From Bedridden to 90% Symptom-Free: A Functional Medicine Journey with Deborah Genovesi

In this enlightening episode of our podcast, we dive deep into the world of functional medicine with a special guest, Deborah Genovesi, who embodies both the knowledge and personal experience of transformative health. Deborah is a triple-certified functional medicine wellness consultant, renowned for helping high-performing professional women overcome chronic health issues like pain, fatigue, insomnia, and weight struggles through a holistic, root-cause approach.

Ten years ago, she faced her own health crisis, battling fibromyalgia and related issues, being 70 pounds overweight and virtually bedridden. Today, she's about 90% symptom-free and dedicated to helping other women achieve similar health victories using the whole-body approach that worked for her.

This episode is not just a conversation; it's a masterclass in understanding and applying the principles of functional medicine to achieve a healthier, more vibrant life. Whether you're struggling with your health or simply seeking ways to improve it, this episode offers invaluable insights and actionable tips. Join us for a journey of health, empowerment, and transformation.

*This episode was recorded in 2021.

CONNECT WITH THE GUEST:

• Website: http://www.FabulousWithFibro.com
• Social Media: @DeborahGWellness

Transcript

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Journey to Functional Medicine Healing

Nika Lawrie 0:24

Welcome to the Inspired with Mika Laurie podcast . Deborah , welcome to the show . I'm so happy to have you here today .

Deborah Genovesi 0:35

I'm so happy to be here , mika , thanks .

Nika Lawrie 0:38

Yeah , I'm just grateful to have you join us . I'm really excited about the conversation we're going to have today . Functional medicine and kind of this root cause health and wellness . It is totally my mojo , so I'm excited to talk to you and have a conversation about it Fantastic .

Deborah Genovesi 0:53

Me too .

Nika Lawrie 0:54

Yeah , so before we kind of get into the deep dive parts , can you just tell me a little bit about yourself , share a little bit about your backstory and what led you to be interested in functional medicine ?

Deborah Genovesi 1:05

Sure , well , you know , I've said this to you before . I kind of think people who have a broken down car that keeps breaking down start to know the most about cars . This is kind of many of us that are in this field . It's the same thing . It was the same for me About 10 years ago . I was 75 pounds overweight , wracked with pain , essentially bedridden , just really really very sick , and today I'm 90% symptom free , normal on its way , yeah , and it's like night and day and a lot happened in that time .

Deborah Genovesi 1:45

But long story short , for many decades I hadn't felt well . For me , that manifested as the extra weight and weight loss resistance , but also extreme migraines , a lot of neck and back pain , a lot of IBS symptoms , stomach pain . All of that and just it got to the point where at that time I was in a different career . I started out as a TV reporter and I got into public relations and TV production and it was very fast paced and I literally just could not . I just couldn't . After a certain point I couldn't . So I realized . When I actually realized is when I had a very scary thing happen . I went into the doctor for just a routine checkup and the nurse came in and took my blood pressure , looked terrified and ran out of the room and I thought , well , that's not good , but maybe she's having a bad day .

Deborah Genovesi 2:48

You know , I didn't really have much of it I was super type A looking at my watch . When can I get out of here and get on with my day ? You know , I was in that mindset . So the doctor came in right away , took my blood pressure , said okay , we need you to lay back . She asked me if I was dizzy or had a really bad headache . I said I had a really bad headache pretty much every day . I feel like this every day . And she said , okay , well , we're going to start to admit you into the hospital now . And I said wait , wait a minute , what you know . And I yeah , of course I was like snapped back up and looked at my watch and said I have two more appointments this afternoon .

Deborah Genovesi 3:28

You know , I totally kind of didn't get it at that point , right , yeah . And then she said your blood pressure is so high that I need to admit you into the hospital . And I said well , I don't want to do that . She she said if you absolutely won't do that , then I need to give you at least some medication . I can't let you leave this office . I said I don't feel good about medication . That's when she kind of leaned over , looked me in the eye and said Debra , how do you feel about a stroke or a heart attack ? Because that's next for you . And I just kind of went okay , we're not playing around now , we're not playing around . So I checked the medication . I did not go to the hospital Probably not smart , but I didn't .

Deborah Genovesi 4:14

I went on with my day . Second not smart thing came home , did not tell my husband One iota of that , because I knew he would immediately make me go to the house . Right , yeah , but what it did do is it finally got through my thick skull that hey , I'm not winning any points in my misery here . And this is this is crazy . This is now more than just oh , you know , my migraines are so bad that I'm leading meetings to go vomit in the ladies room and come back , but hey , I could still continue on , you know , I mean , this was even way beyond that yeah , yeah .

Deborah Genovesi 4:49

That was the little light bulb moment when I said okay , I've been doing a lot of research into all of this stuff . I've always been sort of on the healthy living kind of side of things . I need to get a team of people together that can help me fast track this , because I'm seriously worried before I die .

Nika Lawrie 5:09

Right . Yeah , I mean I'm kind of floored by the story . It's incredible . I'm so glad that you're okay and that you got better and that you got help . Yeah , I mean that is . I'm speechless listening to it . I mean it was crazy . But the the unfortunate thing is you're not alone . There are so many people that are like that .

Nika Lawrie 5:30

I know , yeah , yeah , you know my , I have a similar story . It's not nearly as scary as yours , but same thing . I was having really bad chest pains for for weeks and weeks , and weeks and I couldn't figure out what was going on with me . And I was actually sitting at a fundraising event for the American Heart Association and a woman got up on stage and was talking about the symptoms of a woman having a heart attack and they're different than most of us know about . They're not . You know you feel the chest pain and your left arm starts hurting and you know that's typical . But there are so many other symptoms for women having heart attacks . And she was talking about it and I was like , oh my gosh , like I just stood up and I looked at my boss , was sitting next to me and I was like I have to go , like I need to go , and he was like okay , like he was like do whatever . And so I called , I called my mom and I was like you need to take me to the hospital . Like I'm scared , I'm having a heart attack , you know , and I was early thirties at this point , so there was no reason I should be having a heart attack and I was still fairly healthy , eating fairly well . But you know , something was seriously wrong .

