Ep. 36 Kristen Richers

Joining me today is Kristen Richers of KDR Wellness. She is a physiologist, kinesiologist as well as a doula located in Nashville, TN. KDR Wellness offers a variety of holistic wellness solutions designed for individuals or groups looking to make a lasting lifestyle change. Unlike other fitness professionals who work in the virtual space, we do not offer cookie-cutter programs or unsustainable quick fixes. All of their services treat you as an entire human, with complex emotions and real lives. They aim to make you know that you are cared for and supported in this process of becoming the happiest, healthiest version of yourself.

Kristen and I discuss the red flags to look for when looking for a nutrition coach and why to hire a nutrition coach. Commonly foods are given a good/bad label, she educates us on changing our mindset to eat more, eat some and eat less. Our eating patterns can change daily and that's okay. 

On September 26th KDR Wellness, Chef Gabi, Garcia de la Cruz  Olive Oil are partnering for a virtual olive oil.  They're going to take everybody through a series of their olive oils and start to understand the tastes of different oils, why you would cook in certain ways with different ones. They are going to have a little culinary demonstration from Chef Gabi. It will also feature a professor from Yale talking about some of these like longevity concepts associated with oil and how really good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a wonderful staple to have and be cooking with. 

KDR Wellness | Holistic Wellness Solutions (kdr-wellness.com)
KDR (@kristenrichers) • Instagram photos and videos
García de la Cruz Olive Oil (@garciadelacruzoliveoil) • Instagram photos and videos

Filled Up Cup - Unconventional Self Care for Modern Women
Ashley (@filledupcup_) • Instagram photos and videos

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the filled up cup podcast. We are a different kind of self-care resource one that has nothing to do with bubble baths and face masks and everything to do with rediscovering yourself. We bring you real reviews, honest experiences and unfiltered opinions that will make you laugh, cry, and most importantly, leave you with a filled up cup.

Ashley: 0:31

Today. I have Kristen Riches joining me. Kristen owns KDR wellness. She is a physiologist. Kinesiologist as well as a doula thank you so much for being here today.

Kristen: 0:44

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to get to chat.

Ashley: 0:48

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

Kristen: 0:51

Absolutely. So I have my degree in kinesiology. I went to Penn state for my undergrad was a wonderful time there. Got certified as an exercise physiologist after that, I spent postgrad years about seven years in New York city working as a personal trainer and as a physiologist there, I was in the kind of like the big box gym world as I call it our commercial fitness. I was working there prior to studying school, growing up. I was a dancer. I was always very active doing all that kind of stuff. So kinesiology and working with movement and humans just kind of felt like a natural transition for what I wanted to do for a living. So. Spent all those years in New York, just working with so many people, kind of really getting to see what was working on a large scale for people's health and what's not working as well. My work as a exercise physiologist a kinesiologist, that kind of thing sort of really gets me in this fun spot in fitness where, you know, it's not necessarily the strength and conditioning and athletic performance of professional athletes, but I work with a lot of, kind of what I would call average population people bridging that gap between. Recovering from your injuries or fixing imbalances in the body and really just trying to make sure we're moving in the best and most efficient way that we can as possible. After so many years of doing that in New York, I kind of kept realizing here. Just like people. I just would see so many people coming in and out of my gyms day after day, putting in an hour, sometimes, twice a day. And not able to pair it with the nutrition aspect of it or some of those more holistic concepts. I was frustrated for all of my members cuz I wasn't seeing them give them the results that they wanted. So I really started to. Develop some fitness nutrition, habits, mindfulness techniques, these kinds of things that we're gonna help people kind of like seal the deal and take their wellness to that next level. Then as a physiologist, I kind of started working with a lot of prenatal clients. I was like the girl at the gym who has the degree, so we're gonna send. The pregnant woman over to her. It just kind of became something that I learned. I really enjoy doing. The way that women's bodies change over the course of a lifespan, I think is fascinating. But specifically when you look at what's going on from a biomechanical perspective or a physiology perspective during pregnancy and after pregnancy, it really is fascinating to me. When you look at this from this lens, you're like, well, we can train for this stuff. We know the center of gravity is gonna shift down and out slightly, and we know what that does to the muscles in the lower back. So why don't we strengthen those things? I kind of really just dove head first and fell in love with this world of it. I do a lot of prenatal and postpartum training there and becoming a doula, just kind of felt like a natural. Fit into what I do there. I was like, well, I train you before you have the baby and I train you again after they have the baby, but what's that middle piece there that I'm missing out on. So that's sort of where the doula stuff kind of came in and it has been an absolute privilege to be able to offer all of these services to people.

