of patience. And, you know, I'm very much able to sympathize when it comes to skin issues. Because when I had acne, you know, this was in middle school, high school, this is a very vulnerable time for most people. And not to say that it's ever, you know, a comfortable time to have issues with your skin. But you know, you're you're looking for some urgency, right? And I remember going to doctors and asking for, you know, what's the quick fix? How can I get rid of this as soon as possible. And of course, the first line of treatment is typically antibiotics or topicals. And, as we know, this can further present issues with the gut microbiome. And so when we talk about the gut skin connection, there's several different mechanisms that are involved. And we don't have time to go over every single one today. But the first one is immune involvement. So this, the microbiome is a it's a key regulator for our immune system. And it helps to maintain this healthy balance by communicating with different tissues and organs in this very bi directional manner. So if we have dysbiosis in the skin or in the gut microbiome, because we do have a skin microbiome as well, this is associated with an altered immune response. So this is where we can see patients developing, you know, things like atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, because of this immune involvement. In addition to that, right, we have the more obvious side of you know, when it comes to dietetics, we know that we absorb nutrients in the gut. And if we have inflammation, immune dysfunction, dysbiosis, meaning an imbalance of bacteria in the gut, that's going to interfere with certain nutrients that are essential for healthy skin, things like zinc, vitamin C, iron proteins. So it's really important to consider those two aspects. In addition to that the fact that our microbiome is the largest endocrine organ producing 30 different hormone like compounds, short chain fatty acids, cortisol neurotransmitters like GABA, serotonin, dopamine. So there's several different mechanisms that we're looking at. And each individual is going to have a different story of what their gut health looks like, what their hormonal profile looks like, you know, how long their journey has been with this gut imbalance or skin imbalance, the healing journey in and of itself, right, the big the big question of how long is it going to take for my skin to get better? And the thing that I tell clients always is that what I've found in my practice is that the skin is usually the last thing to heal. And this can this can be very frustrating, right? As I mentioned, we all want that quick fix, and we want to see results right away. But as mentioned, the gut is involved in so many different aspects of our health and when we're getting to the root cause of the gut issues, therefore skin issues, then we typically need to go through this gut healing process. Maybe we need to eradicate bacteria like H. Pylori, which are strongly associated with gut and skin issues. Candida maybe they're the patient has a lot of intestinal permeability, meaning what's inside the gut is able to transfer out into our bloodstream where it typically isn't, that's going to activate a lot of immune response and inflammation. So those things alone eradications imbalances, you know, those take time. So to think about, you know, how long it's going to take for healing the skin and seeing improvements in the skin. I usually have patients have a realistic timeline of at least three months, and that's a minimum. Sometimes it can take six months for patients to really start seeing benefits but what I've seen And anecdotally in my practice is that it is typically the last thing to heal, they'll first start to notice maybe improvements and energy improvements in digestion and mood. And then towards the end, their skin starts to really reap those benefits.

    Regan Jones 15:14 Okay, so let's let's think about if someone I'm trying to think through like just a case scenario and how you handle it in your practice, say you have a teen or a young adult who really has historically for years been suffering from pretty severe acne, let my listeners know, like, what is the process look like, on your end of working with that person? Because it sounds like what I'm hearing for from you is that we can't just give generalities about, Hey, these are the five steps that you need to take to clear up your acne, for instance, because the underlying condition that may be there may or may be a number of different things, how do you tease that out? To to figure out to figure out what the course of treatment is for them?

    Erin Kinney 15:58 That's a great question. And, you know, it really, really depends on the person and their intake form. And food record, we always start there with the basics. And this is this goes for any condition, right? We always, always look at what they're eating, what their lifestyle is, like, if they're getting enough sleep. And those are the baseline things, because you know, those can make a huge, huge difference. And then we might do further testing. So we might do a stool test, I use the GI map in my practice, and have found it to be very useful in terms of, you know, looking at overgrowth of bacteria looking at intestinal permeability. And that will really guide us on more of a deeper level, if there is a, you know, strong involvement in the gut and the gut immune system, in terms of you know, how we're addressing the treatment plan. What I wanted what I what I wanted to address today was all of the different, you know, nuances where people will say, Oh, dairy, or sugar, or chocolate, these are all acne causing foods. But in reality, we don't actually know that the research is is so conflicting on, you know, those foods in their associations with acne. So we're really looking at gut imbalances, we're looking at immune involvement, we're gonna look at vitamin D, because we know that's involved with the immune system, we're going to look at b 12, to make sure that they're having optimal absorption of certain vitamins. So we're going to start with standard blood tests, we might use a stool test. And then if we're really not seeing much showing up on these tests, we might go further and do something like a Dutch panel to look at some hormone imbalance. So the the journey is not very linear for you know, every single person, but we typically start with the basics. And then if we're not seeing much change there, then we're gonna dive more into the functional testing.

    Regan Jones 17:47 Ok that's pretty comprehensive. And you probably threw out a couple of tests there that my audience is less familiar with, because I know they have not popped up on our radar before. So if you don't mind do a little bit of a deeper dive into what the GI MAP test is. And what the Dutch testing is.

    Erin Kinney 18:04 The GI map is a highly specific PCR DNA stool analysis. And it is not cheap, you're paying out of pocket for this test. And you take this test and you use a stool sample that you send to a lab and the results come to me to assess, you know, kind of what's going on in their gut microbiome. Now, the things that are reviewed in this test, I mentioned h pylori, so that's a very common type of bacteria that can be overgrown in the gut, it's going to look at intestinal permeability, it's going to look at pancreatic function, it's going to look at inflammation, that marker is calprotectin. It's also going to look at opportunistic bacteria, right. So there's certain types of bacteria like staph strep, there's Citrobacter, there's Klebsiella. Those Those bacteria themselves, if they're shown to be very high in a patient stool tests can be high histamine producing bacteria, which can contribute to skin issues, they can cause inflammatory molecules to be secreted in the gut. So there's, there's so much that you can learn from the GI MAP test. There's also a lot of limitations from the test. And I feel that that's always important to discuss, because I think a lot of patients or even practitioners who aren't familiar with these tests might feel like, you know, we don't really have the research for them. But I can tell you from my practice, and all of the research that I've done, there is a lot that you can gain as long as you know how to interpret the GI map. In addition to the GI map, there's the Dutch test and the Dutch test. They have several different types of tests. They have cycle mapping tests they have, I forget the other types of tests that they have, but they have the Dutch test. They have multiple different types of tests that you can use to assess hormones, but also their metabolites. So When you go and get a standard blood tests for hormones, right, you go in and maybe you're checking estrogen, maybe you're checking progesterone, prolactin, FSH, LH, you're just looking at one single point in time. And what's great about the Dutch test is that you're not using blood, you're using a urinalysis and saliva, which are much more accurate for things like cortisol, things like FSH, LH, estrogen, and you're also looking at metabolites and pathways for these hormones. So we know that there's three different types of estrogen, right, e one, e two, e three, and the pathways where these estrogens go is really important for assessing breast cancer risk detoxification pathways. So a very, very in depth way to assess hormone balance that you will not find in conventional medicine. So these two tests can be really helpful in assessing a patient's underlying root cause.

    Regan Jones 20:54 Okay, so I that is a great explanation of some of the more detailed testing and some of the testing that you use in your practice. I am going to, though put myself in the position of the listener, who is saying, Okay, I'm not either at a place to or willing to actually do a really deep dive with a practitioner at this point. Do you have any general guidelines for me so and, you know, thinking through, like you mentioned, hey, the research is not clear that you can eliminate dairy, and it would improve things or you can eliminate sugar? Do you have any general guidelines, though, for people, if they're thinking yeah, I would like to begin to either evaluate or just try to implement some, some gut healing strategies, just to see if it improves my skin health.

    Erin Kinney 21:40 So the trouble with this, and I, I always have to add the nuances. And that's because there are certain foods that can be claimed to be gut healing. But for example, you know, bone broth might be might be marketed as a gut healing food. But if you have a patient who has histamine intolerance, which is causing you to carry on psoriasis, then that food is not going to be gut healing for them, it's actually going to exacerbate those issues. So my My best tip for listeners, if they're not looking to invest in those options, is to start keeping a food diary of food and symptom diary. And one big reason why this can be helpful, especially with thinking about hormone involvement is if you're starting to notice any trends into when your eczema is flaring up, maybe you notice that's happening when you're really stressed. If you're still in your premenstrual years, maybe you're noticing that it's right around ovulation and in your luteal phase. So just understanding maybe some trends or triggers that could be coming up for you can kind of guide you in the direction of what could be a large factor into why you're experiencing these issues.

    Regan Jones 22:49 I think that's an excellent tip. Because so many times some of the guidelines that we give to people for various things do involve eliminating this taking that, you know, really just trying to jump in and implement things that are going to air quotes, fix the problem. But it doesn't cost anything to keep a food diary. And it is amazing. Once you actually start recording different things and start looking for patterns, how they will show up in a way when you've recorded them that you just your brain can't remember to see those connections. So I think that's a wonderful tip.

    Erin Kinney 23:24 Yeah, and that was honestly the biggest game changer for me. And my own journey was the second that I actually put pen to paper and said, Alright, I'm going to start keeping track of this, I started to make these connections. And that was really, you know, a big helpful tool for me. And so for patients, it's a low cost. It's not, you know, it is time consuming to do. But that investment that you're making is worth it. And it also empowers you as the patient, because you're actually learning a lot about your body.

    Regan Jones 23:53 I love that. That's a great perspective. Okay, so one of the sort of final questions that I have for you really has to do with kind of, I guess, the opposite, in terms of like, Are there skin conditions that really don't, aren't associated with overt gut issues?

    Erin Kinney 24:10 That's a great question. And I think more of the research that I've done is finding these associations, but in general, there seems to be it's kind of the chicken or the egg situation. So most patients who have some type of skin issue, whether the gut is the root cause or not, they tend to have some gut imbalance from what I've seen in the research. And you know, whether it's due to hormonal imbalance or food sensitivities, those other outside factors typically still influence the gut microbiome. So I honestly don't know I don't I don't I haven't seen any specific condition that I've listed that isn't associated with some imbalance in the gut.