Nika Lawrie 6:39

So I go to the nearest emergency center . It wasn't like an ER , it was just like the kind of urgent care , but it was the closest place to me . And so I go in and I go up to the desk and to check in , and I tell the lady I'm worried , I'm having a heart attack , I'm having these chest pains . Well , she tells me to go sit in the waiting room and I looked at her and I was like okay , okay , so I did , and I went and sat in the waiting room and my mom met me there and I was there for probably half an hour and finally a nurse comes and , you know , calls us back and the nurse asks well , what do you ? What do you , what's wrong ? And I was like I'm concerned , I'm having a heart attack , what's wrong ? And I was like I'm concerned , I'm having a heart attack .

Nika Lawrie 7:24

Well , the nurse it was a gentleman , he turns completely white . He was like why are you sitting here ? And I was like because your staff told me to . So that was the first like issue that I ran into . So then they come back and hook me up to all the monitors . They are like well , you're not having a heart attack , but there's definitely something's going on . We can see your blood pressure spike and drop and spike and we don't know what it is . So you need to go to an actual ER . So we , my mom and I , get in the car , we drive down to the actual emergency room and they do the same thing . They they get me in right away At least there they don't make me sit right away and they test me and make sure yeah , make sure that I'm not having an actual heart attack .

Nika Lawrie 8:02

But so they test me and say the same thing You're not having a heart attack , but we can see that something is going on . So they're like we're going to . You know we're we're backed up , but we'll get you in as soon as we can Well flash forward . 15 hours later , I've been sitting in the emergency room with zero help or anything , still having extreme chest pains . My both of my arms are going numb at this point . Oh my .

Deborah Genovesi 8:25

God , you must have been so scared .

Nika Lawrie 8:27

Oh yeah , it was terrifying , like it was awful . Um , I also caught the flu from being there afterwards , so like the week after that was a disaster as well . Wow , that was the gift that kept on giving . Yes , it was Absolutely yeah .

Nika Lawrie 8:43

But so I finally , 15 hours later , they bring me back to the one of the rooms , in the actual emergency room , and the physician comes in and , same thing , hook me up to all the monitors and everything , and they're like well , it's not a heart attack , we don't know what it is , we can give you some you know , anti-inflammatory stuff . And so they gave me I'm drawing a blank on what it is now and it stopped the chest pain , but it created this little hot spot in my shoulder . So all the pain that I was feeling throughout my chest it was now in this little tiny spot in my shoulder , and so it was awful . And they could see my blood pressure rise every time it was happening . So they couldn't figure out what was going on . They kept coming back .

Nika Lawrie 9:27

I stayed there for another three or four hours and finally the doctor's like well , I guess you're not here for painkillers . They thought I was there for opiates . I was there with my 70-year-old mother didn't even ask for any painkillers . Throughout the whole thing I'd sat in the emergency room for 15 hours and they thought I was there for painkillers and I was like I don't even take aspirin , Like I just want to know , am I dying ? Like what is wrong with me ? And so you know , I was completely dismissed and finally I just I knew I wasn't actively dying , I knew I wasn't having a heart attack at that point , so I just checked myself out and went home , dealt with the flu for the week and then after that I was like I got to figure out what's actually going on with me . And so you know , that was kind of a very long winded story .

Deborah Genovesi 10:19

And I apologize for kind of taking up that time , but that's amazing , I mean .

Nika Lawrie 10:21

I'm so glad you got through that .

Deborah Genovesi 10:22

That had to be terrifying .

Nika Lawrie 10:23

It was very and it's so , frustrating to see how many of us have very similar stories to this all the time , and you hear it especially with women , you know . I know we were talking about , before the show started , about , you know , women . Oh , there's just the crazy thing in the head they're just having PMS or something .

Deborah Genovesi 10:44

Yeah , oh , it's probably hormonal . If you're under 30 , it's hormonal and you're non-inflating . If you're over 30 , it's probably hormonal and maybe you're perimenopause . Either way , there's just that dismissive quality that is really upsetting 100% .

Nika Lawrie 11:05

So it sounds like from both of our stories that's kind of what led both of us down the path to kind of functional medicine and figuring out what was going on with our bodies and how to fix it .

Deborah Genovesi 11:18

Yes .

Nika Lawrie 11:19

Yeah , so can you talk a little bit about what functional medicine is and really how it kind of differs a little bit from what you would think of as the standard American medicine ?

Functional Medicine vs Conventional Medicine

Deborah Genovesi 11:30

Well , I think the number one thing is that functional medicine aims to get at the root of issues , Whereas your conventional medicine , like when you go to your GP or something like that , they have been trained . The phrase is name it , blame it , tame it . So they have been trained right to diagnose an illness and then treat that illness , typically with either pharmaceuticals or surgery , typically with either pharmaceuticals or surgery .

Deborah Genovesi 12:02

There isn't a lot of emphasis on finding out the cause . Many times they act as if the cause doesn't matter . There may be no preventative kind of thinking . It's really all looking at the end . And there are times when that kind of medicine is very helpful , for instance , acute problems . Appendix just ruptured , right Well , you don't call you or me for that . Or you were in a car accident and it's a trauma situation Again . That's where conventional medicine shines right .

Deborah Genovesi 12:39

But for everything else , particularly things , the people that you and I see tend to have chronic issues , right .

Deborah Genovesi 12:42

But for everything else , particularly things , the people that you and I see tend to have chronic issues , right . They're chronically tired , they're chronically in pain , they've got , you know , things going on that they know it's not right , but they just aren't to the end stage of an actual disease yet . So the thing that I like about functional medicine is it goes upstream . Instead of waiting until we have all these symptoms and we're at the very last stage , when it's very hard , if not impossible , to turn the whole ship around , we try to hop up to the front of the line and look at all right , what's going on here that could be causing this down the line ? Because if we get rid of this thing up here , then naturally the symptoms are going to go away . But if you just try to go at the symptoms and you don't look at the root , it's just like if you pull weeds in your garden and you don't get that root , they're just going to keep coming back . Right , you can't get right down there and remove those .

