We Are What We Eat

[Upbeat Guitar Music]

Mike: Welcome everybody. This is Avoiding the Addiction Affliction, brought to you by Westwords Consulting. I'm Mike McGowan.

Mike: You've heard it. You are what you eat. It's more than just an old adage. It's really who we are. We're gonna talk about taking a holistic approach to all that ails us with our guest today.

Mike: Liz, do I get to write Li, do I say Lis or Liz?

Lis: Lis.

Mike: Okay. Lis, it's Elizabeth, but Lis? Lis Schmelzer and Lis is a clinical nutritionist, nutrition sales executive and wellness advocate. Welcome, Lis. How are you?

Lis: I'm great. Thank you for having me.

Mike: Well, I'm so glad you could do this. This is one of the things we've done a 250 or so of these podcasts, and this is an area that we don't touch on nearly enough, right?

Mike: For people's mental health and physical health. And you and I had a conversation that led me to, want you to do this. So let's start with a term that I was unfamiliar with. So call me stupid if you want to. Those of you listening, but what is functional medicine and how is that different from traditional medicine?

Lis: Sure. Great question. So functional medicine is an evidence-based model of individualized care and it focuses on the interconnectedness of everybodies system. So it's more of a systemic approach. It works to uncover the root cause and considers the complexities of what has influenced our short-term and long-term health.

Lis: Because it isn't just one thing. So it's a combination of our environment, our lifestyle, our diet, and our genetics. And so our health over our lifetime is like a treasure map, and we have all these little breadcrumbs that have led us to our current state of health. And it can be a preventative approach, it can be an alternative approach, and it really should be a complimentary approach with conventional medicine.

Lis: And here's why that is extremely important, is because traditional and conventional approaches and functional or integrative approaches are meant to compliment one another. And so I'll use high blood pressure as an example. Conventional medicine will focus on a very acute organ specific intervention, typically involving a prescription that will quickly balance blood pressure, which is absolutely necessary.

Lis: Because if we don't control that, you know, we can end up with. Catastrophic events but with the specific focus on the heart and kidneys, whereas functional medicine will turn to diet and lifestyle and environmental and genetic factors to really work to optimize everything that affects our blood pressure.

Lis: So our sleep, our movement, our stress management, how our body is detoxifying nutritional therapies and using all of those things to balance blood pressure. And it does take more time and more of a commitment.

Mike: It's funny you should say that because after we talked, I told my son who was having some issues about this and, and he, so he went to see somebody.

Mike: He loved it. And you know, I've had a few issues, like most people, and you're right, they treat it and. I like my doctors, but they ask questions like, how's your nutrition? And if you go I think it's okay, then it ends there and...

Lis: Right. There's no context around that.

Mike: Right. And so you know, to explore it in more depth, I think is what you're talking about.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: Well, and or so let's get to it. We put, as Americans especially, we put a lot of stuff into our body that it isn't good for it.

Lis: Yeah. Food access is something I'm really passionate about and I often hear people say, you know, just exercise the willpower to choose healthy food. And food quality and food access, specifically fresh food access, they're not simple solution problems. And the reality is the quality and access to fresh food is an interconnected web that spans from soil microbiology to global trade policies and everything in between. So we have to consider how, you know, agricultural practices, pesticide and herbicide use, fertilizer and nutrient use, the quality of the soil and the water health. Land availability and our practices like regenerative agriculture being used, and is the water source being tested?

Lis: And then of course, how does this all impact our environment? And then we look at the supply chain integrity and specifically food miles. So how far is our food traveling from seed to table? How are we processing it? Are we able to store it? And you know, really if we can't keep our food from spoiling after harvest, it's no use to the end consumer.

Lis: And that whole process does greatly degrade the nutrient density of the fresh food. And then we have the layer of federal oversight, which affects, you know, everything we just discussed, including allowable ingredients, agricultural practices what's being used as preservatives. And lastly the socioeconomics.

Lis: So we have these at risk low income neighborhoods that are just saturated with convenience stores or fast food options. And these places are really heavily populated with processed or shelf stable foods. But there are, you know, transportation barriers. And this can include limited or unreliable access to public transportation.

Lis: And we also have educational barriers with nutrition knowledge and how to cook and prepare and store fresh food. So you have all of these things together and it's really the perfect storm and it can be a real struggle to get quality food, and it's not a problem that can be solved by the farmers or the manufacturers or the politicians or the consumers.

Lis: It's an everybody problem and it really calls for an everybody solution.

Mike: Wow. That's really a great summary of it because a lot of the populations that you mentioned that don't have access or availability of fresh foods report higher incidences of obesity and diabetes in a variety of different diseases.

