Ep. 65 - The Body Keeps Score: How People-Pleasing is Messing with Your Hormones with Dr. Seth Osgood

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 If your calendar is full and your tank is empty, your hormones may be carrying the cost. In this grounded, practical conversation, Dr. Seth Osgood joins Kathy to unpack how chronic stress from people-pleasing and over-functioning can dysregulate your body’s systems—and what you can start doing today to restore balance with simple, sustainable habits. 

Topics Discussed:

• The people-pleasing → stress loop: why “yes” can spike stress chemistry
• Nervous system regulation and its downstream impact on hormones
• Sleep, blood sugar, and morning routines that calm cortisol
• Boundaries as biology: micro-scripts that protect your energy
• Labs vs. lifestyle: what to track, what to try first
• Gentle, doable resets (food, movement, breath) that compound over time

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Transcript

Ep. 65 - The Body Keeps Score: How People-Pleasing is Messing with Your Hormones with Dr. Seth Osgood

[00:00:00] Kathy Washburn: Have you ever sat in a meeting, smiled and said, I'm fine. When every cell in your body was screaming the opposite, maybe your gut was churning, your shoulders were tight, your mind was racing, but outwardly perfectly composed. Here's what I learned from my functional medicine doctor, Dr. Seth Osgood. Your body doesn't know the difference between running from a bear and sitting in that boardroom.

[00:00:30] Kathy Washburn: The same biochemical storm is happening inside you, and after years, maybe decades, of saying yes, when you mean no, of taking care of everyone else first, of keeping the peace at your own expense, your body keeps the score. Seth calls it pregnenolone steal when chronic stress literally steals the building blocks.

[00:00:57] Kathy Washburn: Your body needs to make the [00:01:00] hormones that keep you balanced, energized, and well. It's why you are wired but tired. It's why you can't sleep even though you're exhausted. It's why that I'm fine is costing you more than you realize. Today's conversation changed how I understand the connection between my type C patterns, the people pleasing, conflict avoidance, and emotional suppression, and what's actually happening inside my body at a cellular level.

[00:01:33] Kathy Washburn: this isn't about blame, it's about. Knowledge and understanding about gathering facts so that we can see how the story of our being is being played out in our bodies because we can't heal what we don't know is broken. And the most radical act of self investment is learning to read your own body's story [00:02:00] before it becomes a diagnosis.

[00:02:02] Kathy Washburn: May this podcast be a catalyst for you to become the better version of you just bursting to step forward.

[00:02:12] ​

[00:03:54] Introduction and Greetings

[00:03:54] Kathy Washburn: Hello, Dr. Seth Osgood. How are you today? I am doing amazing. Thank you [00:04:00] so much for having me on. I've been looking forward to this. I have too. You are. Full disclosure. My functional medicine doctor. And it has been kind of life-changing to be in your practice and gather the genius of all the people that you have collected there and the resources.

[00:04:19] Kathy Washburn: Just eye-opening in identifying what's actually happening underneath the skin, like in my body. And as I've worked through this living from the outside in. To the inside out. This other step of understanding how I walk in the world, how that actually affects my insides, has been really remarkable.

[00:04:45] Kathy Washburn: And we're gonna dive deep into that. Before we do though, I'd love for you to introduce yourself. I wanna know how you got to where you are, giving us the Reader's Digest version by answering the prompt [00:05:00] once upon a time. 

[00:05:03] Dr. Seth Osgood's Background

[00:05:03] Kathy Washburn: All right, so once upon a time, I, I grew up in a small town in Vermont. I actually was raised on a farm.

[00:05:11] Kathy Washburn: And I come from a, a larger family. I've got three siblings and then of course my parents. We were a blue collar family young farming. We grew up though in a home where. About, I think six, five out of the six of us had digestive issues. So we all had horrible digestion, horrible guts, and that's kind of what we learned to live with.

[00:05:34] Kathy Washburn: I remember growing up, in the house, in, in one of the biggest fights that we'd ever have was over, Imodium ad who took the last Imodium. So it was pretty brutal. And, and my my mom was like a lot of my patients, she was the one. Trying to find answers. Because essentially the medical community was just saying, Hey, you've got IBS, To you. this is just how you're going to live.