Deborah Genovesi 13:39

So that's the big difference between functional and conventional medicine and I think there's a time and a place for both . But for every day , for preventative and for chronic , it's been my experience and the experience of many other people I know , you included , that you really are not going to get anywhere with the prevention .

Nika Lawrie 13:59

Yeah , I mean , I absolutely agree with you .

Nika Lawrie 14:01

I , you know , we I talk about this with other guests and other people in the community about , you know , the American medical association or the organization , the kind of general whole , is fantastic .

Nika Lawrie 14:14

You know , I would say , if you get into a car accident or like your appendix is going to burst , or you know you break your arm , those things are fantastic . Don't come see me , I cannot fix that Right , but but yeah , if you're dealing with an autoimmune issue or if you're , you know , having a chronic fatigue or struggling with weight issues or you know there's a whole number of other things , like you said , that's really where you need to start looking at the root cause and really looking backwards in the process , as opposed to just putting the bandaid on . And I get so frustrated because so many people are unaware of functional medicine and the amazing tools and resources and education that it can provide , whereas they've just been going to their general practitioner and getting the band-aid and they're still struggling with the issues , they're still in pain or exhausted and the pills and medications that they're receiving really aren't doing that much most of the time .

Deborah Genovesi 15:16

No , and a lot of the time they're then causing other side effects . And now , besides the initial problems you've got a whole other set of problems , and it's you know it ends up being like that game of whack-a-mole . You just you get rid of one , and another one pops up , and then you get rid of that one and two more pop up . You know that's that way of dealing with symptoms is just proven not to work .

Nika Lawrie 15:41

My I just I was speaking with a lady yesterday . She's a friend of my father's and she has really bad psoriasis . She gets really bad pains in her hands . They crack and open and they can bleed sometimes and it's made it where she can't function . Sometimes she literally can't do anything because she can't use her hands and it's so painful for her . And she was talking to me about it and she was telling me that she'd gone to see you know a number of physicians and she'd gone to see a dermatologist and the dermatologist had put her on some medication that was at least helping with the sores and the pain but it was making her suicidal . And any type of Medicaid I mean , if you're suicidal to that point to heal a different ailment of your body , like that's , that's the red flag , like yeah , that's probably not the answer .

Nika Lawrie 16:33

Yeah , and and it was heartbreaking , and so I , you know , bundled a ton of information I could and gave it to her and I said please come see me or call me or anything . I will just talk to you to help you start to figure this out , because being on something that's making you suicidal , is you ?

Deborah Genovesi 16:51

know , nothing .

Nika Lawrie 16:52

It's not an option . Yeah , but so many people are dealing with that . You know where you say . The side effects of the medication can sometimes be worse .

Deborah Genovesi 17:00

Absolutely . Yeah , that's a good point . There are a lot of . When you see these things advertised on TV , I mean it really is like a joke if it weren't so sad .

Nika Lawrie 17:11

Yeah .

Deborah Genovesi 17:12

Like the list of things , the list of side effects are worse than whatever the problem was .

Nika Lawrie 17:18

Yeah , absolutely yeah . And then when you start to understand the problem , you know you may be able to completely reverse it if not really be able to manage it with some simple lifestyle shifts .

Deborah Genovesi 17:33

Yes , that's , that was my experience . When I finally , you know , after years of then not knowing what was wrong with me , and going through every testing scene , every doctor and every specialist , they finally said , oh no know , fibromyalgia , I think you know they , I mean , they just kind of came up with that . So I was like , okay , well , what should I do with that ? Well , we had , you know , this anti-convulsive that normally was used for epilepsy , but you can try that . You know , here's a long list of things it does . And I was like , no , we're not going to do it that way . And now , you know , as I mentioned at the top here , I I'm 90% symptom free and I don't take Lyrica or anything else .

Nika Lawrie 18:15

I mean , right , yeah , and it's it . I'm I'm assuming and I hope it's not inappropriate for me to ask , but I'm assuming you made some pretty simple lifestyle changes that really had some pretty profound impact . Absolutely .

Deborah Genovesi 18:28

Absolutely , and I have to say , probably 80% of it was nutrition related and I was having extreme reactions and didn't even realize . Just a lot of food sensitivities and intestinal permeability , all kinds of things that were tied into how my digestive system was not working properly , and you know that's very important because that's where your immunity is housed . So I was also catching every little sniffle and anything that would come along . I'll tell you , I was way far ahead of all this masking and stuff because I had become kind of a germaphobe , because if I was anywhere where there were more than two people together and any one of them had sniffles , I was going to pick it up .

Nika Lawrie 19:26

Because my stomach was just not , you know , my whole system was really ready to be invaded . Yeah , yeah , absolutely . I remember , you know , not too long after I had gone to the ER and had that whole thing , I had a winter where I got sick , sick six times in a row . I mean , there was literally like three or four days between me catching another cold and it was just , my immune system was shot , my gut was a row . I mean , there was literally like three or four days between me catching another cold and it was just , my immune system was shot , my gut was a wreck , and I didn't know , I didn't know like why . Like you know , I knew my body wasn't recuperating well enough between each one , but I didn't understand everything else . And it wasn't until I really started to deep dive and focus on it that I was able to really heal my body . And now , knock on wood , I've been able to stay really healthy .

Nika Lawrie 20:08

I've gotten little minor ones , I have a young daughter in school , and so you inevitably catch stuff , but they're minor and I recuperate in a day or two , opposed to being sick for long periods of time .

Deborah Genovesi 20:22

Yes , I mean that's very different . And I recuperate in a day or two , opposed to being sick for long periods of time . Yes , I mean that's very different . Having a cold and being down for a day or two is very different than as probably was your experience , just like mine . I'd be sick for like a good week and then , like you said , it seemed like the next week there'd be something else . I mean it just never ended .

Nika Lawrie 20:39

Yeah , absolutely . So , if you're okay with that , I want to talk about you know , I know we can go , we can deep dive in so many different directions . There's so many things to talk about just in the general health and wellness , but also in functional medicine , but I think there's three big things that I hear a lot about or that really kind of stick out that people might want to address or know a little bit more about . Those big three would be sugar , addiction , inflammation and then really the confusion around all the different types of diets and quote unquote lifestyle choices out there in the way we eat food and what we cut out versus what we don't . And so I'm wondering , if you are comfortable , let's deep dive into a couple of those topics .