    Regan Jones 24:53 You know, it's just amazing to hear you frame it that way and explain it, you know, based on what you've seen in the room. Search, which this is what you do day in day out, because you mentioned earlier, you know, going to your doctor and a doctor prescribing topicals. And it does seem to be that that is typically the standard approach is either some sort of prescription or some sort of topical, and to think that likely the root cause is not being addressed. You know, it's, it's a miss, really, if you think about it.

    Erin Kinney 25:25 Right. And and, you know, there's even harsher treatments that patients are being prescribed. I had a family member growing up who was on Accutane, I think many people are familiar with this, if they've ever struggled with pretty severe acne, and this was going to be the next step for me. And, you know, there's a lot of side effects, including side effects to the gut microbiome for the long term of using these medications. And I'm, I am not anti medication, trust me, I have used medications in my life that have really changed my life. But in general, we have to kind of think about the implications that some of these antibiotics or things like Accutane can have on our gut microbiome long term, if there's something that we can do to avoid it, that would be the ideal route. Ideal.

    Regan Jones 26:10 Absolutely. I could not agree more. Okay. So Erin, on this particular topic, is there anything that I haven't asked you about that you think listeners need to know?

    Erin Kinney 26:19 I think you know, a lot of people want to know about probiotics, that might be something to touch on just briefly, you know, patients want to know, what's the best probiotic for X skin health, or what's the best probiotic for, you know, vaginal health. And we do have associations between, you know, what's what's the most well researched probiotic strain that has been useful in this condition, and in a small case study, say, and, unfortunately, we don't, we're just not there in terms of how we can use probiotics. And in fact, some probiotics even exacerbate skin issues. So I would tread lightly with probiotics, I would make sure that when you're implementing them, you're using them in the right context, you're finding a good quality product. And your expectations are realistic in the sense that, you know, probiotics typically aren't going to cure any sort of gut imbalance on its own, which also leads to you know, skin health. So just important to keep that in mind. Probiotics are beneficial in many ways I use them in my practice, they are well researched, but the way in which we use them, you know, is really important.

    Regan Jones 27:31 And that's really ultimately why it is so important to work with someone like Erin who, who specializes in this area of gut health. I mean, you know, all of us who went to school become to become registered dieticians, you get like a general education and nutrition. But people like Erin, who's who specialize and focus on this area of nutrition, just have an immense amount of knowledge that the rest of us simply don't have, which is, I guess, the segue into you giving everybody some information about where they can find you. Because I think one of the main things that I hope people take away from this is that if skin conditions are something that you are someone that you know, or someone in your family are really struggling with, that it really is worth working with a knowledgeable practitioner, like Erin, to get those things uncovered as to what the root cause is and to get those treated. So Erin, let people know how they can find you online.

    Erin Kinney 28:29 I'm most active on Instagram, nutrition rewired? And I always answer my direct messages. I can't always say that it's within 12 to 24 hours, but I will always get to your messages. So feel free to send me a message there. And then you can also email me at [email protected].

    Regan Jones 28:49 Okay, and as I do with all episodes, I will be sure to place a link in the show notes to both Erin's Instagram account, which is again, actually even though I knew Erin and we are in this faith driven entrepreneurs group together, which was this was actually Instagram was where I first saw some of her content talking about this topic. And I thought, wow, this is this is information that needs to come back to this audience. So her Instagram is very, very good and just full of good information. And then I will also recap her email address in the show notes. And as a reminder, you can always find the show notes on whatever podcast app you are listening to this podcast on. And they are also always archived on this This Unmillennial Life. Erin, thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciate it. Regan,

    Erin Kinney 29:36 Thank you so much for having me. This was a great conversation.

    Regan Jones 29:39 Okay, that wraps up my interview with Erin. Now I want to continue the conversation a little bit farther past just our interview by talking to you on two different fronts. One as a follow up to a session that I attended at finsih which is a food and nutrition Conference and Expo that I attend typically every fall, it's hosted for registered dieticians, and nutrition professionals. And I want to talk to you about some information that was presented specifically related to this topic today, gut and skin connection. And then also tell you about how we anecdotally I've implemented some things with one of my kids and what we've seen from a gut skin connection. So you probably picked up on that Erin said within the context of our interview, that there's really no one magic bullet, you can't just say, get rid of sugar, get rid of this food, get rid of that food, and it's going to be a cure all. And I think that's important to underscore that that really is the framework that we are operating under. However, in attending a conference session at finsih. On this topic, one of the things that was presented is that while it is not conclusive, and I have to underscore that it's not conclusive, there actually is evidence to show that in particular, fluid milk, milk, cow's milk, I would say dairy, but it's not dairy across the board. So milk itself is sometimes in studies associated with an increased incidence of acne. Okay, so let me give a couple of disclaimers. First and foremost, first and foremost, I'm not anti dairy, I'm not anti milk. If you don't know my background, I worked in the dairy industry for many years. And I think that the dairy farmers in this country are some of the finest people in the land. So I don't share that information lightly. Because I know some people can hear something like that and think nobody should consume any dairy ever. I'm presenting it because I have in my family figured out that with one of my children, that there does appear to be a connection for him. I'll unpack that in just a minute. But let's let's go back to this potential connection. So the reason I'm giving it as cautionary is because one of the things that we know, as registered dietitians, is it's very difficult to see cause and effect, unless the study is set up to see cause and effect. In other words, a study that says, hey, tell us about what you how many glasses of milk you drank over the last six months on a daily basis. If someone reports a high amount of milk consumption, and someone else reports a low amount of milk consumption, but their recall is actually not that clear. You know, what they consider a serving is not equivalent. In other words, there can be just like a lot of variables that sort of dirtied up that data for lack of a better way to put it, it can sometimes show correlation, a correlation, a trend that we don't necessarily know is 100% accurate. And that does appear to be one of the bigger criticisms between connecting milk and the incidence of acne. Okay, so you've got that disclaimer, but as I said, because it was presented in this session with two other registered dieticians, who specialized in gut health as something to potentially look at with patients and clients who are suffering from acne, to look at their their fluid milk consumption. I have one of my children who was experiencing pretty significant pretty significant acne. And so being a mom, I came back and say, This is what I've heard. In this session. Let's give it a try. And we did two different things. So we cut out fluid milk. And we also started taking a vitamin supplement that was specifically geared towards teens and healthy skin. Okay, so I feel like I'm almost doing a second episode just to kind of unpack this for you. But I really felt like this was good information to have almost mom to mom, you know less about me as a dietitian and more just like, hey, this is what we did in our family. And we did immediately see an improvement in his skin. Now where it gets interesting is this improvement lasted well for about a month after we implemented it and he was pretty diligent about staying off of milk. And then we were away for the Thanksgiving holidays and he enjoyed a milkshake. And I will admit it was almost instantaneous that his acne came back. Now you may be thinking to yourself, are we talking like severe acne? Are we talking a pimple here and there and the best way that I can describe it is I can see a difference between like a few pimples here and a few pimples there, I consider that a just a normal part of being a teenager. That versus really intense read inflammatory. What I call just like angry at me. And angry at me was what popped up after the milkshake. So is that just coincidence? Does that have to do with other things that we're eating over the Thanksgiving holiday absolutely could be the case. Because the other thing that you see when you kind of look at the literature and look at the conversation, and I've even had this conversation with a pediatrician, and this is pretty clear is that there is also likely a higher incidence of hormonal type acne, especially in teenagers with what's considered a high glycemic index diet. So high glycemic index foods, you know, typically being like higher sugar, things that would raise your blood sugar very, very quickly. So are those things being eaten over Thanksgiving? Absolutely. Could that be the culprit? Maybe so, so I'm not telling you that in any definitive way. But I want you to have just all the different angles to look at. I think Erin has done a phenomenal job of really making the case that for these skin conditions that people struggle with, and acne is just one of many that people have, the very best way to tackle that is with a practitioner like Arun, to really get to the root cause. I know that that is not going to be either an option or of interest to everyone. And so sometimes, we do want to just try things and see how they work out. My caution in saying that is to realize if you have a teenager that is in their growing years, or young adult or child, that you don't just strip out milk from their diet without making sure that you are replacing it adequately, because milk is such an important dietary and easy way of getting in calcium, and to a certain extent, vitamin D. Now, you'll also notice, and I say, this is turning into being almost like a second episode in and of itself. You'll also notice that I said earlier, it didn't doesn't appear that yogurt and cheese fall into the same category. And frankly, I'm not exactly sure why other than the fact that milk is a higher glycemic food, so a lot to consider there. The only other thing that I would add is that prior to my interview with Erin, I actually had purchased for my son, these moles, this multivitamin, to clear face, the improvement in in his skin has, again just sort of correlated with this dietary change in, you know, kind of eliminating fluid milk. But also starting this, this multivitamin, I probably wouldn't have bought it if I had had this interview with Erin first because there are, of course question marks in my mind, like, how beneficial could this be it contains, you know, a multivitamin multi mineral, it's also got some different what you'd say I think more like anti inflammatory compounds, and it has some different probiotics. And after listening to Ayran, I don't know if I would have purchased it, because I probably would have felt like, Hey, this is maybe a waste of my money. But because all of this correlates with the change in his diet and the introduction of this multivitamin. We're sticking with it for the time being. And I also again, just in full transparency, I would not tell you that if you ran into us in the grocery store that you would say, Oh, his face is 100% clear, you know, he is a teenager. And so that is as most of us are in remember, you know, just kind of a constant battle. But I also know, there's just kind of a bigger difference between really angry inflammatory acne, like I mentioned, and pimple here and there. So I hope that you're clear about the difference. I hope that I've made it clear that I don't want you to think that I'm telling you this is definitive science and this is the path to reducing acne but it is something that we've tried, and it appears to have worked. Okay, so a lot of information for me. Stick around for a very quick ending to today's show the odds and ends ending and right now I'm going to jump drop in a quick commercial break.