[00:05:53] Kathy Washburn: Get used to it. Rely on the meds, everything will be fine. But she was determined, so she kept looking, doctor to [00:06:00] doctor. saw, saw multiple specialists, no really big clue answers. 

[00:06:04] Discovering Functional Medicine

[00:06:04] Kathy Washburn: And then eventually what happened? I, I was actually outta the house. And down south in Texas where I went to work as a paramedic.

[00:06:11] Kathy Washburn: And I was going back to school actually to for my nurse practitioner degree. she called me and told me she, her symptoms were completely resolved and I was at the point where I was still struggling. I was still relying on the over the counter. Meds just to function throughout the day. And I asked her what she did and she said, I worked with a functional medicine provider.

[00:06:31] Kathy Washburn: We worked on my diet and my lifestyle. They put me on some supplements. We did some comprehensive testing and figured out, some of my weak spots and I. Rolled my eyes and was very skeptical and told her she was crazy. But at the same time, I was desperate because I wanted to fix this problem and nobody could help me.

[00:06:48] Kathy Washburn: Even going through the conventional training, nothing, nothing was being taught to me that was helping me. So, I made a few simple diet changes and lo and behold, my symptoms completely resolved as well. So [00:07:00] instantly I got hooked. I'm like, okay, well I guess what is this? Functional medicine business.

[00:07:04] Kathy Washburn: So I found some local seminars. I was, luckily enough, that I was in Austin at that time, so there was a lot of great education there. And I just fell in love with it and just delved in, head first and haven't looked back. And it, it's been a, a complete game changer. But just to end the story quickly, like one of.

[00:07:21] Kathy Washburn: The The big triggers for me was dairy and we grew up on a dairy farm, so what was really frustrating was that no one took the time, a very simple, and it was the same for my family. Gluten, dairy were huge triggers, but a simple history, a simple nutritional history, just diving and asking them like, where do we live?

[00:07:41] Kathy Washburn: What do we eat? What, what are we exposed to? Those, those three simple questions could have totally. Prevented all of the suffering that we dealt with. So, it was frustrating. It was eye-opening, it was a blessing in disguise. I, I wouldn't change anything 'cause it got me where we are today.

[00:07:55] Kathy Washburn: But yeah, that's kind of what got me into this. 

[00:07:58] Dr. Seth Osgood: Dang 

[00:07:58] Kathy Washburn: Happily ever after. [00:08:00] Happily ever after. I love that question because every time I learn something about somebody that I didn't know before, I had no idea He grew up Arm in Vermont. Yep. Yeah, my parents still have him. My dad's got a, he's, he's.

[00:08:14] Kathy Washburn: In his he's, he's in the late sixties now, and he's he's still bit farming. She's still milking cows, so, oh, thank goodness pep. Wow. 

[00:08:22] The Impact of Emotional Suppression on Health

[00:08:22] Kathy Washburn: well, today we're gonna talk about something as insidious as the food intake and its inflammation. And I talk a lot on this podcast about this idea of type C.

[00:08:36] Kathy Washburn: behavioral patterns, maladaptive behavioral patterns that suppress our immune system on a subliminal basis. Like, like you said, we just got used to, that's how we live. we were just taking, it's just. 

[00:08:52] Kathy Washburn: Normal for us to live with this gut issue of being uncomfortable.

[00:08:57] Kathy Washburn: And a lot of people, it's just normal [00:09:00] to subliminally live in this state of of not inflammation, but emotional suppression, people pleasing conflict resistance. They, where we think we're doing ourselves a favor, but really inside. Our body is wildly inflamed and you talk about inflammation as a biochemical storm, and that just gave me such a visual on what's actually happening happening.

[00:09:32] Kathy Washburn: As we think about that, can you talk us through what's actually happening physiologically, when someone is sitting in a, in a meeting or in a relationship and smiling and saying, I'm fine when their body is actually screaming, I'm not okay. I'm not fine. 

[00:09:51] Dr. Seth Osgood: Absolutely. 

[00:09:52] Kathy Washburn: It's such a common problem that I'd say the majority of people, especially women, I just, to be honest, deal with on a day-to-day [00:10:00] basis because everybody's, again, whether it's from childhood experiences or current life experiences.