Deborah Genovesi 21:22

Absolutely yeah , let's , let's go for it .

Nika Lawrie 21:25

Those are three good ones . Yeah , yeah . So let's start , because you hear about it so often and there's so much confusion around and I think inflammation and sugar kind of build off of

Debunking Diet Myths and Nutrition

Nika Lawrie 21:34

these two . So let's talk about dieting first . There's , you know , the low carb , there's keto , there's calorie counting , there's low fat . I mean , I could go on and on . Can you talk about what is the truth behind dieting versus lifestyle modifications ?

Deborah Genovesi 21:56

And is there a diet that fits all , or do we all need to ? Kind of figure out what works best for us . I know you already know that answer , but I will tell you . But I will tell you no one diet never fits all , absolutely not . The idea of bio-individuality is very important . Each one of our bodies works very differently . What works for your mom or your sister or your best friend may or may not work for you .

Deborah Genovesi 22:21

um , and I think there's a real issue with diet mentality yeah that's kind of I'm on a diet , I'm off of that , I'm seriously restricting . Now I'm going wild . You know we don't , our bodies don't like that right , and really we should not be either in feast or famine . We need to find the middle way , as the Zen people say . So you know , you need to find that middle way , and it's different for everyone . And one of the things , that huge things that I learned , that really helped me lose the weight that I needed to lose , besides getting my inflammation down , which was number one , because if you don't get that under control .

Deborah Genovesi 23:05

You can do whatever you're doing and you're going to be very weight loss resistant , particularly at certain points in your life .

Deborah Genovesi 23:13

I'm at a point in my life now where I'm middle-aged and hormones have changed and things like that , and the things I need now are different than when I was a young woman of 20 or maybe 30 . So for most women in my age range , less starchy carbs are a good way to go . Yeah , because you just aren't metabolizing them the same way that you did when you were younger . That said , people are all different . People are more active or less active . People have a greater capacity to metabolize fat than other people don't . Some people need more protein , others don't . It's really important to play around with it a little bit and find out what you need , but in general , I can give you some sort of sweeping generalizations . Most of us in America are , particularly anybody that's trying to eat the standard American diet , which is horrible . There's a reason , but still , that was sad .

Nika Lawrie 24:16

That is not the way to go right .

Deborah Genovesi 24:18

Yeah , they're eating processed foods . Okay , that , right out of the gate . I don't have a lot of absolutes . That is absolutely not your friend , right ? Right , so it's packaged , it's in a box , a can . Uh , you know it's . There are always going to be things that may or may not be listed on that label , because what kind of tricks they can use , right ? So less processed is always better , going towards towards real whole foods , right ? Also , most people do not get even close to the amount of vegetables they should be having .

Nika Lawrie 24:54

Right yeah .

Deborah Genovesi 24:55

Right . So I mean , start at the beginning . If you're a person who never has any vegetables , then work on trying to work in one or two a day , right , yeah , and then work your way up . Work in one or two a day right , and then work your way up . Ideally you would be in that like five to nine category of how many cervix per day . But you can't get there like that if you are not needing any of that right . Most people I know that come to me . They're already trying on that front . But another big mistake particularly women make is they don't get enough clean lean protein , right . They're just not getting enough protein to keep the muscles going , to keep everything going , and they're hungry .

Deborah Genovesi 25:37

And a big part of why they're hungry , besides the protein , is they're remembering , if they're old enough , back to their 90s , when it was oh , fat is terrible , fat will kill you . You should never eat any fat , always , you know . Buy all the prepackaged , you know stuff as long as it's fat-free yeah exactly these little cookies and crackers and things that are fat-free .

Deborah Genovesi 26:01

Not , it depends on the kind of fat , and we know that omega-3s versus omega-6s and 9s , right . So we want to have things like olive oil , olives , coconut , coconut oil , the fat that you get in nuts and seeds , you know , a little bit of fat that you get in your canine lean meat and poultry . If you're eating that , that's you , you know , that is all okay . Um , even some saturated fat , which this is kind of an area where people differ sometimes . But , right , you know , if you're having one tablespoon of butter per day that is pasture-raised , organic , no hormones , you know , believe me , I do that on most days , at least one or two tablespoons of butter and I'm fine . Now , that said , that's me . Maybe somebody else they're going to have a little bit of stomach upset with that , but I do have dairy problems , but I don't really have a problem when I do it that way .

Nika Lawrie 27:03

I'm the same way . I can't do dairy myself , but I do eat butter and I find that I don't have any issue with the butter , but I'm also very careful to make sure it's pasture , raised , super clean butter in that sense , and I think and not like a whole stick . Right , yeah , a little bit here and there . Yeah , I think also , when you think about saturated fat , there's so much confusion around it , but one of the important things that people don't talk about is that we really need saturated fat for our the function of our brain too . Yeah , we , we need it for the neurons , we need it for the protection around the cells themselves and so around your around your nerves as well .

Nika Lawrie 27:43

Yeah , yeah exactly that , thank you , that's what I meant , yeah , and so you know . This fear of fat really needs to be debunked and really made clear about the types of fats to be afraid of . So trans fat , avoid trans fat at all costs , whatever you do .

Deborah Genovesi 28:01

And they're not your friend .

Nika Lawrie 28:03

Right , and neither are our real potato chips , even if it says trans fat free .

Deborah Genovesi 28:08

And organic , or whatever it is . Yes .

Nika Lawrie 28:11

There's still , you know , minute amounts and if you're eating enough of it each day , it builds up , and so you really want to be careful to avoid those kinds of things . The other thing I think people really run into is , you know , calorie counting has been such a huge fad for so long , and one of the big things I really try to focus on is always trying to debunk that idea and understanding that it's not about calorie counting . It's not about what you burn versus what you take in . It's really about the types of food , the types of nutrition that are coming in and how your body processes that food .