Ashley: 4:13

It's so great when you find something that you're really passionate about and are able to pivot into something that can also be profitable. I feel like when somebody's doing something that they are authentic and wanting to do, because it's something that's a passion versus something that's a paycheck. Mm-hmm I feel like that. So beneficial to the people that are around them and can be so inspiring. Especially in pregnancy, there is so many physical changes, but then even the psychological with the extra hormones and the fear of the unknown and everything else. So to feel confident in the people that you're working with too is huge.

Kristen: 4:52

Oh yeah. I mean, it's not lost on me. How blessed I am. I think to be able to. Earn my living, doing things that I'm really passionate about and feel like I'm making an impact in the people around me. You know, sometimes when the world gets heavier, there's a lot going on and I'm like, oh my gosh, there's so much going on in the world. Like what's gonna happen. Just remembering that in my immediate circle and that community around me, I feel like I'm making a difference really kind of helps me mentally. deal with all of that.

Ashley: 5:22

Yeah, absolutely. One thing that you had said going back a little bit, that is so important to you when we think about. Our fitness and our health, we do tend to focus, I think, on one thing. So we're like if we do, tons of weight training, we're gonna get the muscles that we want. It really is a whole lifestyle that it is really combining your food and your fitness And the mindfulness practice and just being really like intuitive with what your body needs I think one thing that people do need to be mindful of or aware of is that. The word nutrition coach or things like that can be really unregulated. Do you find that a lot of personal trainers do lean into the food aspect of it? Or do you find that they have the certificate or the training to do both?

Kristen: 6:09

you know, They certainly should have the certificate and the training. I think it's unfortunate to see in my industry, a lot of people it feels a little bit like they're taking advantage of. People wanting to improve their health and saying, oh, I'm gonna write a meal plan for people. Or can offer this. I am the first person to say there, I am not a registered dietician. I am certified as a nutrition coach through precision nutrition, but there is a very clear line on my scope of practice. I think when people are looking to make changes in their nutrition, they're looking for advice on that. Knowing who you're talking to. And if it's the right provider for you is really, really crucial. So those words like registered dietician, those are gonna be some of the most regulated and the most qualified and the most educated people you can work with. So if you're someone who you know, is specifically looking to lower your blood pressure or if you're pregnant, that kind of thing, you wanna be working with a registered dietician, you have a specific condition that's going on there. That's exactly it. The difference between at least in the United States. And I can speak for New York city state by state. It goes a little bit different with the regulations here, but anyone other than a registered dietician is not allowed to write a meal plan for people. That's kind of the line. That crosses here. So it's frustrating, certainly as a health professional to look around and see clients and people coming to me and they're like, oh, well, my last trainer just wrote me a meal plan. Why can't you do that? It's kind of a bummer to see because we really don't have. The qualifications to do that. I think the more you learn about nutrition, the more you realize how personalized it is to each person. in addition to the regulations on it. That's one of the reasons why I don't write any meal plans for clients. There is no template program that I could kind of write up and do it out like that. Cuz that's just not how our bodies work.

Ashley: 8:04

Can you explain what a nutrition coach would do?