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    Okay, in today's odds and ends ending I want to just address something that I mentioned sometime in a few episodes back that I was going to talk about. And I originally thought maybe I would talk about it in a full length episode. But I think it's best just to kind of acknowledge it here. And that is why I as a registered dietitian have undertaken a new website that frankly has nothing to do with being a registered dietitian and almost no new nutrition related content whatsoever. And that is my new website, this baking life.com You've heard me talk about it here on the show. But if you're following me on social media, or you are a subscriber and you have been getting some of my emails, you will notice that while some of the recipes that I'm developing do have I guess, the need for a registered dietitian, especially one that understands gluten free baking, there's a gluten free web section there. There is a low carb section up there. But the overwhelming majority of the recipes that I'm developing right now are frankly, not low calorie, they're not low sugar, they're not low carb, they aren't necessarily gluten free. They are just a complete absolute departure from so much of what I've done over the last, gosh, 15 to 20 years of my career. And for those of you who've been around for a long time, you may feel a little bit of whiplash in seeing that. And honestly, I kind of get it. But I started this whole episode off being really transparent with you about you know, why maybe I'm not releasing quite as many episodes as I used to. And a lot of it really boils down to rebuilding a career. And on this side of a cancer diagnosis, when you want to start rebuilding a career that has really frankly kind of pulled back you know, a lot of people pulled back during COVID whether they wanted to or not, and then I pulled back even further just you know going through treatment. In doing so I really have to evaluate how I want to spend my time. And it brings me a great deal of satisfaction and joy, as I said at the beginning of this episode to research topics that are of interest to me and that I think will be helpful to you and that's what This Unmillennial Life podcast exists exists for but as I have remarked and joked with friends over the years when I was doing recipe development on lower sugar this and the higher fiber that and and really what I would say like hardcore nutrition developments sometimes I would remarked people say what I really want to do is just get up and bake muffins every day. And so I'm kind of doing that now. I love it. I grew up Um, my first and oldest and most fond memories of my time in my paternal grandmother's kitchen was spent, you know, baking. I remember being an eighth grader and my mom being at work. And I remember baking a chocolate cake for my granddad. I remember my first published recipe was, I think, is like a kindergarten or a first grader. And it was a plum cake that I had learned to bake with my grandmother. I remember being in college and one of my favorite classes, my degree is actually in nutrition and food science. And one of my favorite classes in college was a food science lab. And, you know, you'd go like eight in the morning and cook biscuits to learn about chemical chemical leavening and bring them home to your roommates. And these are just really fun memories that have, you know, followed me all of my life. I remember my very first full time job, I was a Food Editor, Assistant food editor at Weight Watchers magazine, and my boss then, and I would joke about how I had this cake stand. And I always had something baked in the cake stand. And so really, for me, baking has been something that most of my life has been, you know, a pastime, so to speak. And I am not a super accomplished Baker, you know, I don't I wasn't trained in, in French pastries, I just learned how to do basic baking, a lot of quick and easy baking baking that the average person can do and that the average family's going to enjoy. I learned that many, many years ago. And I frankly, love doing it. And so I guess in some ways, I want to apologize if you have been along on my journey and felt like in time, I've talked about reducing sugar consumption, which I still think is very, very important. But I don't think that just reducing sugar consumption in your life means that you can never have yummy desserts. And certainly in my life, what I've realized is I have one child who is literally what I can count are months away from being out of my home, having these kids, you know, it's one of those things like I want to bake for my kids and I want to bake things for them that they get super excited about and that they are treats and they are things that, you know, don't, you don't necessarily need to eat three meals a day worth of. But it's something that I love. It's something that I enjoy. And to be honest with you the site is growing very quickly, because apparently there are plenty of people out there who share my love of baking for their friends and family but want to do it in an easy way. Because that's absolutely what makes this baking life.com different than most baking websites. I do not make it very time consuming lengthy recipes. And that's another one of those things that has maybe popped up as a criticism, I use convenient products, I use things like boxed cake mixes. And I do that because frankly, they work. And they're standardized. And I know if I call for them and you use one that your product is more likely to turn out in like minded because there are no variations and how much you scoop and measure. And that's not to say that there are not recipes up there that are from scratch. There absolutely are. But I am always looking with that website to both combine what is the easiest way to get this baked good out of the oven and shared with friends and family. What's the easiest way to do that without sacrificing taste. So if that at all appeals to you, I hope you'll sign up for recipe notifications from this baking life.com. And if it doesn't appeal to you, and you really have just always been around for the more hardcore nutrition content, don't go anywhere. That is what's still going to be here on this podcast. I don't plan for that to change any. I have again appreciated in the last couple of years a new spirit towards balance and happiness and pursuing things that you enjoy in a way that I didn't before. Sort of everything changed in the last few years. So this has been a pretty lengthy EFS episode as I alter how frequently episodes may be released, it may be that some of these episodes get a little bit longer to kind of sneak everything in. So as I say at the end of every episode, I am just so appreciative for you being here and listening, subscribing, downloading and of course, sharing with a friend as we close out this year. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Have a great week.

    Other Related Podcasts Episode You'll Enjoy

    11 December 2023, 10:45 am
  • 41 minutes 36 seconds
    no. 129 - The Uterine Fibroids Episode

    Uterine fibroids may affect as many as 8 in 10 women by the time they reach menopause. This episode uncovers what uterine fibroids are, and what causes them, as well as discussing both symptoms and treatments.

    THIS UNMILLENNIAL LIFE PODCAST SHOW NOTES

    LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    COMMERCIAL LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50, uterine fibroids

    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

    (transcript generated through AI; may contain spelling errors)

    Regan Jones 0:00 Hey there podcast listeners. Before we jump into today's episode, I want to mention something that I usually mention at the end of every episode, if you don't hang around till the end, you may have missed that I very often will ask for you to rate and review this unmillennial life on whatever podcast app you are listening to this podcast on. Based on the number of people that I know listen, versus the number of ratings and reviews that I've gotten over the years, I know that there are still plenty of you who have not had a chance to rate and review the podcast. And probably some of that is because initially, to give a rating on Apple podcasts, it used to be that you had to write a review, and I know many of us are just not comfortable doing that. But the good news is that now you don't have to write a review, you can easily give this unmillennial life a five star rating on Apple podcasts simply by going to the show in your podcast app scrolling down below the episodes and then you'll see ratings and reviews tap to rate and if you would select that five star rating there I would be so appreciative. As I say at the end of every episode, it really does help Apple podcast know that this unmillennial life is a podcast they should be recommending to other people. And with that, let's get on with the show. If your skin doesn't know whether to break out a wrinkle if you're caught between planning the third grade class party and researching retirement plans, or if you want to work out but the idea of CrossFit makes your 40 Something knees a you've come to the right place. Welcome to This Unmillennial Life.

    I'm your host Regan Jones and welcome to episode 129 of this unmillennial life. Now first of all, I want to give an apology for any of you over the last few episodes, who have experienced a technical glitch that is happening on not my end. But the end of the advertising company that I work with for this unmillennial life. Let me say up front, I know that ads can be annoying, I also appreciate your understanding that it costs money to host and produce a podcast. And as a self employed podcaster. And blogger, advertisements are one of the ways that I make my income. One of the main ways right now however, I never want advertisements to be something that are so annoying or disruptive that they reduce the quality of the show. And I know because I've experienced it myself, that what has happened in some of the recent episodes is that the spot in the episode that I have allocated for a commercial break has actually not been where the advertising company has dropped those in and I have let them know that that is a problem. They have assured me that they are working on it live for the time being I have turned off any automated ads that would roll in the middle of the podcast so as not to disrupt the flow. So if that happened to you, I'm so sorry. Just know that I am aware of the problem. It is something that's happening on there in not mine, but I want to be sensitive to that. And for the time being. I will turn that off until we can get those issues resolved. Okay, that all said let's jump into today's episode. You already know based on the title of this episode that today we're talking about uterine fibroids, and joining me to discuss uterine fibroids is Kristin Marlin Kristen's a board certified nurse midwife, she has over 20 years of experience in women's health. And she really is an expert in menopause and feminine longevity. She's going to tell you a little bit more about her company that she co founded fim jeberti. But mostly what we will be talking about today would be sort of the prevalence of Uterine Fibroids Symptoms that you want to be aware of traditional treatment, and then how in her practice, they actually treat with some non traditional, more integrated wellness methods. So that I'll just simply welcome Kristen, Kristen, and welcome to the show.

    Kristin Mallon 3:55 Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be here.

    Regan Jones 3:58 I really appreciate that when I was looking for someone to address this topic of uterine fibroids, that you were one of the people that came across my desk, you have a fascinating story with the company that you launched. And I think that we can really focus today on helping women understand a little bit more about uterine fibroids and then also maybe give them a different viewpoint on how they can be treated. So before we jump into that topic, though, I do want you to give listeners a little bit of background on your company for longevity. Yeah, so

    Kristin Mallon 4:32 I'm the co founder and CEO of a company called Femgevity Health with is which is a concierge telemedicine platform for women working with hormone balancing specifically during menopause and perimenopause. And then we also focus in on feminine longevity,

    Regan Jones 4:50 feminine longevity that's I would assume the way the name The name came about is that right?

    Kristin Mallon 4:56 Yeah. So a lot of longevity. The medicine that's kind of practice now is really male focused and male dominant. A lot of the studies that come out about longevity, and a lot of the molecules that are used in longevity are really focused on how they affect men. And the clinical trials are done on men. And so what we focus on is really like, how does how did those studies apply to women? What can we use? What can we not use, and then also the really important component in a woman's life about how when a woman goes through perimenopause, menopause and menopause and how she does that, and how that sets her up for longevity going forward.

    Regan Jones 5:31 And you said, it's a tele telehealth based practice, you have nurses, medical doctors explained to me just a little bit more about who is on your staff, if someone you know, down the line is interested in becoming a part of this, this group or seeking out your services, let's just know a little bit more about the company and who they would be interacting with. Yeah, so

    Kristin Mallon 5:53 our protocols are all medical based. It's all medical doctors and nurse practitioners. And so we do some nutritionist nutritional counseling, we do some medical counseling in terms of mental health counseling, but the basis of what we do is really getting labs and diagnostic data and then prescribing accordingly, whether it's nutraceuticals, or supplements, or medications or hormones themselves.