Deborah Genovesi 28:54

Right , because 100 calories of potato chips is not received by the body like a hundred calories of broccoli , right , it's a completely different thing . That said , I do think you should have an overriding idea of around where you are calorie wise . Obviously , if you eat 3000 calories a day , of anything , you will gain weight . I mean , that is more than your body needs , unless you're an athlete or something . But I agree with you . I think focusing if you just eat well from the main categories , which would be the cleanly meat or fish , the healthy fats that we discussed , a whole bunch of veggies , or not only the vitamins and nutrients , but also fiber , yeah , and then occasional fruit , work that in there too , and a lot of water If you're doing that , as you're poor , you should not be exceeding your calorie range . Yeah , exactly , calorie bombs . Come in with this sugar number one . There's something we should be phobic about . It's not fat , it is sugar . Sugar , yeah , that's the boogeyman , that's the one that gets us all 100% agree , yes , right yeah .

Deborah Genovesi 30:07

So yeah , I agree with you , counting calories . That is not . Where's that .

Nika Lawrie 30:12

Right , yeah , yeah , I think people also . You know they they restrict themselves to like these 1200 day calories or 1200 calorie days , or you know 1500 , or really try to get really strict and manage that . And what you see is one you see the weight fluctuate . You see them lose it and then rebound and sometimes add more . But you also see that they feel hungry all the time . They have mood issues . Their body's essentially starving because they're not getting enough nutrients , the vitamins and minerals and fiber and stuff from a real food , which is a huge stressor on your body , and that's just what you don't want .

Nika Lawrie 30:49

Yeah , yeah , exactly . So let's talk a little bit about the conquering the sugar addiction , Because you know we just mentioned how important that is , and especially looking at refined sugar and how toxic it really is for the body . What are some ways ? First , why is it so important that we need to kind of conquer this sugar addiction and then what are some ways that we might start doing that ?

Deborah Genovesi 31:13

It's funny you bring this up . I just did an Instagram video , or reels or whatever they call them . On Instagram Everybody calls them

The Dangers of Sugar and Alcohol

Deborah Genovesi 31:23

something . Definitely yeah about this , because coming off the holidays come on and everybody probably got into the sugar .

Deborah Genovesi 31:32

I know I'm guilty , I I know better , but you know it's sometimes it's everywhere and everything yeah and it's so , yeah , and it's so inflammatory , and that's the reason why it's a problem , because that sugar goes in First of all . If you have any issue going on already , the sugar is like throwing gasoline on fire .

Deborah Genovesi 31:56

So , that is exactly the opposite of what you want . You just get this explosive , system-wide , not good kind of thing . That's something I was eating with sugar , even though I'm a relatively healthy diet . I was eating sugar , a lot of pre-processed things , when I was very sick 10 years ago , and a lot of the processed things were because I was vegetarian and I was eating vegetarian meats that were all pre-processed . You know , cold cuts and hot dogs and things that are junk to begin with , but then when you also add soy , which I had an intolerance to , I made it a double win right . So , anyway , back to sugar . It's really important to get a handle on that , because sugar is also one of those things like any addiction when you're off it for a while , those things like any addiction when you're off it for a while . Then you start to realize , oh my gosh , I feel so much better , and the longer you're off it , the less you crave it .

Nika Lawrie 32:56

Right .

Deborah Genovesi 32:57

And there are certain tricks you can do to try to get over it . One of the tricks that I love and when I was first told this , I'm like it's weird and I don't really like it and I'm not going to do it , but I do this .

Deborah Genovesi 33:16

If you grab something sour , like a sour pickle or a little bowl of sauerkraut like the good fermented kind , that a lot of times will knock that sweet craving out . So sometimes if I'm particularly at night , like if I'm watching TV and I see an ad for something that kind of triggers the munchies , I will go and have a little bit of sauerkraut with like some caraway seed on there and for some reason , even though I want sugar , I don't really want that thing . As I'm eating it I'm like this is kind of good and then I don't want sugar . So sometimes we have to play little tricks like that . Another thing that I think really inflames the sugar craving is and this is very , very popular is hitting the wine , like having to have the wine every night . You know I've seen a lot of studies that poorly alcohol addiction were actually being a sugar addiction .

Deborah Genovesi 34:10

And I think there's really a lot to say about that , because that sugar is hitting your system , just that alcohol is hitting your system , just like you're sitting there eating a bowl full of sugar , right Well , and you ?

Nika Lawrie 34:22

see so many people . You know we've we've heard a lot about it in the last couple of years too that there's so many women that are coming in with fat or fatty liver disease , um and and one . They think it's from the , the excessive use of of wine and alcohol , but also you're starting to see it in a lot of people with sugar . You know . So they it your , your body's processing at the same .

Nika Lawrie 34:46

Yeah , so sodas , Starbucks , all the the sugary drinks , sweetened iced teas or those monster drinks , yeah , yeah . And so you know we're processing it the same way . And the body , you know you think that you're not as bad , cause you're not an alcoholic , but you're , you know , you still kind of are in a sense , if you're , if you're eating really sugary things all the time .

Deborah Genovesi 35:11

Yeah , yes , not to mention the damage that it can do to your cells . And if you , you know I was also another time , I think 10 years ago , pre-diabetic and now totally not . I mean my , my numbers came way , way down and you know , when you've got the inflammation and you keep doing the sugar and you know , and on top of that you're doing other things that are inflaming you , like eating things that you're sensitive to without realizing it . You know , I was eating gluten , I was eating dairy , I was eating soy , I was eating corn . All of those things were a problem for me . I don't eat them now .

Nika Lawrie 35:49

Yeah , yeah , exactly , I think that you know you . You mentioned being pre-diabetic . I think there's kind of a misnomer around it . At least the way I've learned going through functional nutrition school and and kind of being in this , this world , is we think about diabetics being , you know , an A1C of seven or above , which is still kind of a lower number . I'm doing quotes around lower because we don't think about seven that high . When you hear about a lot of diabetics up around you know 10 , 12 , even 14 . But in the functional nutrition world , at least from what I've experienced , there's not really a quote unquote pre-diabetic . You're pretty much just diabetic If you have an A1C of like 5.5 or higher . There's all these people in this world that think well , I'm close , but I'm still okay Cause I'm not full-blown diabetic . You're technically already kind of in that realm . Your body is already really struggling with insulin production .