Mike: That is, we are what we consume, right?

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: I think we all have a bunch. I've read, we all have a bunch of microplastics coursing through our system, whatever those do, right?

Lis: Yes. There's very powerful clinical literature that's coming out and yeah, I mean. I am grateful that we've had the ability to make that transition in our home to use other materials outside of plastic, but I know that's not the same for everyone.

Lis: And it really goes back to how our food is processed and packaged and stored.

Mike: When I was a kid we ate so differently. And I think a lot of people say that it's not it's not a get off my lawn. I'm the old guy, but we did and, and having a soda was a treat. And I remember our parents might buy a case of 10 ounce bottles, and that would be split between two of us.

Mike: So no big gulp allowed.

Lis: My grandmother was a registered dietician and my grandfather was a general surgeon. So I grew up with, you know, the best of both worlds in functional medicine and conventional medicine. But my grandma would get orange chocolate, she loved. And I remember she would take one piece and then she would package it up and put it away, and that was her pleasure and her treat for the day.

Mike: Yeah. I love when you go into a store now they have the bigger bars, right, the bigger chocolate, and they say sharing size. I'm like, share it with who? I ain't sharing this with nobody. (laughs) Right.

Lis: Yeah.

Mike: It's like, come on. Or, or the other one that cracks me up is when you see a bag and it's like number of servings per container.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: Okay, for most people, the minute you open a bag that goes down to one.

Lis: Right.

Mike: So there's one serving per container no matter what they say.

Lis: Right.

Mike: We put a lot, and I know people. That's this the other one I wanted to get to. I've had people tell me, talk about sugar. Talk about sugar. Talk about sugar.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: There's a lot of people who have given up sugar. Lis, my mom was a recovering alcoholic and when she stopped drinking, she switched to Coca-Cola and she drank a lot of it, and she used to early in her recovery, dump teaspoons of sugar into the Coca-Cola.

Lis: Wow.

Mike: So something was... right. Something must have been going on in her body that craved that, and then she weaned herself off of that. But sugar is in everything.

Lis: Yeah, I'm really glad you brought this up because sugar is so powerful and I feel almost guilty and a parody discussing this on the heels of Easter after I just ate my weight in jelly beans, right? (laughs)

Lis: But you know, of course we're talking about refined sugar, so not naturally occurring sugars, and these are often referred to as added sugars. But refined sugar is ubiquitous. It's found in very unsuspecting items. Hot and cold cereal, baked goods, pasta, crackers. Obviously the sweets like candy, ice cream, cookies, but drinks like Gatorade or other juices, alcohol, condiments have very high content of added sugar and canned or prepackaged fruit.

Lis: And the problem with refined sugar is it affects the pleasure and reward center of our brain, specifically the feelgood neurotransmitter dopamine, which you're extremely familiar with. And in a way it is similar to the street drug cocaine because it's causing that influx of the neurotransmitter.

Lis: And so this is affecting our motivation and our learning and pleasure and reward. And because of that, it can be very habit forming. And so once this happens, our brain remembers this pleasure and subconsciously encourages us to eat it again. And over time, our dopamine receptors become desensitized, which means our brain is telling us that we need more to feel the same amount of pleasure and reward.

Lis: And you know, this is significantly different than how cocaine or a drug impacts dopamine, right? So cocaine will block the re-uptake or the recycling of that neurotransmitter dopamine, which causes the brain to be flooded with this chemical messenger and causing euphoria, which is a lot different than experiencing pleasure and reward.

Lis: But we actually have visual representation through brain imaging that proves how sugar activates dopamine release. And I think most people would be really surprised to know that sugar activates dopamine at the same intensity as cocaine. And so we're seeing in the brain imaging of obese individuals, the imaging of the reward center of the brain looks similar to those of cocaine addicts because of the desensitization of the dopamine receptors.

Mike: Wow. And when you talk, we're saying sugar, but this includes corn syrup, fructose, right?

Lis: Right, right. So refined sugar, it's like pouring gasoline on our immune system's defense mechanism, which is inflammation. So inflammation is used to help protect the body, to eliminate the threat and support the healing.

Lis: So this becomes detrimental because inflammation is a contributor and at the foundation of obesity, tooth decay, mood and memory disorders, cancer, gastrointestinal disease and especially cardiometabolic illness. And so back to corn syrup. Let me ask you a question. So you did mention that soda was a favorite treat of yours as a kid.

Lis: But tell me what is your favorite candy or indulgence or sweet indulgence?

Mike: Oh my goodness. I'm gonna, oh, this is terrible! This is terrible! People are gonna judge me now.