    Regan Jones 6:18 Okay. All right. Well, thank you for walking that out for everybody. Now, I want to just kind of go ahead and jump into the topic on hand today, and that's really uterine fibroids. This is something that came up as a topic really based on listener interest. Most people who've been listening to the podcast for a number of years know that things pop up, either, because there's something that's going on in my own unmillennial life or in the lives of those people who are my friends, family, or listeners of the show, and uterine fibroids actually has been suggested a number of different times. So let's first set the stage and talk to people about what uterine fibroids actually are. And if you will give them some sort of idea of what causes them.

    Kristin Mallon 6:58 Yeah, so uterine fibroids really are non cancerous tumors. So people don't really like that word tumor because they do associated with cancer, but they are non cancerous growths that are coming from the uterine cavities, either outside or around the uterine cavity themselves.

    Regan Jones 7:16 Okay. And then, in terms of causes, can you give us a little bit of an idea of like, what causes uterine fibroids,

    Kristin Mallon 7:23 fibroids are really kind of a black hole. And we don't really understand fibroids as much as we'd like. But there's a lot of different theories about what causes uterine fibroids. So from our perspective, and this was a kind of a thought that was really made popular by a doctor called Dr. John Lee, he actually has a website called I think it's Dr. John Lee md.com. But the concept of estrogen dominance, because estrogen is a hormone that feeds the growth of, of fibroids. And so estrogen dominance is something that's pretty commonly seen nowadays, it's not a medical term that's really adopted, there's no ICD 10 code. If you go to like a regular generic OB GYN, they're gonna be like, that doesn't really exist, kind of the way that a lot of kind of traditional conventional doctors don't think that Adrenal Fatigue is really exists. That's where a lot of the thought is about where fibroids come from. Although there are risk factors that are associated with fibroids like having a period early like having your first period before the age of 10. Having less pregnancies being on hormonal birth conception, there are certain endocrine factors like being exposed to D S, which isn't really used anymore isn't so common anymore, but that was something that was more common in women that were born in the 50s or 40s. Obesity is also associated with fibroids diet, especially a diet high in red meats and dairy, alcohol, smoking, and genetics are all risk factors for developing fibroids.

    Regan Jones 8:55 Okay, so if a woman is sitting and listening to this and is thinking, gosh, I have some of these risk risk factors. clarify for me, because this is a statistic that I've seen, and I just want to understand it a little bit better. from your standpoint. Do all women who have uterine fibroids do all of them? No. Are they all symptomatic? And the next part of that question is what are some of the symptoms that people would be looking for? Yeah, that's a

    Kristin Mallon 9:21 really great question. So I think also, we can't really talk about the incidence and prevalence of uterine fibroids without talking about the significant disparity in the high incidence among black females as well. And we can kind of get into that a little bit later about the theories about why black females have a significantly higher proportion of having uterine fibroids. There's some studies that say, I've seen studies that say one in four women will have fibroids by the time they reach the menopausal years and I've seen studies as high as 80% of women will have uterine fibroids by the time they reach the menopausal years. A lot of times these fibroids especially in the early years of the fibroid growth and development, they are asymptomatic. And so, you know, I am a certified nurse midwife. And so I've done a lot of C sections and been into a lot of uterine cavities and many, many times in those C sections, probably about 30 or 40% of the time. And these are women who are younger and their young reproductive years 20s 30s and 40s. And we'll find a fibroid in the C section. Totally. Nobody had any idea about it and we didn't suspect about and even this woman was having ultrasounds in her pregnancy because fibroids can sometimes be difficult to see on ultrasound, especially when an obstetric cinematographer or so nog refer that's really doing pregnancy based ultrasounds and doesn't specialize in gynecologic based ultrasounds is reading the ultrasounds or looking at the ultrasounds and they're really looking at what's going on with the pregnancy. They're not always thinking about, Okay, what's going on with the fibroids? So, it's a little bit like I said fibroids is kind of a black hole. In general, it's a little bit of an unknown, but I would say more than half of women might exactly have fibroids, and then not even know they have them. And then you did ask about the symptoms of fibroids. So there's three, there's so many symptoms of fibroids, but there's three main symptoms that kind of really signify that fibroids are kind of at a later stage or larger. So number one is is bleeding, heavy bleeding, irregular, bleeding, painful bleeding. And this can sometimes be hard to diagnose, because this can also be associated with things like endometriosis, and so they can sometimes get confused. Does a woman have fibroids or does a woman have endometriosis? Or does she have both both are high estrogenic states they both kind of are result of having high circulating estrogen, or more estrogen in relation to the balance of the other hormones. There's also sometimes women can actually feel them, they can actually feel the fiber, they'll feel groco They'll feel like Oh, this isn't there's a hard ball here like so the palpation of feeling them is very real. And then pain can be the the number one symptom. So it's really those three things. Although there are other symptoms that go along with it urinary symptoms go along with it, pressure symptoms go along with it kind of like a bloating or a bulky feeling. There's so many things that happen with fibroids specifically. But I would say those are the top three symptoms that women really feel along with being totally asymptomatic and not feeling anything.

    Regan Jones 12:22 Okay, good. Thank you for clarifying all that. Okay, so what I want to do is I want to briefly talk about and you give listeners just sort of an idea of kind of the current treatments that you see within what I would call the traditional medical community, how it's currently how have fibroids are treated currently. And then I think the area that you specialize in, let's talk about the alternatives, the non surgical or natural treatments that it sounds like that you all are using in your practice. So cover both of those for my listeners.

    Kristin Mallon 12:54 Yeah, so I think a great way to kind of understand the there. So there's three tiers of treatment that are kind of traditionally used in conventional medical therapies. And I think to kind of understand them, it's helpful to understand the different types of fibroids. And this was something that you did allude to in the beginning, and I can circle back to that now, but there's different types of fibroids. So kind of from like the least severe to the most severe. There's fibroids that are pedants related, so they're attached by the stock, like a stock to the uterus, or to the uterine cavity, sometimes, like on ultrasound, they can actually look like ovaries, they usually can be palpated through the skin, although not always depending on the size of them. And they're usually pretty asymptomatic. They don't bother the uterine cavity, because as a woman is having her menstrual cycle and the lining is being shed, these are on the outside of the uterus, and a woman doesn't necessarily notice them or feel them. The next kind of more serious as we kind of moved down would be something called a sub serosal fibroid or a sub serosal myoma. And these kind of originate from the smooth muscle tissue layer of the uterus or the myometrium. And they're on the cirrhosis surface of the uterus. And so sometimes they also similarly like don't really have the same effects of causing heavy bleeding, although sometimes they can because they're really more like they're coming from the myometrium. And they're not the same as a submucosal fibroid or submucosal myometrium, which is when the when the fibroid is actually like in the mucosal wall of the uterine cavity. And so this is when you're going to have the fibroid getting in the way of the period and the uterus is going to feel like it's kind of like you know, when something's in your nose and you feel like something's in your nose, well, that's what's going on in your uterus, like your uterus is trying to expel every single month, something that's along the inside lining of the wall. And so that's why there's so many heavy periods and so much pain. I mean, some women actually explain the pain of these periods as childbirth like and they're not far off and they're not wrong. Because the uterus is actually trying to expel something from the uterus when there's a submucosal fibroid. There's also cervical fibroids to, which are fibroids that can sometimes be found like within the the service server itself, which is more of like the neck of the uterus. So I think understanding kind of like, the different types helps to understand the treatments too. So there's three tiers. So there's usually the first tier which includes really kind of traditional medical therapy. So this is when someone will get put on birth control pills, or they'll get put on some sort of progestin containing IUD like a Skyla or a Mirena IUD, and that's really just meant to control the pain and the bleeding that's associated with the fibroids. Every once in a while there's hysteroscopic resection of the submucosal fibroids. So sometimes it's a very, very minor minor surgery that's done it can sometimes even be done in office or you know, in an outpatient setting, where a surgeon goes in and just removes the fibroids that are irritating the wall of the uterus. The second tear is, I think, starting to become much, much more common and we've seen developments now in the this tear of treating fibroids which are with gonadotropin antagonists are gonna trigger an agonist and they kind of work the same way, even though it's weird, like one is an antagonist and one is an agonist, but they reduce the growth of the fibroid itself. And these are medications like that you might have heard of like, or Alyssa and Lupron and my friend Ray, they're taken either in injection or pill form. And this basically is used to shrink the fiber. And they work really well, especially for women who kind of have moderate symptoms, not so much severe symptoms or debilitating bleeding or pain every single month. But for the moderate symptoms, they do sometimes work really well. Some women don't necessarily like the side effects, because the bleeding can be irregular. And for some women, it just doesn't work well, because they don't like oh, I have to take an injection every single week, or every single month, they might not like how it makes them feel. And so they like the control of something like birth control, or they like the control of something whether it's just a pill that they take every single day. And then there is in that tier, that second tier something called uterine artery embolization, which is when a surgeon will kind of go in to the uterine arteries or the blood supply, like whatever the blood supply that's feeding the fibroid itself, and they'll put st kind of like almost like a sand into near and around the stock or near and around the base of the fibroid and then create a clot and then that decreases blood flow to the uterine fibroid itself. And then the third tier would be more like focus surgery where someone is going in and having a full myomectomy. You know, this can sometimes be done vaginally or through the abdomen and actually opening up the abdomen and removing the fibroids that way, or endometrial ablation. Um, that's not usually done in women who want to have children in the future, although sometimes it can be and then, of course, hysterectomy is kind of like the ultimate, you know, you've tried everything and you've exhausted all of your options. And that's the only choice that we have left. So that's kind of the way fibroids work and the different types of treatments that are available.

    Regan Jones 18:29 Okay, but you all have I, as I understand it, correct me if I'm wrong, some different and more natural treatments. Is that right?