Kristen: 8:08

Absolutely. I do two different services with nutrition. In our business, we have our one-on-one coaching and then we have a workshop that we offer called the intuitive nutrition workshop and the people who I work with predominantly are. You know, disease free. So you're not necessarily saying like I'm on this medication, I have this issue and I'm working there, but I wanna generally improve my health. I notice maybe there's aspects of my sleep that I want to improve my athletic performance that I wanna improve. Or you can even still just generally be looking for weight, loss, weight, gain all of those kinds of things. You can work with a nutrition coach there. And what we're gonna do for you is we're gonna work on learning things like your hunger cues, learning your fullness cues, checking in and giving you a baseline of nutrition education. We're gonna start to teach you basic portion sizes, how to fill up a plate. I would say with my one on one clients, a big aspect of nutrition coaching is looking at your behaviors. So it's less about eat this and don't eat that and more about. Hey, what time of day are you eating here? Are you looking at a screen every single time you're having a meal or, what's going on that you're waiting until you get ravenous and hangry before you eat. I've just kind of found if I focus on some of those habits and the behaviors, my clients get a lot more impact in that. And additionally, like controversial as a coach to say, but they don't have to work with me forever because we've taught them skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. To keep accomplishing their nutrition goals.

Ashley: 9:46

I think when it is that mentality of, I wanna support you in your journey, but I feel like if we do tend to. But I'm gonna give you enough just so that you keep coming back. Then it's like the word of mouth isn't gonna be there, where if you're really supportive and say, Hey, this is everything I can teach you. I feel like people are more likely to be like, Hey, did you hear about Kristen services? You have to go check her out I feel like that customer service aspect of it is really important.

Kristen: 10:13

Yeah, and it just feels better to me, like the proudest moment for me as a coach, as a trainer, any of those words is when my clients accomplish a goal, they really hit it. They see they've learned it and they're like, Hey Kristen, you know what. We won. Like we did it, we did the thing. I'm gonna take a break from this. I'm gonna go out in the real world. Like that to me is a win. And obviously as a business owner, you know, you have to plan for those sort of things, but it never felt good to me working for the companies that I did. Specifically when I was in New York, that sort of teach you to just like, oh, but you have to keep your clients forever. It's like, well, if they wanna work with me forever and do new goals. Cool. But I know I've done a good job. When you're able to come to me and say like, wow, you know, I hit my goal. I'm no longer struggling with binging. I'm no longer, you know, like getting hangry through the day I'm off. These medications, I got pregnant, like whatever the goal. Great. That means we've done a good job, and it's like, go out in the world, go live your life. And then if you want help with another goal later on, I'm here for you. I'd love to see you again.

Ashley: 11:20

I feel like women specifically for the longest time have sort of been taught this like lack mentality. Like there's only so many spots to be chosen or there's only so many clients, or there's only so much whatever. And that really isn't the case. Like we're in a place of abundance, especially with how technology has grown. So whether it's in person, whether it's doing something online, I just feel like the options to grow, and obviously there's. nuances between different industries and things like that. But I think for the most part, we do have all of this opportunity to kind of tap into versus, you know, it has to be, you know, hold onto these 15 people or whatever forever. I think that's where a lot of big businesses are sort of tunnel visioned. Mm-hmm

Kristen: 12:09

yeah. That like scarcity mindset is one of the ways my friends and I talk about it.

Ashley: 12:14

Thinking about a nutritionist again, and how sometimes that industry can be unregulated. What are some red flags that people should look for or consider when hiring a nutritionist?

Kristen: 12:27

That's oh my gosh. I love this question. Big red flag to me is anyone who tells you right away like sort of this like black and white or all in nothing kind of mentality. So if somebody says right away, you're never gonna eat carbs anymore. Or certain foods are a hundred percent off limits or you have to stick to this exact regimen. That's somebody that I would say probably, maybe not gonna be the safest person to be working with because so much of nutrition is felt in the body. Life doesn't exist in black and white spaces. It's in the gray and in the, in between there. So anybody who's saying cut something out entirely for the rest of your life, unless it's in the case of an allergy, something very real like that, where the body's being attacked. That's a big red flag. And then anyone short of that registered dietician, who is handing you a meal plan saying you're having, you know, three eggs for breakfast. You're having a chicken salad for lunch. You're having salmon, broccoli and rice for dinner, that kind of stuff. Unless they do blood work on you and they do a ton of work, then that's not actually right for you. It's not customized for you. Any of those like harsh regulations or really harsh guidelines there, especially without talking to you first is someone that I would say maybe think twice about investing your time in them.