Lis: No one's judging be honest, Hey, I said I ate a whole bag of jelly beans.

Mike: Yeah. If I'm in a convenience store and I have a choice, I'm pulling out a package of Hostess cupcakes.

Lis: Okay!

Mike: And I'm not even sure. Lis that, that classifies as food. (laughs)

Lis: Well, it's nostalgic to you for some reason, right?

Mike: Well, it tastes good. That's the part. And so when you talk about sugar, the people who've given up sugar tell me, oh, I feel mu so much better. And are they lying? So, I mean, do they or is it, is it hard?

Mike: 'cause it's in so much stuff.

Lis: Right.

Mike: To give it up. To give it up is a lot of work in reading labels and cooking by yourself and staying away from almost everything you can get in a convenience store.

Lis: Right. Well, let me ask you a question. If you eat an apple, which is very high in natural sugar compared to eating your ho ho.

Mike: Cupcake.

Lis: How do you feel? What do you notice about the way that your brain is functioning and your energy levels?

Mike: Well, okay, the energy level, the apple feels better mentally when you eat it and nothing adverse happens to my energy level. The cupcake tastes better, provides me, and it's probably the dopamine rush, provides me some satisfaction, but I think I get truly your grandmother was on the right track.

Mike: I get all the satisfaction I'm looking for out of the first bite of the cupcake.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: I don't need the other one and a half that comes in the package. So the other one and a half is simply just finishing the product.

Lis: Mm-hmm. So here's the main difference with natural sugars and refined sugars besides being synthetic.

Lis: So corn syrup and the white sugar, fruit juice concentrate, any syrup or anything ending with OSE at the end of it. So natural sugars have other nutrients in them, like fiber, protein, fat, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and water. And so what that does is it causes our body to process and absorb it slower in a more modulated way.

Lis: So we don't see those extremes, spikes and sugar rushes that you might experience, which does affect our energy and the way that we process thoughts.

Mike: Hmm. So when I feel better on an apple, that's not a myth. I just do. And when I feel more lethargic, if I eat a pint of ice cream, and I haven't done that for a while, but it's, that's what the body does.

Mike: It reacts to that.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: Well okay, this is part, you, you said it's all of us together, the systems, but there's a lot of articles lately, and people know this, the same food, the same cupcake that I talked about that I can buy here in Wisconsin. It's different if I buy it in Germany.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: There are regulations in other countries.

Mike: We have a lot more additives in our food than other countries do.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: We allow it.

Lis: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So there are major regulatory differences from country to country and as an example. The European Union, the UK, Brazil, and other countries have either completely banned or restricted certain agricultural practices.

Lis: So like pesticide and herbicide use, specifically glyphosate and paraquat, which have extremely harmful health outcomes. And these same countries have also improved their supply chain. So they utilize a more localized, sustainable food system. Local, seasonal, regional ingredients. And what this does is it reduces food miles.

Lis: It reduces food waste, but it also improves nutrient density in the food that they're consuming. So examples would be supporting local farmers and growers using food markets or farmer markets, and then also doing food co-ops. So they're pooling the resources. And then furthermore, these same countries have federal oversight that recognizes and restricts or bans the detrimental health effects of ingredients like the synthetic food coloring and sweeteners because of the health risks.

Lis: So thankfully recently the FDA announced the phasing out and discontinuation of eight synthetic food dyes because of the links to cancer and dementia and other focus related disorders. So I'm hopeful that we'll start to see a trend in that direction.

Mike: We both have, well, I saw you last at a school and I spent a lot of time in schools and those people who cook lunch for the kids do an incredible job because the money they get per pupil is so low.

Mike: I have no idea how they serve anything.

Lis: I know [inaudible] with their recipes and... absolutely.

Mike: So this starts when you're young, not just what you consume, but the messages you get. And so we're talking about a lot of environmental factors, right? Socioeconomic, where you grow up, the messages that you get about health, that all goes into functional medicine, I would think.

Lis: Yes. I mean, there's astounding research proving that if we make an impact at the youth level that we can create generational change. Because when kids come home with all these tools, they're sharing that with their parents. With their grandparents.

Mike: Yeah.

Lis: Their aunts and uncles. So it's super important to make an impact at the,

Lis: at the children youth level.

Mike: That's funny you should say that. I'm grinning because when I've done a lot with drug prevention, right? And so back 20 some years ago, we did a lot on cigarettes and we made an... we... collectively, It's stunning. Almost no kid. Now, I don't wanna talk about vaping, but almost no kid in high school smokes now.