[00:10:06] Kathy Washburn: A lot of women are stressed out. They are, taking on way more than they should. They're putting everybody's needs above their own and that is not only of. affecting them emotionally and mentally, but it's, it's absolutely affecting them physically. I think it's important for a lot of people to know the body.

[00:10:23] Kathy Washburn: Keeps score chemically long before you feel symptoms. And, and that's why we wanna be proactive with getting to the bottom of this and identifying where the imbalances are prior to getting some big diagnosis of breast cancer or having a heart attack or, some autoimmune condition.

[00:10:42] Kathy Washburn: I mean, it's, it's, it's all interconnected because realistically. The, your body doesn't know the difference between a bear and a boardroom like you mentioned, right? So if you are running from a bear or you're just stressed out at work, or you've got a bad relationship, the same [00:11:00] physiologic imbalances are occurring.

[00:11:02] Kathy Washburn: And I think that's something that a lot of people don't really recognize or put a lot of attention towards. Especially we see that with trauma, especially like, thinking, okay, well I haven't been in a war, or I haven't been in a. Car accident that was severe, or, so, I don't have any stress, I don't have any trauma, but you know, a lot of those microtraumas that people experience over time add up and have the same physiologic effects.

[00:11:25] Kathy Washburn: But you know, to, just to get to your question on physiology, so you know, when, when the body is stressed, when you're suppressing the emotion, when you're not setting those boundaries, when you're taking on too much, what happens is that an area of your brain called the amygdala becomes activated.

[00:11:41] Kathy Washburn: And this keeps the brain on surveillance mode. So it keeps the brain constantly active, looking around, trying to, search for threats. It doesn't ever calm down or relax. And when the amygdala becomes activated and the brain becomes activated. Then cortisol rises. And cortisol is the body's primary stress [00:12:00] hormone.

[00:12:00] Kathy Washburn: And it's very important for life. You need it. But when it's on point all day long, every day, that's where destruction starts to occur. You have blood sugar spikes, your digestion shuts down, your hormones go crazy. And that's where women will see a lot of those imbalances, which I'm sure we'll talk about.

[00:12:18] Kathy Washburn: And then back to what you were saying, inflammation. Increases. And what we see and what we know based on the literature is the, the, the immune system releases what are called cytokines, which are chemical messengers. Two big ones that you'll hear a lot about on, on TV because they're trying to make drugs for these, or they are making drugs for these is interleukin six and TNF alpha.

[00:12:39] Kathy Washburn: So they're making a lot of drugs, especially biologics, these injections for all of these inflammatory autoimmune issues that come some pretty harsh side effects. If you're not careful. But they're, they're designed to help with these cytokines, like TNF alpha. But when TN FFA and these other inflammatory cytokines spike, then you see an increase in anxiety.

[00:12:58] Kathy Washburn: You see a increase in [00:13:00] fatigue. Women will gain weight, their sleep will become disrupted. Everything just kind of blows up. So it's not, there's, there's an intimate connection between emotion and physiology. and, and that's what we try to un unwrap and figure out. Because if we don't recognize that and we don't address that, that's where a lot of problems will persist.

[00:13:22] Understanding Hormonal Imbalances

[00:13:22] Kathy Washburn: And where functional medicine differs in my mind, is that to your point of it being in the cells before you actually see the effects. Or the side effects of what's happening is exactly the testing is in the cells. Like you get this really in depth. The first time I remember I got that whole series of testing and the first thing that blew my mind was that you went through the test on video, responding to each one of the elements, which there were, I don't even remember, [00:14:00] but you sent me the video.

[00:14:02] Kathy Washburn: Invited me to watch it before you and I sat down together and I thought. That right there is the most brilliant idea because I looked at it all kind of honked up with, oh my God, this is in the red. This is in the red. This is in the red. If I were just sitting in front of you, I wouldn't have been able to hear thing that you were saying, because all I saw with our negativity bias is like.

[00:14:29] Kathy Washburn: Holy buckets. I am a mess. But you your calm demeanor, going through one at a time, explaining exactly how these things interacted. I took notes. I must have watched that video eight times before I sat down with you. But when I sat down, I was armed with knowledge. And filled with questions on how to move forward.