Ashley: 13:49

I think those are really good points. We were sort of sold on this one, molds fits all for so long or this idea that there's good and bad foods, or even good or bad vegetables and all of these sort of, I don't know, like holier than thou. Vibes when it comes to just eating or food and it puts so much pressure on people and puts so much like, should I do this and can I eat this and almost like a, guilt behind it?

Kristen: 14:16

In my workshop, we talk about the guilt shame cycle. With eating. And whenever I hear people using those should words or good and bad words, it's kind of like a active listening cue for me, you know, to talk about the guilt shame cycle there. But we have established this morality around food and morality around eating and the way we feed ourselves. And it's really wild when you start to look at it. So if we're deciding that food is good or bad one we're personifying food and it just doesn't have that kind of power. Food is incredible, but it's not personified there. Then we inherently become good or bad people based on the way in which we eat or the foods we eat and how we eat them. And then we're establishing this morality that goes on and on and on. When we do that, we get this guilt and shame kind of complex happening where we're just running in circles with it. If you start to look into food marketing, health marketing, these like health washing, halo foods, these kinds of concepts here, you see how from a systemic place, our society is built around the manipulation. I mean, calling out what it is. It's manipulation of people who are stuck in this guilt shame cycle, where their morality as a person is tied up in how you eat and we are absolutely all susceptible to manipulation when we're living in that place.

Ashley: 15:44

With the rise of the internet and social media, I feel like we're getting bombarded with it and bombarded with information that I think too many times people take as factual, like in thinking about good or bad foods. Thinking about it sort of from that aspect of just when to stop and actually critically think about the information, or I guess, to find your own source versus. an Instagram ad or what the case ay be.

Kristen: 16:13

It's like now with social media, the internet, you have all these things. They're incredible tools to get information out there to educate people, but it's hard to be able to educate people on something that's so subjective to each person. So I think you kind of hit the nail in the head there with like, go ahead and, engage in things and learn, but understand that none of this is like the holy grail of information. You still have to take everything you consume with a grain of salt. You should take what I say with a grain of salt and question. Does it work for you? Is that right for you? We developed this workshop. I mentioned it before the intuitive nutrition workshop. Because I wanted to find a way to teach some of these concepts that I do with my one-on-one clients on a little bit of a larger scale, but not sort of start to get into that category where I'm giving people meal plans. And I'm saying like, everyone has to follow this one routine, but I did notice there were a couple themes. I was teaching every single client and then they were using that. So we developed this workshop where we teach somebody. Ideas. And instead of talking about food in the terms of like good or bad, right or wrong eat this, don't eat that. We sort of start to think about foods and eat more, eat some and eat less categories. I do give recommendations on generally speaking, these foods are eat more foods. These foods are eat less foods, but then by the second week of our workshop, we're having everyone customize those categories for themselves. Because not everyone responds the same way to certain foods. So it's more like there are better foods for me and my goals and my values and worse choices to make, but they're not all good or bad,

Ashley: 17:57

which I really like. Even though food would be completely different for every single person that there would be categories of foods that, you know, the eat more the eat some and the eat less, that would be at least a starting point for people. Say you're new in this process. That's almost the scary part of stepping into a wellness industry where there is so much information and it can be intimidating, especially if you feel like you. don't look the same way as other people entering a gym or have different goals or whatever the case may be, and giving them somewhere safe to start.

Kristen: 18:32

A hundred percent. I am so aware of the intimidation factor in a lot of these places, because it's so easy for us to compare to others. And my gosh, like how many. Like wellness coaches are there on social media, just like gorgeous, thin CIS white, hetero, and fitting this kind of like perfect model there. And then you come in and if you don't perfectly match that, you all of a sudden feel like you don't fit in. we start to tell ourselves these stories in our minds so maybe it's the scarcity mindset or maybe it's the, I don't fit in or I don't belong here or I'm not good enough. I haven't learned this enough. My favorite thing that I hear a lot is people who say that they wanna get in shape before they work with me, or they wanna start to like already have lost 10 pounds before they work with me. Or Already being eating organic first. So I'm like, what do you think I do though? We work on that together, but I think that the best thing that I wanna do for people who feel that way is educate them. So whether this is a personal training session that we're doing, or a nutrition coaching, or it's the workshop, or this is a doula client, I'm going to educate you and I'm gonna try to arm you with just the, kind of like bare bones facts of it. So if nutrition, if that's what we're talking about here, that's these are what macros are. These are what whole foods are. This is generally speaking how to portion a plate, but then this is what hunger feels like to you. And this is what fullness feels like to you. We're gonna start to learn to check in with yourself and when you're armed with that knowledge, I think it's a lot easier to walk into some of those wellness spaces saying like I know you're doing some crazy stuff over there, but I also know what feels good in my body. So I'm gonna take what works for me and I'm gonna leave what doesn't.