    Kristin Mallon 18:37 Well, a lot of what we do is kind of like what I talked about in the beginning. And and I think that it also goes along with early diagnosis and early intervention. You know, there's not really a great standard within the OB GYN community of how often or how early you should be using ultrasound GYN ultrasounds to screen for certain things, like fibroids, and even things like ovarian cancer. So in my practice, we've always been incredibly, incredibly proactive. And we we offer ultrasounds pretty much to everyone across the board that's in their 30s and up, and so we're able to kind of pick up on these fibroids much earlier. fibroid doesn't can't always be picked up on on ultrasound, and sometimes MRI needs to be used. But if a fibroids big enough where it's going to be a problem and needs treatment, especially whether it's natural treatment or pharmacological treatment, an ultrasound is usually enough to be able to give us the information that we need to kind of understand where to go from there. And even in asymptomatic women and I think this is like a huge opportunity for women's health to get better is that we should be using GYN ultrasounds more as a screening tool to help us pick up these are these fibroids much much earlier so we're not waiting till a woman is symptomatic and then working with the fibroid when a woman is symptomatic because often a woman has had that fibroid for many many years and she had No idea before she starts to have the symptoms of the heavy bleeding and the pressure and the pain and the urinary symptoms, etc. So yeah, so I'm happy to talk about how we how we treat it. So because I mentioned that we really kind of see it as this hyper estrogenic state or an estrogen dominant state, what we really work on is controlling the estrogen dominance. So it's not so much that the ovaries which you know, produce the majority of the sex steroid hormones, when it comes to progesterone and estrogen for women are producing more estrogen than they should be, what's really happening is other hormones are starting to decline. And then the ratio of estrogen to other hormones like progesterone DHEA, and testosterone is off. And so when we support and correct for those other hormones, and we bring those other hormones back up to their normal levels, we find that we're not creating the high estrogen or the hyper estrogenic states that are very common for women in their late 30s, and 40s, which lead to fibroid growth. So there's a lot of different ways that we do that. So number one is testing. So we do a lot of diagnostic testing to see, where's the woman's hormones, where's the woman's hormones at different points in her cycle, because the the cycle is really divided into two phases. It's divided into the follicular phase, which is a phase that's dominated by estrogen, and then the luteal phase. You know, there's the ovulate ovulation, which happens right in the middle, but then the luteal phase, which is dominated by progesterone. So checking, we like to check hormones three times a month in the follicular phase at ovulation. And then then luteal phase to see where the hormones are falling and what ranges are normal. And this is actually believe it or not, I think it's crazy. But it's a pretty big controversy out there, among other people who do hormone balancing, or who do type GYN types of services like this, because they're like, Oh, you don't need to test like hormones vary too much like you're not going to get information and you don't need to test, that's a very common thing that we hear, yeah, I've heard that. But getting the getting the hormone levels at the different times of the month, you're gonna get a range. So for example, if you test someone in the beginning of the month, and their extra dial level is 400, versus 50, or versus five, you're going to know much, much more because maybe the range of that person at 400, that range isn't going to be five to 400. If they're 400, in the beginning of the month, you know that that that range is probably something more like 200 to 400 or 200 to 600. So even though you're not getting an exact number, you're still getting a sense of the range of where that hormone is falling at that specific time of the month, which is why I think it's so so important. And as I think we develop more types of tools, there's a lot of tools now we have mirror care, we have probe, we have mental Pro, we have a lot of tools now where we can test urine metabolites at home, and we can track the menstrual cycle at home and understand not not as perfectly as serum and not a perfectly as blood testing. We can track what's going on with the menstrual cycle, to understand what hormones are high and low, and then balancing them out with herbs with nutrients with gut microbiome balancing, or with bioidenticals or even pharmacologic, if they're necessary.

    Regan Jones 23:16 That last part that you talked about, the testing with urine metabolites was new to me. So I am very familiar with doing serum testing of different hormone levels, and I will reinforce exactly what you say. I mean, I've had multiple doctors, OBGYN, say over the years. Oh, no, there's no point in doing that. Because you're not ut doesn't tell you anything, because hormones fluctuate. But I know that there's always been an alternative viewpoint. And there's, you know, the opportunity to to have that testing done. And I have had that done and looked at some of that information over the years. But as you were initially talking about the validity of checking hormones throughout the course of a woman's cycle, in my mind, I was thinking, Well, yeah, but how many times does somebody want to go in and have their blood drawn for serum levels, but I love what you said about the fact that there are these tests that do this on a urine metabolite level. So these are, these are home based kits that someone would be able to get through your practice. And that's how you all would assess the hormone levels throughout that month.

    Kristin Mallon 24:22 Is that right? Yes. So actually, these these hormone tests are available over the counter. And they're becoming I mean, more and more popular by the month, I feel almost every month, I find that a new test is popping up that will test urine metabolites at home. And in addition to that, there's a lot of new testing that's being done now with saliva as well. So I think that this that, you know, it's funny because my colleagues and I always talk about all the time like the things that are kind of like outdated that like those of us that are in practice every day hands on patients all the time like reading lab reading lab. and working with women and understanding their symptoms, know what's really going to come down the pike, I think versus a lot of doctors that sometimes they lose track with patients, and they get into research, which is incredibly, incredibly valuable and serves its purpose. But we were like this lab debate is going to end soon because we get so much information and then we're able to pinpoint exactly rather than guessing rather than overtreating and giving someone something that they don't need, we're able to pinpoint exactly what a woman needs, and then watch how it changes in her urine metabolites or serum. If someone like you said, is willing to come in three times a month, you know, sometimes a woman's like, oh, I live right by the office, no big, I'll pop on over. But yeah, for someone who lives an hour, 45 minutes from a lab, that's not really realistic for someone to do something like that.

    Regan Jones 25:50 And especially for people who are a little bit needle phobic, I'm not one of those people don't mind getting blood draws, but I know plenty people who are so truly the the trade off and being able to do something like this on a urine metabolite level is, is really a benefit. And I will just reinforce what you have said, I'm not someone who is working with patients day in and day out. But as an avid observer in the health community, and as a registered dietitian, it is fascinating to me, where we are today with all of the different levels of testing down to a fingerstick a urine metabolite, like you say, a saliva test, the things that we can do, really home based that it really would have taken a major, you know, act of God almost to get some sort of doctor's order to get a test done, you know, say just 10 years ago.

    Kristin Mallon 26:43 Yeah, absolutely. And I'm always so thrilled and pleased because I think the more women, I've always thought that you know, as a practitioner, and as a clinician, as a certified nurse midwife, like we're really partners with the women we treat in their care. And I'm an expert in, you know, obstetrics and really non intervention based gynecology, that's, you know, I'm not a GYN surgeon, but they're experts in themselves and them and them as individuals. And so when we work together, we can use my expertise in GYN and obstetrics and their expertise in themselves to come up with the best, most perfect plan for them. And that's really, the more power they have. And the more information they have in their hands, the more we can work together to create a really perfect, beautiful plan for them.

    Regan Jones 27:27 Yeah, absolutely. I constantly advocate on this podcast for people to be, you know, their biggest advocate for themselves. And it sometimes takes a complex medical team to do that. But it really sounds like what you all have, that you are doing in this sort of concierge telehealth space, with women at midlife is very fascinating. And like I said at the beginning, I'm so glad that you and I were able to connect because I think that you have certainly on this topic, shed some light in ways that I did not know and hopefully have piqued people's interest to maybe understand a little bit better their risk factors for uterine fibroids, and explore whether or not that's something that they need to be taking into consideration and potentially evaluating in the future for themselves. So Kristen, is there anything else about this topic that I haven't asked you that you think people need to know?

    Kristin Mallon 28:17 There are some more natural ways to treat fibroids for sure. And you know that, I'm sure also as a nutritionist, you know a lot that dairy is a big culprit when it comes to fibroids and women who have sensitivities to dairy can often benefit from going on dairy free diets, and a lot of times gluten free diets. Certainly liver detoxification helps women to metabolize estrogen much better. And so also working with gut microbiome balancing and finding if there's high enzymes in the gut microbiome, like beta glucuronidation. And then you know, supplementing with calcium D helps women to metabolize estrogen more efficiently, making sure they're cleaning up dyes, and like tartrazine and, you know, any type of preservatives in their diet so that their liver can process all of their estrogen more efficiently are really great natural ways to kind of help women with fibroids. The other thing that's really big about fibroids too, is vitamin D deficiency. So that's a that's like been proven time and time again in multiple studies that women that have vitamin D deficiencies are at a higher risk for developing fibroids and having worsening fibroids and morsing fibroid symptoms so correcting that can also be a really helpful thing for women to do.

    Regan Jones 29:30 I I'm so glad that you mentioned that vitamin D deficiency is one of those things that I'm actually super passionate about because I think that people are walking around with really poor vitamin D levels and don't necessarily know it. So I would love for you to just briefly give people your recommendation in terms of like, go have your vitamin D check. I mean, I want your recommendation not mine, but is it go have your vitamin D checked and then you know based on what the levels are, maybe you need a different you maybe you need to be aiming for a higher level than what's published, you know, just kind of walk out your thoughts on vitamin D treatment for us.

    Kristin Mallon 30:04 So vitamin D is kind of tricky because synthetic vitamin D can also be harsh and toxic too. So you got to find the right forms of vitamin D, obviously, Vitamin D from the sun is the best type of vitamin D, but a lot of us wear protective sunscreen. So we're not always getting the vitamin D that we need there. We really like to see vitamin D levels over 50. And I know that there's some people like 80, I think that there's kind of different ranges that different people aim for and try to kind of achieve the there's, sometimes people talk about insufficiency versus optimal. So we're usually shooting for vitamin D, like at least over 35 minimum. And then if a woman's willing to work with us on it, we'd like to get it over 50 And then the sun is best. So one of the things is there was a study out of Australia about the use of sunglasses. And so we try to kind of work with women about not wearing sunglasses to help their body actually produce more vitamin D, if they're open to that, going into the sun without sunscreen, maybe for just five or 1510 minutes and then applying the sunscreen so that they're able to absorb the sun as best as possible. And then when those methods don't work, and we can't raise the vitamin D up enough, especially if women live in, you know places where like not California where there's sun all the time, then we do supplement usually with some sort of liquid based vitamin D or hyper absorbable vitamin D, and then watch the levels very closely because too much vitamin D can also start to cause symptoms too, especially when it's from a synthetic source.