Deborah Genovesi 36:49

That's a good point . And this brings up something else when we were talking about functional medicine versus conventional medicine , the range of how we look at and interpret is completely different . I agree with you . I think you know my parents have been hovering around six point something for years and both of them get back from their doctor oh , there's nothing to worry about until you get to 7.0 .

Deborah Genovesi 37:18

Right you know like , don't worry , it's fine , you know it's so not fun that that is already indicating that there is a problem . And I know my parents right . I've been very close with them .

Impact of Diet on Inflammation

Deborah Genovesi 37:33

It's dietary for the most part , but not only I mean . We know other things play a part . Exercise plays a part . Your mental status , what's happening with your stress reduction all of these things affect how your body is metabolizing sugar or things that are white sugar , for instance . I know many people my dad's one of them . God bless him today's his birthday , love him to pieces , but you know he's 79 today and he is very happy birthday dad .

Nika Lawrie 38:02

Yes , thank you .

Deborah Genovesi 38:03

He is very set in his way and he thinks well , I don't sit here eating dobs of candy and I don't go to McDonald's drive through , so I'm good . Well , dad is 40 to 50 pounds overweight and you know , blood sugar level around 6.2 to 6.4 . And also advanced COPD , and and and and right . And he is not alone . But he , he hasn't proved and made a lot of changes in his health . Number one , giving up cigarettes , which was huge , and number two , giving up giving up wine , which was huge . We're Italian , that's a thing , right .

Nika Lawrie 38:43

Right yeah .

Deborah Genovesi 38:45

I mean right . So kudos to him , him for that . But he fails to make the connection there . Hey , the crackers and the bread , the white bread and the bagels and the pasta , that is all the same as sitting there eating a big old piece of cake absolutely yeah I don't think . Generally people think that's as bad because it doesn't taste sweet to them .

Nika Lawrie 39:09

Sweet . Yeah , you know , it's understanding that our body processes alcohol , sugar and simple carbohydrates basically the exact same way . And when I say simple carbohydrates , I'm not talking about fruits and vegetables Fruits a little bit debatable . But vegetables Fruits a little bit debatable . But vegetables , it's really talking about those crackers , that white bread , the pastas , those things that really have just been processed so much there's really nothing really nutritious left in them anymore .

Deborah Genovesi 39:43

They taste great , but they're really bad and our brains light up . I mean it's been shown they're really bad . Yeah , and our brains light up . I mean it's been shown the same parts of your brain that light up when you have a drug addiction .

Nika Lawrie 39:53

That is where sugar goes too Well . One of the things , you see . I know I had a close relationship to someone who struggled with a heroin addiction and when they sober up they often turn to sugar because they can avoid using the drugs but they still need that dopamine fix and so they eat candy consistently because it helps keep that high going inside their brains .

Deborah Genovesi 40:19

Yeah , and I think that's the case sometimes with ovulose as well .

Nika Lawrie 40:23

Yeah , yeah , very much so yeah , so kind of building off the sugar addiction . I love the , the example of , or the tip of um eating something sour . That's . That's a fantastic tip . Another one that I've experienced is just drink a glass of water , Cause a lot of times you're just dehydrated and it can , it , can , you know , drink a glass of water , give yourself five minutes , and if you're still struggling , then maybe consider something else . But a lot of times it is just that you're dehydrated when you're craving something .

Deborah Genovesi 40:53

Yes , it's amazing . That's another thing . I had no idea because I used to drink water periodically 10 years ago when I was sick , but I was really new to my diet . And part of why I was dehydrated was eating these three packaged things that tend to be really salty , and I like salt . I like a salty taste . So you know , not only was I putting salt in my food , but also all of the food that I was eating , these packaged non-food things were all salty yeah , yeah , absolutely .

Nika Lawrie 41:28

I think I mean I don't remember the exact number I want to say it's like 70 or 80 percent of americans are like chronically dehydrated . The the number is extraordinarily high . It's much higher than you actually think . Yeah , yeah . So I want to get into the , the last topic here . It's really addressing inflammation and how it can impact our overall health . Um , so can we talk a little bit about first , where does inflammation really come from , or how does it start in the body , and then how really it impacts the body , and then how are things , what are some things that we can do to really reduce inflammation and help manage it ? So maybe if you , if you want to start talking about you know where does inflammation come from , Well , a lot of inflammation comes from what you're eating .

Deborah Genovesi 42:33

I mean , you know , right , so many of us , myself included , have an elevated level of glyphosate . That's just one of many toxins that can be in your body . There are many others , like mercury from fillings or you know . There's just so many things that can be going on in our bodies that we're not aware of . But besides , the ones that are sort of hidden like that , the ones that you can quickly control is what's coming in through your mouth , what you're eating , right , and when people say , well , I don't have time to think about what I eat , I don't have time to cook , I don't have time to think about shopping , but I always think to myself what could be worth more of your time than something , a substance you're taking in your body which is actually becoming the cells of your body ? That's kind of important , I mean it's you know so if you're constantly putting in things that are irritating you , that your system doesn't like or it can't make sense of .

Deborah Genovesi 43:38

There's you know the whole debate around genetically modified things . I'm a person who avoids those because I don't really believe that things that have been genetically kind of goofed around with your body doesn't recognize that as an actual food , because it doesn't exist in nature that way . And I'm not talking about like hybridizing , like to get a better pop or whatever . That's different . But when they're ejecting cells from one organism into another organism and you're creating this new little Frankenstein monster , which is what is happening to most of our corn , most of our soy , which may be why most people react to corn and soy Same thing so I think that inflammation starts a little flame going and then it's just a domino effect that affects everything else .

Deborah Genovesi 44:33

You know it's in there . Every bite you take is either building your health or moving you further away from it , absolutely If it's an inflammatory food and that changes . Some things are always inflammatory for everybody , like sugar , as we discussed . Sometimes I mean you can eat it , but I can't . I can have almonds , but maybe you can have almonds and they're very healthful for you . So dialing that in and figuring out what is working for me and what isn't , so that you can keep that inflammation at bay , is very important .