Ashley: 20:21

I love that. Now, something that you just mentioned is how to portion a plate mm-hmm I saw a couple years ago a meme or something of what, a dinner plate looked like, say back in the seventies compared to what our dinner plates look like now, mm-hmm and it's almost doubled, which is kind of crazy.

Kristen: 20:38

It is.

Ashley: 20:39

What should we be thinking about when portioning plates?

Kristen: 20:43

Yeah, there's a really simple method that I love to use with my clients. And it's always a little shocking, especially if someone. From like an intense fitness background or those kind of things. I think we think that you need to be like, weighing your food on a scale and you gotta have like six ounces of chicken breasts, like who is the time? To weigh their food. I certainly don't honestly like I have a food scale because I do this for a living and it's important to know some things, but I gotta tell you, I'm busy, we have lives. So when you. Learn your food. So, first of all, we're gonna talk about macros, cuz you kind of wanna know what macros generally are in order to know how to portion. So these are macronutrients. These are the foods that provide sources of energy and most of your food kind of falls into these categories. So protein is one. Carbohydrates is another fats is the third. And then for the sake of portioning a plate. I make vegetables a fourth category here. Now people are gonna hear this and be like, oh, but vegetables are a carb. Yes. You're not wrong. They are a carbohydrate, but vegetables are so important that I like to pull them into a fourth category. So we've got protein, carbs, fats and veggies. When you're looking at your plate, if you take your hand and you look at the size of your Palm, so the width, the thickness, the length, all of that, the full density of your Palm, that's about the size of a serving of protein. So if you're, going for like a chicken breasts, that's, I'm really into chicken today, I guess. But that's what I'm picking here. You're gonna have a piece of chicken. That's about the size of your Palm. Then, if you want to look at your carbs, you're gonna take your hand and you're gonna cup it and you can have a cupped handful of carbs as a serving. that's your grains, your breads, your legumes separate from the vegetables here. Rice is easy to think of that. You're gonna like scoop out a cup, handful of rice, put that on your plate then for your fat. You're gonna look at your thumb and it's the length of your thumb, the thickness, that whole thing. It's a much smaller portion here for your fats, but that's gonna be a serving of fats. So that's your nuts, your seeds, your oils even things like avocado. We're gonna call serving if that your thumb and then the last one is your veggies. That one you're gonna make a fist. And you're gonna look at the size of your fist here, and that should match the serving of vegetables on your plate. So you've got your Palm for protein, your cupped handful of carbs, your thumb of fats, and then your fist of vegetables,

Ashley: 23:16

which is so surprising about avocados. I feel like we're always told to basically like eat half that avocado or being sold is almost like a super food.

Kristen: 23:24

Yeah. I think that's where we start to get into what I think is a little bit of the art of nutrition or the art of wellness here is like, that's the standard portion. So that's sort of what I teach in like week one of my workshop. I'm like, let's get you guys educated. I wanna give you an answer to the question of what should I eat here. But that being said, you wanna start to tweak that based on the foods you're eating and the goals you have. So I know personally. My body really enjoys, having a little bit more fat and a little bit less carbs specifically if I'm in my high hormone phase of my monthly cycle, I'm definitely going for a little bit more fats that week. But then if you're having something that is a whole food, like an avocado, that's gonna be something that we shouldn't be afraid to go a little bit larger in the serving a factor in the portion. So. In actuality and practice here, if you wanna eat the half an avocado, go ahead. Do it, just understand you're having a double portion of fats there, and maybe that helps you keep in mind in another place in your diet. You maybe wanna back off the fat a little bit. Maybe that's a reason to steam your vegetables instead of sauteing them in a fat, you know, so you can kind. pick and play where you want to do this. And I would always say if you're actually looking at a whole food, like an avocado or a piece of fruit, and you're thinking that you're going over in the serving, I'm not afraid of those things. I don't mind if you go a little over in a food that came from our beautiful planet earth, I think it's more important to be worried about the servings and going over. Some of our more processed foods, things that come out of a bag or a package, something like that.