[00:14:54] Kathy Washburn: So this idea that we can gather data about ourselves [00:15:00] before it becomes an issue, before we, I always talk about this idea of dealing with dis-ease before we get diagnosed with one. Yeah. And, and that's where that functional medicine. Comes in and one of the things I hear all the time from, I mean, I'm 59 years old, so I hear it from friends family, but also from clients is the hormone communi, the, the hormone issues.

[00:15:30] Kathy Washburn: Like, oh, I'm in menopause. I'm outta menopause. I'm Me, they're wreaking havoc with their adrenal glands, not understanding that if they're hyper. jacked up with cortisol, their adrenal glands can't produce the, the estrogen that is supposed to be happening as we kind of, go through this process.

[00:15:49] Kathy Washburn: But often I hear they're like, oh, they gave me the patch. Oh yeah, I'm taking some progesterone. All is well in the world. Yeah. 

[00:15:58] The Importance of Comprehensive Testing

[00:15:58] Kathy Washburn: But can you tell [00:16:00] us, like, I love your articles, and by the way, we'll have a link to Dr. Osgood's website and his contact, his blogs are. ridiculously informative. But there was this one that you talked about inflammation and how it interferes with hormone communication you actually called it a group text between estrogen, progesterone, and cortisol that gets distorted, and I can't think of a better metaphor.

[00:16:27] Kathy Washburn: Like a group task is always confusing. Like, can we just get on the phone? So could you just share with us how, if someone is. Been chronically kind of people pleasing or in that emotional suppression world for 20 or 30 or 15 or 40 years, how that kind of plays out in this hormone process of the body.

[00:16:56] Kathy Washburn: Absolutely. Yeah. So that's a great, great point. And again, just to [00:17:00] kind of reiterate what you were saying. The information is available. We, we have the technology, we have the the skills to assess where these numbers are at. Unfortunately the medical community is just choosing not to, and it's not only, we can gather so much.

[00:17:18] Kathy Washburn: Amazing information just from the basic blood work. But instead of interpreting that blood work oftentimes people are left with everything looks fine, even when things aren't unfortunately, so there it's not only the labs, but it's how the labs are interpreted is also really important because a lot of people don't understand that these reference ranges that are typically used.

[00:17:37] Kathy Washburn: That is just the average range from our unhealthy population. And they go two standard deviations in each direction, and that's where the highs and the lows come from. And so many people fall into those ranges, but they are still sick. And then, like you were saying, the, the functional labs that is just.

[00:17:55] Kathy Washburn: That's my bread and butter. I love, that's, I just love the videos. Like that is a pleasure for [00:18:00] me is making those videos and, and putting it all together because it's so neat to see how physiology just really explains, it tells a story, and, and and when you When we sit down and we, we actually review someone's story and then we connect it with the labs.

[00:18:17] Kathy Washburn: It's just, it's su such a pleasure for me to, to be able to look at people's faces and be like, wow, finally I'm getting some validation. Because they've been told over and over again that everything is fine. There, there's nothing wrong. Their labs are normal. They're just getting oral, older, they're stressed.

[00:18:33] Kathy Washburn: This is menopause. Welcome to menopause, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like all these crazy, crazy statements that just don't leave people feeling very well. And actually they, these statements oftentimes will rob them of their hope. So being able to. Provide them some reassurance that, hey, this is real, this is physiology.

[00:18:49] Kathy Washburn: We can't make these numbers up. is, is, just so, it's heartwarming for me to be able to see that and and help, help explain that. But but you're absolutely right. I mean, though, there [00:19:00] is an intimate connection that that group text analogy is is real. And that is, that is our physiology, that is our bodi. Everything is interconnected. When you affect one area of the body we are going to have a reaction at another area of the body. And, and we see that, especially when it comes to the HPA axis, which is the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal access. And that's just a. Fancy physiological term saying that the brain is connected with the adrenals and the adrenals are connected with the hormones, and then we can throw the thyroid in there and the gut in there as well.