Nika Lawrie 45:08

Yeah , absolutely . I mean , there's a couple of things that you said that I kind of want to add to . One example is milk . So you know we hear about people being lactose intolerant . There's a vast majority of humans that are actually lactose intolerant , but you can have lactose and you can have casein , and I'm actually allergic to the casein side . Most people are allergic to lactose . And understanding that just one thing milk or cheese or dairy in general , there can be different allergies within that single pocket and really understanding what parts affect you and why and how that's processed is really important too .

Nika Lawrie 45:46

Yeah , and then adding to the GMOs , I think there's a lot of debate on whether or not GMOs are safe or they're okay . Some scientists say that they're totally fine and not a big deal . Others say avoid them at all costs . My biggest thing with GMOs is one they haven't really been tested for safety in humans , so that's a big thing to just know that they really haven't been tested for safety in humans , so that's a big thing to just know that they really haven't been tested . When they've looked at animals who eat genetically modified food so corn or soy they've found that animals are often more infertile . They have infertility issues , they have digestive issues , they have gene issues that start to express themselves differently , so you start to see , like cancer , different things like that . So we do know that GMOs are affecting animals and humans are animals , and so you know . You have to kind of put that together .

Nika Lawrie 46:41

The biggest thing for me looking at GMOs is oftentimes they're modified but they're also dipped in some type of herbicide or pesticide and so when you actually see the seed itself , they're like neon blue or like bright . Like a piece of corn will look neon blue or bright red or orange , and it's the pesticide or herbicide that it's already been soaked in before it's planted . And for me that's just a no right there , I'm just going to do whatever I can to avoid it . So even if the debate is still out on whether or not they're safe for humans which I think it's already kind of been answered , but I'm open to maybe there's a discussion there Everything else that plays into that is a red flag for me , and so I'm like you . I just I avoid them . But if you don't eat a whole lot of processed foods , it's really easy to avoid them .

Deborah Genovesi 47:34

Yeah , but if you eat any processed foods , it is very difficult , very difficult .

Deborah Genovesi 47:38

Yeah , and you know because there's gluten , corn , soy and everything , everything , yeah , and to your point about being dipped in or kind of seeped in these chemicals one of the things that I found out fairly recently that they do with meat , which may be the reason why so many people have this protein between eating gluten as their um . Um , as they're harvesting the crop , in order to make that process go easier and to quickly desiccate the wheat plant , they douse it with roundup pesticide , the glyphosate , so that dries out the plant and it makes it easier for them to do the harvesting . So who the heck wants anything that's been soaked in a pesticide ? But if that doesn't even remotely sound like that , it would be a good idea .

Nika Lawrie 48:32

Right yeah .

Deborah Genovesi 48:33

I mean , I wouldn't spray Roundup right into my mouth .

Nika Lawrie 48:37

I love that example because people are like oh well , it's kind of removed . But I'm like are you going to walk into the garage and spray glyphosate directly into your mouth ? Because that is what you're doing by eating this and so if that's something you want to do , by all means that's your choice , but I'm not ever going to recommend that .

Deborah Genovesi 48:57

No , once you know , you can't unknow that .

Nika Lawrie 49:01

Right , yeah , exactly .

Deborah Genovesi 49:04

And I think what you were saying about the casein versus the lactose . I have issues with both . It's also interesting to know that a lot of people from certain ethnic groups and some are Italian , which is what I am typically , particularly as you get beyond like 35 , 40 , typically have lactose intolerance . Yes , eastern people as well , asian people as well . So you know , some of that genetically plays in . Yeah , and another big thing that I do with people I always say test of guess . I mean , I always test people for various you know food sensitivities , because we could guess all day long . But it's going to take a long time , like I . That's what I was trying to do for 20 years before I finally got my act together and said I'd have to get better , you know . So that will just take me forever doing the well , maybe it's this , maybe it's that .

Nika Lawrie 50:02

I think the other thing that helps too with with testing versus guessing . So you know , a lot of people say do the elimination diet , you can do the elimination diet and that that works .

Nika Lawrie 50:12

Yeah , and I think you get some answers . A lot of people struggle through doing the elimination diet because they don't want to give up everything all at once , and that can be hard . But the thing also about testing is that if you come back and you have 45 food sensitivities , what that's telling you is that you have tears in your gut . You have a gut issue opposed to just a specific allergy to say , almonds , right and so it gives you kind of that red flag marker of like oh , there's something else going on , opposed to , I just have one specific allergy to one specific food .

Deborah Genovesi 50:49

Yeah , Sadly , it's rarely that simple right , it's rarely that . Oh , I'll just stop eating almonds and I'll be good I wish that were the case . But yeah , I mean the first time I had a food sensitivity test , it was so that was that my first test was the same thing .

Nika Lawrie 51:10

I was like I . The other thing , too , is like the . The things you'll notice that you're allergic to when you get that first set of results back is all the stuff that you're eating all the time , and , and what that means is that small little particles are going through your gut lining and ending up in your bloodstream , and they're too big . They're not just the vitamins or nutrients , they're actual full pieces of the food still , and so your immune system doesn't know what to do with it , and it , full on , attacks it , and then that causes autoimmune issues .

Deborah Genovesi 51:40

Exactly , yeah , and a lot of folks that I see do have particularly thyroid , yes , a lot of times , and I think this is sort of where it starts .

Nika Lawrie 51:52

Yeah , absolutely so . So we're . We're coming up on the end of the hour . I want to wrap up with you just to be conscious of time , but but before we get to the last rapid fire questions , I want to ask what are a couple of things that you have ? Tips for reducing inflammation ? I know we've talked about , you know , getting rid of refined sugar , watching out for the GMOs , being conscious of what we eat and reducing stress . Is there anything else that you can add to that that might be beneficial ?

Deborah Genovesi 52:22

You know this , this is going to sound a little unconventional and a little bit out there , but I really do think calming down that autonomic nervous system , so doing things like meditation , breathing I do like the 4-7-8 breathing , which is breathing in to the count of four , holding it for the count of seven and slowly bringing out to the count of eight and doing several rounds of that you know , calming down with the system really does serve to tamp down .