Ashley: 25:14

I appreciate you pointing out for people too, that say you find what works for you the next week. It could be something different. So it really is customizing your food for what benefits you daily.

Kristen: 25:28

Mm-hmm that's why we call it the intuitive nutrition. Workshop. Intuitive eating sounds a little bit like a diet to me and I never wanna do anything. That sounds like a diet, but I did want to emphasize this idea of like, you have to learn to listen to yourself. This only works as much as you can learn to hear that. Cuz your body is constantly giving you feedback. It's giving you data. If you start to get a curious mind about your body and be. Oh, interesting. I have a little bit of a stomach ache or I'm feeling a little bit bloated. What did I just eat? Things like headaches. That's a signal to you. You're probably dehydrated or you might not have enough calories in there. Your body is constantly trying to tell you if it's working for you or not. But we need to learn how to listen to it. I think that's a way more important skill to learn than just the ability to follow someone's meal plan.

Ashley: 26:23

So for people, would you just recommend, like starting to practice that mindfulness and, doing like a check in with themselves?

Kristen: 26:30

Absolutely. I think the best place to start is with your breath, whether or not, you know, you're a seasoned meditator or you're brand new to this idea. You've never checked in with your body before. I think the best way to start is with your breath. Take a notice of your inhales and your exhales. I recommend if you really have the space for it, practice taking 10 big, deep breaths. Before you go to make a decision about your food or before you start eating, maybe let's say like you're walking into the kitchen. You're about to make a meal. Take 30 seconds. Close your eyes, inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth, just focus on the breath, notice what's going on in your body. It really doesn't have to be more complicated than that. I think the idea that we have to like do a proper meditation is kind of overwhelming sometimes, but those simple little breaths there. Help us slow down from a physiological perspective. We're switching into the parasympathetic nervous system, which is that rest and digest mode we're present there. We're grounded. You're gonna be able to make a better decision there. I think it's interesting too. A lot of cultures do this before meals. I was brought up in a very religious household and we prayed before every single meal growing up as a kid and. It's funny cuz I don't do that as an adult, but as I'm preaching to these clients, like, Hey, take a moment, take 10 deep breaths. Be grateful for the food on your plate and notice how that helps you figure out when you're hungry or if you like certain foods or not. It very much reminds me of the cultures throughout the world. Where we see this idea of prayer and gratitude right before the meal, or right before cooking. We also see some really wonderful, healthy cultures in those same places. So I think that there's a big correlation between that.

Ashley: 28:19

I think that gratitude piece especially is so huge, in the last two years where I think burnout is At an all time high, I feel like we are in a kind of go, go, go sort of hamster wheel of things. Mm-hmm, that being mindful and slowing down and not waiting until you're super, super hungry. Like you had mentioned before and taking those breaths and just being like, I'm extremely grateful that I get to be here in this moment and actually be able to get this meal. I think is really important because we tend to forget all of those good parts of our day. By the time we go to bed. And I feel like if we do, like you said, take those moments of calmness and being present and just awareness does benefit us so much more than just from like a nutrition. Point of view, but as like an actual, like human being throughout your life, just to be able to be conscious in those moments.

Kristen: 29:19

Totally. It really does. I'm such a, like human body freak that that's, what's really fascinating to me about the body is we keep demonstrating again and again, in research in the medical fields, all of these kinds of things, how well our bodies work when you're operating from a place of gratitude. Of slowing down of taking notice here. Like there are very real physiological impacts that happen when the body is stressed or not stressed. And it's been demonstrated time and time again. It's really just what makes me fall in love with working with bodies and humans and everything is like, it's so divine to me, right? Like you practice these. Things of gratitude. We know that it's healthier when we're able to have a good sense of community, the same things that feel good to us are good for us on the inside. And it's really just, I think divine that it works out that way.