    Regan Jones 31:37 Okay, very good. Thank you for I just kind of added that at the end because I was really felt like that was like a public public service announcement that we needed to, to share with people. Well, Kristen, you have just been a wealth of knowledge today if you will do my listeners a favor and let them know how they can find you online and on social media. All

    Kristin Mallon 31:54 of our social media handles our FEM devotee, just ask them devotee on Facebook Instagram Tik Tok. We do run a lot of lives on Instagram on Monday nights at 9pm. Eastern so people can come and ask us questions there.

    Regan Jones 32:08 We try to make ourselves pretty available. And our website is longevity health.com. And as I do with every episode, I will be sure to place a link in the show notes to both the FIM devotee website and the Instagram account. Kristen, thank you so much for joining me today. It's really a pleasure.

    Kristin Mallon 32:24 Thank you so much for having me. It was just so fun to talk to you.

    Regan Jones 32:27 That wraps up my interview with Kristin. And you probably noticed that at some point, I mentioned that uterine fibroids had actually been suggested as a topic to do on this unmillennial life, I believe by a couple of different people. And if you've never taken the opportunity to consider episodes that you're interested in, that you would like for me to research a guest that I could interview, now is the time to do that I am planning for the second half of season seven, which will be coming up after the holidays. And you can submit that information to me simply by sending me an email Reagan at thisunmillenniallife.com. I'll be sure and place my email address in the show notes. Or I have a guest form where you can fill that information out topic suggestions. And that is one of the ways that some of the topics over the years have come up is by suggestions by people just like you so that guest form will also be linked in the show notes. I'm gonna take a quick break but stick around for the odds and ends ending where we're going to be talking about one of my absolute new favorite beauty products that I love. That's coming up next. Today's broadcast is brought to you buy your color guru, your color guru.com is where I went this last year to get my color consultation done. And there's a little bit of comedy in thinking about having your colors done. I say that in air quotes because many of us as Unmillennials remember back in the days of the 80s of doing your color, but let me tell you what your color Guru is doing is so far beyond that. And they're giving you so many tools when you actually have your colors done. And the reason that I say so far beyond that is because back in the day when we would find out what our colors were I think it was like four seasons winter, summer, fall and spring but your color Guru is much more robust than that. For instance, I'm a moonlit summer which is different than a sunlit summer. And one of the things that I love the most about your color guru and the color consultation consultation that I had done is that it comes with a color card. I have both a printed card that I can throw in my purse so that when I am out shopping I can pull that card out of my purse and hold it up to anything that I'm looking at to determine Hey, is this one of my best colors? I also have the JPEG on my phone so if I don't have the card with me, I just simply look at my phone and it has been invaluable. It makes shopping so much easier. So if you are interested in having your colors gone or gifting it to someone else, you can get 10% off off of your color guru consultation by simply using the code Regan which is our E g a n at checkout at your color guru.com There's a link in the show notes. Okay, you've heard in the commercial break that I do with color guru that I really feel like that color guru has been one of the best things that I've done in the last few years from a beauty standpoint simply because I can wear something that's one color not getting compliments put something on it's in my color guru color palette and I seem to get tons of compliments and I love that but the product that I want to tell you about today is one that is easily accessible to virtually all of us. And maybe many of you know about this product. You've seen it at your local you know drugstore slash pharmacy and that is the technologist tanning drops. So people who've been around the podcast for a while know that I've talked about different self tanners, I have a spray tan setup here at home that I use. It's not nearly as expensive as you would think I bought it years ago it's probably increased in price. But I'll place a link in the show notes to that in case you're interested in just kind of the overall full body tanning as we head into the winter. I did an episode on skin cancer with a dermatologist and we talked about self tan and how that really is probably a better alternative than you know getting out and baking in the sun to get that beautiful glow. And for us going into the winter that's not even an option if you wanted it to be so setting all of that aside the only thing about the full body self tanning setup is I don't necessarily feel that it always gives me the best look on my face. The color of it just is sometimes a little too dark and and I just haven't felt like it was you know the best and I have tried different facial tanning moisturizers over the years and I don't know I just haven't found one that I was in love with have had plenty that I thought we're okay. But recently, I on a whim somewhat grabbed a tiny little tube of technologist tanning drops they were near the checkout and a CVS in one of these you know kiosks that has like the trial size travel size beauty products very similar to what you see in Sephora or Ulta. But but like CVS and Walgreens have started to incorporate those. So I grabbed those little tanning drops and I put them in my sunscreen that I was wearing for the day and so that was the first time I used it was on a Saturday well by that Tuesday I went to the gym to a new class that I attend immediately the instructor said oh my gosh did you recently get a facial Your face is glowing and I I kind of thought it was sort of funny because I have not gotten a facial as I said to you and last week's episode when I was talking about the press on nails my budget is really tight right now my beauty budget it it is much tighter than it used to be so that's not really something that I can pursue right now getting facials although I absolutely love them. So I thought that was a little bit comical and I said no it's probably these tanning drops. And it wasn't three minutes later that a woman that I know with the gym that I workout with she came in and said oh gosh did you just get back from the beach you you're just simply glowing. So I thought gosh, you know these must be pretty good. And then over the course of the next two days I had someone that I was on FaceTime with say gosh your face looks great today What did you do and then I was back at the gym two days later. And another woman that I work out with said gosh your face looks great. What what did you do so you know I gotta say four people within the course of about two to three days. mentioning it made me think you know what, this is a really good product and it's affordable. I'm not sure exactly how much I paid at CVS or Walgreens but I do know that on Amazon and I will place a link to this product in the show. Show Notes. This is an Amazon affiliate link as a reminder, that means if you purchase your prices the same but I might receive a very very small commission. They are about $20 on Amazon and you may look at the size of the bottle it's pretty small and think oh my goodness $20 For that tiny little bottle. But you only need about two drops for a little small POM of moisturizer or like I said I am putting it in my my sunscreen. It's highly effective. And it virtually has no odor that is another thing that I like about it. If you've ever used any type of face tanner on you know, obviously your face, then you know that sometimes the smell of those self trainers can be very off putting and having it really really close to your nose like that. It's just something that you tend to smell all day long. So I'm very very pleased with these. Again, the name of the brand are is technologist and you can probably find them at your local drugstore. Down here, we primarily have CVS and Walgreens, but you can get them on Amazon. And there is a link in the show notes. So that makes two weeks back to back with beauty budget buys. As a reminder, in case you've never listened to the episode that I did on cleaner beauty at the drugstore, I'll place a link in the show notes so that you can go back and refresh yourselves on those. That episode is a little bit old, in that I did it two or three years ago, but I don't think that the products have changed tremendously. And there is a handout that goes with ads that you can take with you to the drugstore if you're looking for cleaner Beauty Buys think things like beauty counter, which I love, but it's again, not within my budget right now. So alternatives to beauty counter type products. And with that we will wrap up today's episode have already done at the beginning of this episode in my plea for five star reviews on Apple podcasts. But honestly the best way that you can help this podcast grow is simply by sharing it with a friend, you can let your friends know that this umillennial life is available wherever they listen to their favorite podcasts, including, of course, Apple podcast and Spotify, which is where most people listen to this podcast. If you want to make sure that you never miss an episode of this unmillennial life. Go to thisunmillenniallife.com/subscribe to sign up for episode notifications. As I always say thank you so much for listening, subscribing, downloading and for sharing with a friend. I hope you have a great week.

     Disclosure: Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

    30 October 2023, 10:59 am
  • 30 minutes 22 seconds
    no. 128 - The Hearing Loss and Dementia Episode

    Many people are unaware of the connection between hearing loss and dementia. This episode covers what you need to know.

      THIS UNMILLENNIAL LIFE PODCAST SHOW NOTES – HEARING LOSS AND DEMENTIA LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE COMMERCIAL OR AFFILIATE LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE EPISODE KEYWORDS

    podcast, umillennial, Gen X, podcasts for women, women over 40, women over 50, hearing loss, dementia

    EPISODE TRANSCRIPT – HEARING LOSS AND DEMENTIA

    (transcript generated through AI; may contain spelling errors)

    0:00 Today’s broadcast is brought to you by your color guru, your color guru.com is where I went this last year to get my color consultation done. And there’s a little bit of comedy in thinking about having your colors done. I say that in air quotes because many of us as unmillennials, remember back in the days of the 80s, doing your color, but let me tell you what your color Guru is doing is so far beyond that. And they’re giving you so many tools when you actually have your colors done. And the reason that I say so far beyond that is because back in the day, when we would find out what our colors were, I think it was like four seasons, winter, summer, fall and spring. But your color Guru is much more robust than that. For instance, I’m a moonlit summer which is different than a sunlit summer. And one of the things that I love the most about your color guru and the color consultation that I had done is that it comes with a color card. I have both a printed card that I can throw in my purse, so that when I am out shopping, I can pull that card out of my purse and hold it up to anything that I’m looking at to determine Hey, is this one my best colors. I also have the JPEG on my phone. So if I don’t have the card with me, I just simply look at my phone and it has been invaluable. It makes shopping so much easier. So if you are interested in having your colors gone, or gifting it to someone else, you can get 10% off of your color guru consultation by simply using the code Regan, which is r e g, a n at checkout at your color guru.com There’s a link in the show notes.

    Regan Jones 1:39 If your skin doesn’t know whether to break out or wrinkle if you’re caught between planning the third grade class party and researching retirement plans or if you want to work out but the idea of CrossFit makes your 40 Something knees ache, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome to this unmillennial life.