Mike: It's just so amazing. And I would get older people coming up and saying to me, oh, those damn schools 'cause, 'cause the kids were coming home and saying to their grandma, why are you smoking? And it motivated a... are you raising your hand? Did you actually do that?

Lis: I have a memory that I just shared with my family at Easter.

Lis: My grandma smoked Winston's and...

Mike: Is this the same grandma who was...

Lis: No, no, no, this is my other, this is...

Mike: Okay. This is' chocolate Grandma. Right? Okay, go ahead.

Lis: But it was Red Ribbon Week at school. I was in elementary school and we were given a piece of paper and it was a contract and we were supposed to find a family member or a friend and have them sign it that they would agree to quit smoking for 24 hours. And I immediately thought of my grandma. I was so excited to bring this to her, to sign it, and I was standing on her porch so proud, handed her this piece of paper and she ripped it in front of my face! (laughs)

Mike: (laughs) Yeah.

Lis: I mean, that just shows you the power of addiction.

Mike: Yeah. But a lot of those people ended up stopping at some point. And they would say, it's because of my grandkids, it's because of my kids. And so I think that that is a strong message. You know, we don't do nearly enough with this, I don't think.

Mike: I know you do your thing, and I, I know there are people who do, but just the understanding of the role that inflammation plays in the body and in our health is so misunderstood. Don't you think?

Lis: Oh, absolutely. And it's it's ubiquitous. And it's intended, as I mentioned, to be a protective mechanism.

Lis: But when you look at some of the statistics, the top over the counter medications sold in the world are anti-inflammatories and the top prescribed medications are indicated for diabetes. So when you're looking at the correlation, if we follow the physiology of what is causing chronic inflammation, what is causing insulin resistance.

Lis: And not to oversimplify it, but insulin resistance is predominantly chronic low grade inflammation, and it's caused by a number of things, but excess refined sugar intake, physical inactivity. One of my personal favorite topics, the microbiome and imbalances of the microbiome. Poor sleep hygiene, stress imbalance, and toxin exposure and genetic predisposition.

Lis: But when you look at that list. Six out of the seven, we have some level of control over. And so when we're looking at, you know, limiting processed foods and increasing fresh foods, higher in fiber that's really contributing to the, the inflammation epidemic, if you wanna call it that.

Mike: As you click through the list, I'm thinking.

Mike: Got it, got it, got it, got it, got it. You know, it's a miracle I'm talking to you.

Lis: Oh, I know. It's easier said than done, right? (laughs)

Mike: Yeah. Well, since you talked about it being a favorite topic people are going, well, whoa, whoa, whoa. What is that? Talk about the microbiome.

Lis: Yeah, so the microbiome is the trillions of bacteria that live in our intestines and our gut, and it's really shaped by our diet.

Lis: So you said the cliche, we are what we eat. It's 100% true. If we eat inflammatory foods, we're feeding inflammatory bacteria. And so what happens is we end up crowding out our good bacteria by nourishing the bad bacteria and these bad bacteria actually excrete or release pro-inflammatory endotoxins.

Lis: And one that listeners may have heard LPS or lipopolysaccharides triggers systemic inflammation and it also blocks insulin signaling and leads to glucose intolerance and affects our brain function and our emotion. And it's interesting with the weight loss trends that are happening. One of the ways that you can support natural GLP one secretion is through having a healthy microbiome and going back to...

Lis: Well, how do we support a healthy microbiome? Again, it's limiting those processed foods and increasing the amount of fresh food that we're putting into our gut. And then of course, some supplementation with probiotics.

Mike: You know, it's, it's amazing that, we're, many of us, myself included, are weak minded individuals.

Mike: I, about a year and a half ago, I had a, an allergic reaction to a medication that caused me to cough. Have a and, and I went to my doctor. She said, oh, that happens with this med sometimes. The cough will go away in about six to eight weeks. (laughs) And, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I talk for a living. And she said, if you stay away from these things, it will help your cough and then, you know, whatever.

Mike: And it did. So I gave up a lot of what you're talking about. We've talked about today for about eight weeks. Drank tons more water. I felt tons better. I could feel the inflammation going away.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: And then, and this is, don't, again, don't judge me, judge me on the cupcakes. The minute that the coughing ended, I added the diet soda back to my diet.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: And, and just 'cause it says diet or low-cal doesn't mean it's good for you.

Lis: I'm the same way with gluten. I should avoid gluten. I should not eat gluten. And I have done, I'm a gluten-free diet yo-yo'er. But there's certain instances, like when my mother-in-law makes her amazingly delicious dinner rolls, like I am eating one of those dinner rolls. (laughs)

Mike: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know, it's, it's, it's funny And this is all associated with our, all together with our mental health you know, our emotions as well as our physical health.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: This has been just incredibly fascinating. Can we do this again? Can we go into more depth Lis after people say, oh, oh, I wish she would've talked more about X, Y, and Z.