Ashley: 30:19

Different industries or medias have sold us on like food for being thin or food for sort of a physical appearance. I feel like talking about some of the foods that we've talked about where it is like the vegetables and putting. Actual food versus more processed foods on our plate is that we really need to think about food is our fuel to keep us alive. And we wanna, be able to experience life on this earth for as long as possible. And really think of it. I think more from a longevity point of view, I guess that I feel like that's a mind shift, that we really collectively need

Kristen: 30:56

very much. So when you start to think about eating for longevity, exercising for longevity, sleeping for longevity, these kinds of things, it will really start to put your priorities in the spotlight there. We talk about this concept in my workshop a lot, but I partnered with a dear friend of mine, Gabrielle Chappelle also known as chef Gabby because I wanted to bring in someone who, you know, not only has a culinary background here, but has that love for food, but Gabby has a really wonderful understanding of the importance of sustainable sourcing of our food. When we're talking about longevity, one of the things that's really important to understand is that. Even our produce, even our proteins, these kinds of things. They're not all created equal here. There is a big, big need for a shift to sustainable agriculture practices. And when we're looking at the food that a lot of us are getting access to in our supermarkets and our grocery stores, it is not the same quality food as. Even our parents' generation was getting in times before this, because our agriculture practices, especially in the United States here really have just decreased the soil quality. It's contributing to climate change. There's a lot going on there. So. I think it's really important to focus on some of these things. Like what's the quality of the food that you're eating, because when we care about the quality of our food, that's gonna do wonders for things like our longevity, our health in the long run. You're gonna see results in your blood work with this, but it's also the kind of stuff that we need to be doing. We need to be thinking about for our planet and for our long term for our longevity, but also for our kids' longevity and for future generations there, it really matters how we're getting our food.

Ashley: 32:44

it really, really does. I think that in the last couple of years, we've been more aware of where does our food come from? Am I getting it from a local farm up the street? Or is it being imported from a different country? I think that part is so huge because not only are you leaving the carbon imprint of having the food have to be imported to you, but you really don't necessarily know anything about the company or the people behind making what you're eating.

Kristen: 33:12

Yeah, I think it adds a component of mindfulness, at least for me when I'm able to source my food locally and I feel more connected to it. I can be preparing the exact same meal, whether I bought it at the grocery store, I got it from the farm down the street for me. And I'm lucky to have a farm now. I don't live in New York city anymore, but I feel so much more connected to the food and that feels very calming and grounding and centering to me. When I'm prepping something and I'm washing it and I'm like, oh, I got this from. Green door, which is the farm down the street. And I know Sylvia is the owner and farmer and oh, we had a little conversation when I picked up my CSA this week. It's a way different feeling, cooking that food than ripping open a bag of Brussels sprouts that I picked up from the grocery store and just throwing that on the tray too. It really, it just feels better.

Ashley: 34:05

I feel like in some cases there's a myth that like local is more expensive. I know personally for me, we have two farms in our area, which is Maan farms and Tave farms, and both of them have gotten vegetables from, and it's. Better quality, but also less expensive than my local grocery store too. I think with our foods, because there are so many more chemicals and the way that they are. I don't know, cooked, and that kind of stuff is different than maybe our parents' generation, but we're finding that there's a lot more things about like inflammation in our body. do you find that that's something. Is like a media hype, or do you find that that's something that a lot more people are focusing on now?

Kristen: 34:46

I think that people are starting to wake up to that a little bit and it really goes hand in hand in, what I've seen in the research based on how much processed food we're eating versus how many whole foods we're eating. It has a lot to do with, I would say the oils that we're consuming and then also the additives that are being put into things to make them more shelf stable. I mean, you do what you can and no food is bad. I will stand by that. That being said, The more shelf stable, your food is the more likely it is to trigger an inflammatory response in the body. When we're trying to think about things like longevity, these are the questions we need to be asking ourself, like, is this oil. Going to be triggering an inflammatory response in my body and dropping the threshold of my immune system right now at a time when I want my immunity to be really high and at full power. So I think it's important when we're in times of dealing with the global pandemic. And we're thinking about longevity here. We need to care about the inflammatory responses happening in the body and what's going on.