Nika Lawrie 52:58

Yeah , a hundred percent agree

Mindful Breathing for Well-Being

Nika Lawrie 53:01

. Yeah , you know , just breathing and calming your mind , just for even just a couple of minutes throughout the day . You know if you can do three , five , seven minutes , even just once a day , but if you can do it multiple times a day , you know , people always think I don't have time to meditate because I don't have half an hour . You can breathe and meditate for even as little as a minute . If you have three minutes that you can just , you know , sit in your car at lunch for three minutes and just breathe . It really does help and I love .

Deborah Genovesi 53:30

EFT tapping . You're tapping at various different points all around while you're saying certain positive sort of mantras . That works better for a person like me . It's very hard for me to just sit still and empty my mind . I think most people have difficulty with that . I need to be doing something or following like a guiding meditation where I'm listening to something . That's an easier entry point for most people . So find whatever can calm you .

Nika Lawrie 54:01

Yeah , I think I think you know , like you gave the example of the box counting , so the four , seven , eight , or I see people do like four , four , four , however you want to do it counting your breasts , or if you just count ins and outs from you know , count eight breasts , ins and outs , like one in , two out , and you do that . That helps you clear the brain and kind of just relax and then it helps your body absorb more oxygen , which we also aren't getting enough of .

Deborah Genovesi 54:27

That's right , we don't breathe deeply . We do this kind of shallow deep breathing and that gives you headaches and all of it .

Nika Lawrie 54:37

Yeah . And so if you feel your chest rise versus your stomach or your kind of abdomen area , that's the shallow breathing versus the deep , real , good breathing . Yeah , yeah . Well , this has been phenomenal . I want to move to the quick fire questions , but before we get to those , where can listeners connect with you ? Where can they find you online ?

Deborah Genovesi 55:00

They can find me on Instagram I'm at Deborah G Wellness and that's Deborah G wellness and that's Deborah G wellness . Or they can find me on my website , which is fabulous with fibrocom .

Nika Lawrie 55:15

Love that . I will be sure to link to everything in the show notes too , just to make it as easy as possible . Yeah , so are you ready for a quick fire ? I'm ready .

Deborah Genovesi 55:24

All right ?

Nika Lawrie 55:25

First one what is the most impactful book , podcast or documentary you've seen or experienced , and why ?

Deborah Genovesi 55:34

The best book I think most impactful is . It's by Mark Nepo , n-e-p-o and it's called the Book of Awakening . And then the subtitle is something like Getting the Life you Want by Enjoying the Life you have . And it's very interesting because it's one page for each date . So January 1st you read this page , january 2nd you read another page , and this man was a poet before he wrote books and his writing style is so miracle .

Nika Lawrie 56:10

That's great , Awesome . I haven't . I haven't heard of it . I'll have to check it out for sure . Okay , I'm going to make a quick note of that .

Deborah Genovesi 56:19

Well , I read and reread that book for 10 years .

Nika Lawrie 56:23

Oh my God , it never leaves my nightstand yeah . That's awesome , so I made the note . I'll also . I'll find it and link to it in the show notes , just so those great find it too , so all right . Next question uh , you've given a bunch already , but if you can add one more , what is your best toxin-free or ego-friendly living tip ?

Deborah Genovesi 56:43

to eat real whole foods . Yeah yeah , it was the top of the line .

Nika Lawrie 56:49

So important .

Deborah Genovesi 56:50

Yeah , and if you can't afford to do everything organic , then go on to ewgorg and look up their list of the dirty dozen and the clean 15 . Yep , the clean 15 are things that you don't necessarily have to buy organic , things like , um , I think bananas are on that list . Avocados are on that list because they don't necessarily have as many pesticides . The dirty dozen are things that you definitely want , like apples , berries . You want to get those organic because they are dense with chemicals , chemicals .

Nika Lawrie 57:29

Yeah , spinach is another big one , for sure . Yeah . Yeah , I made a note as well to include those links too for those lists . They're easy . I think you can print out little pocket guides so you can just keep them with you too , and it changes from year to year .

Deborah Genovesi 57:45

It does , yeah .

Nika Lawrie 57:47

They also have a phenomenal uh app that you can use to to help kind of keep track of that stuff oh , yeah , so they have .

Deborah Genovesi 57:53

They have uh two different apps .

Nika Lawrie 57:58

And then there's a third app called um think dirty , that are phenomenal . I always recommend them because , um , they have the uh ewg has the toxic versus clean foods , and then they have toxic versus clean products , and then Think Dirty is all like your personal care , beauty products , and you can scan the barcodes and see how toxic they are like in the sense of what chemicals are in them that are potentially causing cancer versus are these clean and okay to bring into your home ? So ?

Deborah Genovesi 58:28

yes , because when you put on , your body absorbs through and it's just like putting in your body .

Nika Lawrie 58:33

So , ladies who are , you know we're using a hundred different things on our face and bodies every day yeah I saw I saw a statistic somewhere that it was something like 146 chemicals a day exactly the average woman is absorbing into her skin from all our chemical or all of our products . So it's amazing , it's crazy , yeah ,

Living Consciously and Mindfully

Nika Lawrie 58:55

all right . So last question for you what does living consciously mean to you ?

Deborah Genovesi 59:01

Oh my gosh , living consciously . I think that word conscience says to me that you're not only minding what you're doing , but you're also minding how that has an effect on others and ripple effect into humankind .

Nika Lawrie 59:19

So yeah , the ripple effect .

Deborah Genovesi 59:21

Yeah , yeah , it's important to be conscious , it's important to be mindful as well , which is sort of a plural area to conscious .

Nika Lawrie 59:28

Definitely , yeah for sure . Well , Debra , this has been wonderful . I am so grateful to connect with you and just the opportunity to share all this wonderful information with the listeners . Thank you very , very much for coming on today .

Deborah Genovesi 59:41

Thank you so much . I really enjoyed our conversation . We should do it again sometime .

Nika Lawrie 59:45

I'm 100% . I'm already kind of planning ways to connect with you again . So , yeah , thank you , awesome , thank you .