Lis: I would love to I mean, I, we didn't even have the chance to dive into the, the genetics side of everything.

Mike: Yeah. Right.

Lis: Which is super important. And there's actually a pretty new recently emerging line of genetics, branch of genetics called Nutrigenomics. And it, it. Is the study of how nutrition influences our gene expression and how gene variations affect our body process, how our body processes nutrients.

Lis: And so that information is critical with treatment plans and developing nutrition plans. So yeah, I would love to dive into that more.

Mike: Yeah, that would be great. And you know, we started this off the air. You know, I talk to people, those of you who listen. And we were talking about the fact that there's a lot of recovering people that I know who consume a tremendous amount of caffeine, and I would like to talk more about that as well.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: Because young people are consuming an abnormal amount of caffeine. Right. Alcohol is terrible for the, there's no. There's no good amount of alcohol to put into your body. All those, all those fake studies about wine being good for your heart and stuff like that, have all been debunked scientifically.

Mike: So there's a variety of different places we could go from this.

Lis: Well, and it's the, it's the antioxidants that are in the wine, which you can get from other sources.

Mike: Like a billion of other sources.

Lis: Yes. A a lot of food sources that don't contain alcohol or a harmful substance.

Mike: Yeah. So I, I'll leave you this as a getaway.

Mike: If, if when we get off of this today, if I or anyone else wanted to start, we just wanted to start taking better care of ourselves holistically because it's overwhelming to think of the whole package. Where, where, what's a good place to start?

Lis: Most people that I work with start with increased water consumption.

Lis: Believe it or not, it's so simple. It's, it's typically free but just focus on increasing your water consumption to close to 64 ounces a day or higher. Other great starts are phasing out or crowding out those processed foods and increasing your consumption of fresh food intake. And I think that is a great start because you have to make sustainable changes that are lifelong.

Lis: And we just keep building from there. So starting with a really simple implementation or modification and then continue to build, to things like swapping out plastic storage containers for glass or other materials or your cleaning supplies or things like that.

Mike: Well, I'm not gonna let three of my closest people listen to this podcast because they're on, they're on me all the time about increasing my water intake and more fresh foods.

Lis: Oh, yeah.

Mike: So I need them to just do an aha, like I need a hole in the, so,

Lis: So how many ounces of water a day are you getting, Mike?

Mike: Does that count diet soda?

Lis: No.

Mike: No. You know it's funny yesterday, I, I did a series of presentations at a school. So I probably drank a hundred ounces of water yesterday or close.

Lis: Awesome.

Mike: Right?

Lis: 'Cause you were using your voice?

Mike: And I'm in a school, so I'm carrying a bottle. Right. And they all now have these. In Wisconsin folks, we call them bubblers, right?

Lis: Yes.

Mike: Drinking fountains, water fountains. And they all have this where you put the bottle underneath and it fills it up with water.

Lis: Mm-hmm.

Mike: So, you know, I'm filling it up constantly. When I'm not working, I'm much less healthy than when I am working.

Lis: Hmm. Interesting.

Mike: And, and I'm, I'm aware of that. And and part of that is attached to, you know, boredom. What is easy. I had a person the other day ask me what's my favorite thing to eat?

Mike: And my answer, and it's an honest answer, is what's quickest? You know, and that's that.

Lis: Convenience drives us, especially when we have extremely busy schedules. But, you know, there are tricks to being able to increase our water consumption. So you mentioned one, having a refillable water bottle is key.

Lis: Putting in some natural things like pieces of fruit. If you're looking for something that's flavored. And then we can also do things like setting timers because I am also a creature of habit, and if I'm in my work and I'm focused and I'm in my flow, I'm not thinking about taking a sip of my water to get my water consumption in and all of a sudden it's 3:00 PM and I've only had my coffee. (laughs)

Mike: Yeah. So. Right, right.

Lis: I'm right there with you.

Mike: Right. That's great. We can all be more healthy. This has been great. And you know, I do feel a tad guilty, but guilt motivates and I also feel motivated. So the next time we talk, I will be consuming more water and less, less Hostess cupcakes. (laughs)

Lis: Love to hear it. Love to hear it.

Mike: For those of you listening thanks Lis for your expertise and perspective. We hope you find health and wellness, wherever you are.

Mike: For those of you listening, please listen anytime you're able. Share it with people that you know, be safe and take care of your whole self.

Mike: It's a journey that all of us need to be on.