Ashley: 35:56

Well with oils. Is there one that you would recommend to put in the more category and one that you would recommend to put into the medium category and the less category?

Kristen: 36:07

Yeah, absolutely. I think first understanding just a little bit about smoke points of oils is very helpful. So that's something that we teach in the workshop as well, understanding that the way your oils are made, the way they're processed affects your body's ability to either use them properly, or think that that's a toxin there. So. Things like olive oil, avocado oil, Sesame oil coconut oil, all these things, they all have a different smoke point. So understanding that olive oil is going to smoke at a lower temperature than avocado oil. Just kinda helps you make an understanding, an educated choice there of like, oh, okay. If I'm going to roast some brussel sprouts at 4 25 in my oven, I'm gonna opt for avocado oil. Cuz the smoke point of that is about 500 degrees versus olive oil, I believe is somewhere closer to 3 75. So it's just kind of making those choices there. I always am hesitant to give anybody something that you like shouldn't eat and take a hard stance on it. But I can tell you on a personal level, I do my best to avoid anything that's using canola oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil. Some of those are. Just in the nature of them, their smoke point is so low that it just takes the processing of the oil to kind of make them rancid. That personally is something that I don't wanna put in my body.

Ashley: 37:35

I like thinking of it from the science perspective of just knowing it's this, because it's this it's and removing the good, bad and should out of it. Mm-hmm and allowing people to give them the knowledge to make the choice for what is best for them. So I really like knowing that. I would've never really thought about it and there's so much knowledge out there, but I think it's like, unless you, go to the mindfulness place of what am I eating, how is it making me feel and what simple changes could I do to make it feel a little bit better? I think is really great thinking of it from that perspective.

Kristen: 38:09

Yeah. The oils is definitely one that like, you can look this up and see, and a Google search will kind of tell you some certain ones that are maybe better to eat less of. But if you also just check in with yourself after you eat something, you're gonna feel the difference. You will feel something happening in your body when you consume something that's been cooked at an appropriate temperature for that oil versus eating a fried food. That's a really extreme example of it, but I think we can all relate to that feeling of like, you have something fried and you're like, ah, I have a little bit of a tummy, ache. That's your body telling you right there, that it is, or isn't working, but oils are gonna be affected by light heat and oxygen. So I think quick ways to make a really big impact in your health that people can change is taking a look at the types of oils you're cooking. Where you're storing them in your kitchen. You wanna make sure that they're not in the cupboard, like directly above the oven, right? Cuz that heat's gonna rise and it's gonna affect the oils sitting there. There are some oils that are so unstable on the shelf that I do recommend having them in the fridge. There are something like Walnut oil, something like that. I keep that in my fridge cuz any kinda heat and light is gonna be really sensitive. To those, but part of it, I think, is developing the taste for it too. Like if you haven't done this stuff before you don't always have the taste buds and the mindfulness around that too to take it out. So we do look into that in my workshop. And we're actually doing on September 26th, we're going to be doing an olive oil tasting virtually with a company Garcia de la Cruz, which is a family owned company out of Spain that we have started to partner with. They're a really wonderful company. They are very much aligned with everything I've been talking about so far. They're kind of gonna take everybody through a series of their olive oils and start to understand the tastes of different oils, why you would cook in certain ways with different ones. We're gonna have a little culinary demonstration from chef Gabby. And then we're also going to have a professor from Yale in our group talking about some of these like longevity concepts associated with oil and how really good quality extra Virgin olive oil is a wonderful staple to have and be cooking with.

Ashley: 40:25

Oh, that's such a cool idea. Can, you let people know how they can register for that?

Kristen: 40:30

Absolutely. So you can sign up on my website, it's K D r-wellness.com. Or you can find information from my Instagram, which is at@KristenRiches.

Ashley: 40:44

Perfect. Thank you so much for having this conversation with me today.

Kristen: 40:47

Of course. Thank you so much for having me.

40:52

Thank you so much for joining us today for this episode of the filled up cup podcast, don't forget to hit subscribe and leave a review. If you like what you hear, you can also connect with us@filledupcup.com. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll catch you in the next episode.