    Regan Jones 2:04 I’m your host Regan Jones and welcome to today’s show. Thanks for letting me take the last couple of Monday’s off if you wondered where I was. There is a National Nutrition conference that happens every fall for registered dietitians. It had been a few years since I had been able to attend. And this year I was actually speaking at the conference about podcasting ironically. So I took the week before the conference to get ready. And I took the week of the conference off. So I do apologize for not bringing you new episodes. But rest assured that I got new ideas at this conference for things that I would love to come back and do episodes on for you here on the show. Now today’s episode, though, has nothing to do with nutrition. If you’ve been a listener of this unmillennial life for a while you know that while I am a registered dietician, and technically a personal trainer, although I do not personally drain anyone by of course, an avid fitness fan for myself, you know that over the years, I do my very best to cover topics that don’t have anything to do with nutrition. And it seems like and looking back over the episodes that I’ve posted recently, there’s been a good bit of nutrition, a good bit about different supplements. And so I hope that you really enjoy today’s episode as a complete departure from a nutrition topic. Now that’s not to say that this is not a health topic. Certainly the connection between dementia and hearing loss. The majority of what today’s episode is about is of extreme importance as we look to ourselves, and our parents, our friends and family and see aging beginning to happen. We’ve talked about parenting aging parents and what some of that looks like. And hearing loss is actually one of those things that some of my friends and I tend to joke about, you know, when we go out to dinner, and we’re really struggling to hear people at the table, it’s kind of been one of these ongoing jokes about oh, we’re just getting older and we can’t hear as well. But when I was told this summer by a member of my family that she had read about the link between dementia and hearing loss, I thought this is something that I want to know more about. So in today’s episode, I am interviewing Dr. Amy Sarow. Dr. Sarow is a lead audiologist for soundly.com. And she’s also a Forbes Health Advisory Board member. She promotes healthy hearing awareness and her perspectives have been featured on NPR in People magazine, GQ Wall Street Journal and more. The first part of this episode we talk about hearing loss in general and then we will get to unpacking what the believed reasons are that tie hearing loss with dementia. So with that, I’ll say Dr. Sarow. Welcome to the show.

    Dr. Amy Sarow 4:48 Thanks so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

    Regan Jones

    Well, this is a topic that I gotta tell you is a departure from some of the recent topics that we’ve had on the show that have been pretty nutrition-oriented. So I’m really happy to have You and your expertise as an audiologist for soundly.com. Before we jump into really looking at hearing loss, and you know when to test for that, and the topic that I’m most interested in this connection that I’ve learned about hearing loss and dementia, why don’t you tell the audience a little bit about yourself, and then also soundly.com, since that’s ultimately the way that I discovered you?

    Dr. Amy Sarow

    Absolutely. So I am an audiologist or a doctor of audiology. I studied in my bachelor’s degree, I actually studied German. So I started my work as a language instructor in Germany. And then when I came back to the US a few years later, and I switched career paths, I was thinking, you know, speech pathology, and I was guided towards audiology, because of the difference you can really make in people’s lives. And helping them communicate, which relates to my teaching experience, as well. So now with sound Lee, I’ve had some work in the clinical realm, but now with sound leave a lot of what I do is education and sharing good information with consumers, helping them to make good decisions about their hearing health care, because it’s a topic that’s come up a lot, especially since the pandemic, and so I just, I love being able to support people and give them the the right information and resources to help them get started in the process. Yeah, because this certainly is an area of healthcare, as you say that I feel like having looked at it over the last decade or so, and seeing people in my life that increasingly are struggling with hearing loss is one that I just don’t think that the average consumer knows that much about, you know, we have this, it seems to me, you can correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me we have this sort of tendency to think that, you know, just only very elderly people are wearing hearing aids, or people that were born maybe with some sort of, you know, hearing their hearing being affected. But I believe the reality is, it’s a much bigger issue for a lot of people at younger ages than than we realize. Would you say that’s the case? Yes, absolutely. You hit the nail on the head. So it’s approximately one in 10. Americans, actually, that has some degree of hearing loss and at least one year, and so most of us know, somebody, it could be a parent could be a sibling, a grandparent. And while hearing loss does affect us, more tend to affect us, as we age, it can affect people of any age, you know, children can be born with hearing loss, or people can develop it in their teens and their 20s in midlife. So definitely, it’s a very important topic to talk about.

    Regan Jones

    So tell me a little bit about your thoughts on, you know, obviously, we’ve talked about kind of the incidence of hearing loss. But you know, what are some tips that people can take away from this conversation about preventing hearing loss?

    Dr. Amy Sarow

    Yes, this is a topic that I’ve been talking about a lot. And I’m excited that it’s getting some attention. So one of the biggest trends that we’re seeing right now, in young people actually is Gen Z, and millennials especially, is the headphone use. So that using the earbuds and the headphones and turning the volume all the way up on a phone or an electronic device is leading to noise-induced hearing loss, and we’re expecting in the coming decades, that will affect as many as 1 billion people worldwide. So it’s a really, it’s, it’s a problem. So what I like to tell people are just some practical tips about how what they can do in their daily life to prevent that from happening. So the FDA does not regulate the volume, if you turn it all the way up, and it can go well over 100 decibels, which is enough to cause damage within just 15 minutes or even less. So what I like to say is if you have someone in arm’s length from you, you should still be able to hear that person talking to you, if you can’t hear them. That’s a sign it’s too loud. So thinking about the volume is important. Limiting your time if you’re going to be somewhere where the volume is louder, you know, spending, taking breaks, spending less time in that environment that’s going to help. And then using hearing protection is a big one too. And we’re seeing a lot of companies coming up now with hearing protection that’s more comfortable or a little more stylish. For example, the loop earplugs those are really popular, they come in colors where you know, people who wear them almost as a fashion statement and they’re they’re happy to have them nearby. So those are a couple practical tips. And then just something in general. It all starts with awareness, because sometimes we don’t realize how loud our environments are

    or so just having that awareness, maybe using a free decibel meter to check your environment, if you’re curious about that. Okay, so moving away from just the tips about how we can reduce noise induced hearing loss. What about people who are curious about maybe the amount of hearing loss that they’re already experiencing? When Should people consider getting a hearing test? Yes. So this is also an important topic, because so as I mentioned, even younger people now have more noise exposure. And so anyone who’s concerned about their hearing, or maybe they’re in, you know, they, they do target shooting or loud recreational sports, concerts, that sort of thing. I would even recommend people just checking their hearing in their 20s and their 30s. But definitely, I would like everyone to have a baseline hearing test by age 50. If they don’t have any concerns, prior to that. So that’s, that’s definitely my recommendation. Because when we catch hearing loss early, it’s so much easier to treat it stay on top of it, you have that information, and then you can make good decisions from there.

    Regan Jones

    So much of what we talk about here on this podcast for women, especially at midlife is about just early detection of lots of different issues. And so I think you have certainly made the case for, you know why you need to start with that baseline testing by age 50. Talk to me, though a little bit about what people might otter it automatically be looking for in their lives as maybe common signs of hearing loss that beg the need for going and having some testing done.

    Dr. Amy Sarow

    So some of the most common signs that people will describe is turning the TV up louder. It sounds like people are mumbling, they’re not speaking clearly. Maybe they feel more fatigued. And this is one where we don’t always notice that it’s because of hearing. But maybe we’re just kind of straining. And by the end of the day, we feel really fatigued, really tired, because we’re working really hard to understand what people are saying. Sometimes people notice they’re feeling more isolated. They’re not feeling like they’re part of the conversation, because they’re having trouble telling, you know, Oh, was that code or code or road? I’m not sure what they said. So it makes them feel, you know, left out. So those are all some common signs that we see if you have also maybe a difference and how you hear from one year to the other. You might have trouble localizing sounds telling where what direction things are coming from.

    Regan Jones 12:46 Yeah, so those are a lot of the common ones that we see a couple of things that I picked up on when you talked about straining to hear and you talked about isolation. Those are two of the things that I read about when I first got interested in the in the main topic that I wanted to talk about today. The association between hearing loss and dementia, those were two of the things that were mentioned as potential reasons there is a connection. So as we kind of move over from general hearing loss and specifically unpack the connection between hearing loss and dementia. Can you walk that out? Like what what does the data show about whether or not there is an association? I mean, you know, I could be wrong, maybe there isn’t. But is there Association? And if so, what do we believe are the reasons behind that?

    Dr. Amy Sarow

    Yes, absolutely. There is an association and you definitely picked up on that aspect of it. So we see there was a study from the Lancet in 2017. And then more recently in 2020, about exactly this topic. So we know with cognitive decline, it’s an area of research that’s growing, and we’re learning about the connection between hearing loss and cognitive decline or dementia. There are some modifiable risk factors that we we can do something about now, obviously, some things we can’t like, you can’t change your family history. We can’t do anything about aging, those are things that we can’t change. But things that we can change are, you know, treating hearing loss if we have it, and especially we show that by about age 55 if we can catch it there and intervene, we have about a 32% lower risk, I believe it is of developing dementia. So it’s really important and that’s another reason why I like to recommend the by age 50 baseline because that’s going to catch it before that age. But also when we think about it’s not just the hearing loss, like as we talked about that’s important for a lot of different reasons, but also it changes the other modifiable or potentially my to final risk factors. So hearing loss changes the social dynamics. If you think about how someone with hearing loss is involved in a conversation, like we said, maybe they’re straining to hear, and they thought somebody said they thought somebody told a joke, but actually, they were being serious. You know, how is that person going to feel when they react inappropriately? And then you know, what will? How will that change the way that they interact with individuals or maybe feel more isolated, more prone to depression, and those are also modifiable or potentially modifiable risk factors. So if hearing loss has downstream effects on our health, when a person becomes depressed, then perhaps they’re engaging less with others have less social connection, maybe that’s also giving them less energy to engage in physical activity or to lead a healthy lifestyle. So it’s all related.

    Regan Jones

    Yeah, I just think it’s fascinating. And the first time that someone ever pointed it out to me that there was a connection. You know, I just, I was actually really very astonished because I thought, Why have I never heard that there’s a connection between hearing loss and dementia. But then when you start seeing why, because of things like you’ve just mentioned, the isolation, the potential awkwardness of social situations, the strain, I mean, one, I believe, one source that I read, and again, you can you’re the expert, you can correct me if I’m wrong, said that there is a belief that the brain is having to struggle so hard to hear and and understand what’s going on that it’s essentially kind of taking energy away from other crucial functions of the brain. Is that based in anything that you believe is credible? Or what are your thoughts on that?

    Dr. Amy Sarow

    Yes, definitely. So when you think about if you’re straining, or if you’ve, if you’ve been at a presentation, let’s say where the microphone is really low, and you’re wanting to hear what the person is saying, but you can’t hear them really well. So you’re really straining, that is a different kind of listening. You’re trying to get the individual words, rather than using using higher up cognitive processes to think about, okay, what they’re saying is related to something that I read or that I’ve heard about, you’re thinking about, you know, what are your thoughts and feelings about it. So you’re engaging in a deeper level. And when you don’t have those cognitive resources free to engage the brain in other ways, it does limit what what you’re able to do and where your focus is definitely. And we’ve seen that also with fMRI studies. So they tested individuals with hearing loss who had untreated hearing loss, and had them monitored to see what parts of the brain were engaging. And they then they then treated them with hearing aids and had them wear them for a year. And they did see actually, there was a big difference in the parts of the brain that were engaging when they were listening to speech. And so we believe that those connections help us to keep cognitively sharp to keep you know, as we say, when if you don’t use it, you lose it like with muscles, when you engage the brain like that it can help to preserve cognition and maintain what we have.

    Regan Jones

    That is just I’m sorry, but it’s so fascinating to me, because this is an area a lot of times I do, you know, interviews that are related to my field of study, which is nutrition. And sometimes things pop up and I think, oh, gosh, I’ve never heard that before. But this is information that’s so new to me, and so fascinating. And so timely. Now, you mentioned that sort of age 50 For baseline, and by age 55, potentially intervening and reducing that, that risk of dementia. Let’s talk about intervention. Let’s talk about something that you just mentioned, hearing aids, I think that’s probably the next most logical question, because we’ve talked about, you know, sort of what the problem is, but we need to talk about the solution. And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, there has historically been a stigma around hearing aids and I don’t think if hearing aids were quite as easy to get as maybe they are now and I know that soundly has some resources in helping people pick out you know, kind of what they’re looking for. So let’s talk about intervening hearing aids and what soundly.com offers.

    Dr. Amy Sarow

    You know, over the counter hearing aids recently came onto the market and October of last year, October 2022. And that was when we saw a lot of interest in people trying to figure out okay, I feel like I have a problem, I want to address it. But how do I get started? What do I do? Because it is a little bit confusing to navigate. You know, there are people that are saying, okay, I can buy this over the counter. But is that my best option? Or should I see somebody? What about Costco? You know, there’s so many different routes you can go to get treatment, to find hearing aids. So we like to help people by giving them resources. So on soundly.com, for example, we have a free hearing test. It’s like a screening, you can do that at home comfortably with headphones in a quiet area, that just gives you an idea, you know, do I have something that needs to be further examined? And then you can go have a comprehensive hearing test with an audiologist. But the best way to get started is to get that first hearing test, because that will tell you, you know, what is my hearing? Like, do I have some hearing loss? What does that look like? Also the person who tests your hearing, ideally, an audiologist can tell you something about if you do have hearing loss, what your best options are, or what might be specific. In your case, for example, some people have a lot of difficulty putting something in their ear, if they’ve noticed, gosh, when I wear headphones, they just don’t stay in. And maybe they have, you know, a narrow ear canal or unusual ear canal geometry, maybe they need a special fit peace. Now, if you have mild to moderate hearing loss, you feel somewhat tech savvy, you’re comfortable with doing things on your own, over the counter options are something that you can try. And some people get started that way. And I like to tell people, if you do over the counter, that’s great. I’m excited to see people you know, take that first step, it’s also important to know your return options, because sometimes people try it and they realize, well, maybe this maybe I should do something different. Maybe I need to see someone so I like them to have all that information. But on soundly.com, we also talk about you know, different types of hearing aids, who’s there’s different brands, and we provide all that information there for people.

    Regan Jones

    It’s a wonderful resource. And I have spent a little bit of time on there looking. And I think the fact that you offer a unit that’s very basic, do it yourself at home initial free hearing test is something that can get people started kind of evaluating, you’ve talked about some of the symptoms that you might already be looking at. And then just being able to give people insight into what is now really a much larger and broader world of hearing aids than ever, ever before. Dr. Sorrow on this topic, is there anything else that I haven’t asked you about that you think listeners need to know?

    Dr. Amy Sarow 22:58 I guess something else that I would mention is sometimes when people think hearing aids, they think, Oh, this is going to be those large beige devices that really stick out. And we at soundly.com We’re also working on stigma, and reducing that there are a lot of images that you’ll see in newspapers and magazines where they they are outdated devices. So I’d like people to know that there are really modern devices that are sleek, you almost don’t notice them when you’re wearing them. And so there are ways to to treat your hearing loss, do it comfortably, and also sometimes even stylish.

    Regan Jones

    I think it’s wonderful that you all have a mission to start reducing stigma as I was listening to you talk, you know, I really thought about, there’s no stigma these days around people wearing glasses that I know of. I mean, I think it’s just sort of, you know, universally accepted that many people need glasses. And when you think about the other big sense that we all are blessed to have if we have our hearing, there’s so much stigma around hearing aids, but it’s very similar, really, when you think about it to the support that we need when we wear glasses. So I think it’s wonderful that you guys are providing that information, and also providing those resources and trying to potentially, you know, turn that around in terms of d stigmatizing the use of of hearing aids. Well, Dr. Sorrow, you have just been a wealth of knowledge today, and I appreciate it before you go, will you just remind people about the website and then if there’s any way that they can connect with you online that you’d like to let them know, please do that as well.

    Dr. Amy Sarow

    Absolutely. Well, it was a pleasure to be on the show today with you and you can find [email protected] I’ve written a lot of articles there on various topics relating to hearing health care. I’m also a member of the Forbes health advisory board so you may see me do In some of those articles there, and you can also find me on LinkedIn. And my last name is spelled S A R O W. Thanks so much for having me.

    Regan Jones

    That wraps up my interview with Dr. Sorrow. I of course will place a link in the show notes to not only Dr. Sorrows profile, but also soundly.com, where you can take the free hearing test initial screening that Dr. Sardo talked about, and she also mentioned the loop earplugs, I’m gonna place the link in the show notes for those as well. I know for many of us when we travel or if we have someone that in our home who snores at night that we’re trying to drown out a little bit of that noise earplugs can be a game changer. And the fact that she mentioned how comfortable these were, and this is her area of expertise, I thought it is worth sharing a link with you. Okay, I’m going to take a quick commercial break and then I will come back for the odds and ends ending of today’s show

    Regan Jones 26:00 Welcome back. So today’s episode is from top to bottom, not nutrition related. As a matter of fact, in the odds and ends ending of today’s show, I want to tell you about a beauty product air quotes beauty product that was shared with me a couple of years ago, and I didn’t try them out. And recently in attending a nutrition conference where I wanted my nails, fingernails to look the best that they could, but frankly didn’t have the time. And honestly really right now don’t have the budget to be going and getting manicures, I did my own home manicure with press on nails now as an unrelenting will when I say press on nails, you probably if you’re not familiar with the new generation of personal nails, you may be having like horror flashback backs to the press on nails of the 80s. But man that is a part of over the counter, do it yourself beauty that has really, really improved over the years. At some point in the last few years. I know I mentioned in an odds and ends ending color street nails, which at the time I was able to get from a friend I would purchase from her she’s not selling them anymore. And I have never really seen those types of films, they’re basically adhesive films that you fit on your nails. I’m not saying those over the counter at you know, the pharmacy slash drugstore, they may exist you may know of some and if you know of some and you like them, and they’re easy to come by and afford affordable sharing with me, I’d love to know more about them and even consider sharing them here on the show. But the nails that I’m actually referring to are by a brand called impress. And these truly are press on nails, but they come in beautiful colors, they’re super easy to apply, all you have to do is peel the backing off and stick them on your nails. They’re pretty secure for a good length of time. And they’re easily customizable and trimmable. I’m a pretty basic person. So I just went with you know, just like a basic cream, but they have all sorts of different colors. And they even make these types of press on nails for your feet. And as I said when I started this as an NS ending segment, these were recommended to me a couple of years ago and somebody sent me a picture and showed me how good they looked and I kind of passed it off. But again in wanting to have a better looking set of nails. For a recent trip I decided to give them a try. They’re so inexpensive on Amazon, they run anywhere from six to $7 and there are 30 different nails in each one. The only thing that I have found that is a little bit difficult is once they begin to start lifting off of the back of your nails towards your cuticles, they really can get stuck in your hair when you like run your fingers through your hair. So you know they’re not maybe the option to keep on forever long term. But if you are like me and find yourself maybe at some point in a bind, you don’t have time to go get a manicure or you don’t want to use that part of your beauty budget to go get a manicure then you may want to give the impress nails a try. And as I do with lots of the products that I recommend, here on the show, I’m going to place a link in the show notes to my Amazon affiliate link. And I have no affiliation with this company. I am as an Amazon affiliate, anytime I reference something or link to it on Amazon, I might receive a small commission if you purchase but your price will always stay the same but want to be sure that we are clear on all of that. And with that I will just thank you for tuning in to today’s episode. If you’ve been around for a while and you’re a fan of this unmillennial life can I ask you to consider leaving a rating and a review for the show that is one of the best ways for podcasts to know that you are a fan of this unmillennial life and equally as importantly, it gives them a nod to share it with other people that it might be a good fit for but Really, the best way that people find out about this unmillennial life is word of mouth. So if I could ask you to share this episode with someone that you think might enjoy it, I would be so appreciative. As always, thank you for listening, subscribing, downloading and of course, sharing with a friend. I hope you have a great week.

    23 October 2023, 8:00 am
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