[00:19:36] Kathy Washburn: Everything is interrelated. So when you have these micro stressors, when you're, caretaking for your family, when you're not setting your boundaries, when you're not getting the proper sleep because you're up doing excessive work, or you're, you're simply just. Not saying no, you, you, These are all micro stressors that will have that same [00:20:00] physiologic effect of increasing your cortisol. And and then when you, a lot of people don't understand, actually, a lot of these hormones actually come from cholesterol too. So you need cholesterol to make your hormones. I, I, in the office, I'd love to show this big diagram.

[00:20:13] Kathy Washburn: It's this big, huge diagram about all the hormones in your body and it's just neat to be able to see how everything's connected. But just to kind of break that down, cortisol, which is that primary stress hormone is really the priority for the body. Now it's not supposed to be excessive.

[00:20:30] Kathy Washburn: It's supposed to come on when you need to run from the bear or you need to, do something challenging. It doesn't always have to be negative, but it's, it's supposed to be kind of a temporary release. But in today's day and age, that is going full throttle all the time. Another hormone is called pregnenolone.

[00:20:47] Kathy Washburn: And pernol alone comes before a cortisol. And that actually feeds cortisol. So you need pregnenolone to make cortisol, but pernol alone should do another thing should go, another direction should go over to make [00:21:00] D-H-E-A-D-H-E-A is an androgen that helps with energy metabolism bone health, cognitive function, building muscle mass.

[00:21:07] Kathy Washburn: And and, and it also will spill over to make estrogens and testosterone and testosterone's another really important hormone for women that a lot of people don't know about, that helps with libido and muscle mass and energy. And mitochondria help does lots of good things. So when the body is.

[00:21:22] Kathy Washburn: Is, is using all of the cortisol, what we, it's called pregnenolone steel. You steal all of that pregnenolone to feed cortisol and then it shuts down your progesterone and your testosterone and your estrogen. And we see that a lot in the postmenopausal realm and perimenopausal to some extent because.

[00:21:42] Kathy Washburn: The adrenal gland, like you said, which was a hundred percent accurate, is really the primary builder of your hormones when you go through menopause. When you're ovaries stop working, your adrenal glands need to pick up the slack. So when you've worn them out with all of these different micro stressors [00:22:00] and the emotional suppression.

[00:22:01] Kathy Washburn: All of that stuff that just kind of wears and tears down the adrenal gland. Then when you get to that menopause state, you're not sneaking through and sliding through all is Mary. You're suffering, you're feeling it, you're having those horrendous hot flashes and night sweats, vaginal dryness.

[00:22:18] Kathy Washburn: You're having that brain fog, the weight gain, all of those negative symptoms that so many people deal with, and, and a lot of that is related to the fact that they're not. Taking care of their adrenals, which again, when you look at why it it, a lot of it boils down to, like you said, some of those type C personality traits where we're not setting the boundaries, we're overworking ourselves.

[00:22:39] Kathy Washburn: We're not sleeping, we're taking care of everybody and every priority other than the ones that really matter the most, which is our own. Okay. There's so much to unpack in there, but there's two things that really just kind of leaped out, and that was this idea that when you're gathering all this data, [00:23:00] and I remember sitting in your office like, okay, I've watched this video eight times.

[00:23:04] Kathy Washburn: I've got this data, but you were like, tell me your story. You didn't ask me to start with once upon a time, but you did get the full. Maybe I will. Now You got the full Monte there and it allowed, as I am saying it out loud, and you're making connections to my story, just like your story of growing up on a farm, on a dairy farm started to be connected with what's happening in our body and I.

[00:23:35] Kathy Washburn: It is my belief or feeling that the healthcare keeps those two things so separate. So when somebody says, I am having all these issues. Perimenopausal and they give you the progesterone or they give you the estrogen patch and you think, okay, all is well with the world, but we still haven't dealt with the issue Of what's causing it. So it's [00:24:00] like, it's a fake bandaid. It's like, it's almost like a placebo. Right, right. Yeah. It's kinda like med, that's medicine in general right now, unfortunately, for a lot of things, right? It's like, let's just cover up the symptoms, not address the problem, and everything will be fine until it's not.

[00:24:17] Kathy Washburn: that's where you get into bigger, bigger trouble and you have bigger problems. But that's you're, absolutely right. it's unfortunate. I mean, you can't. Again, it's nothing wrong with hormones like I I, we do utilize hormones and I think they can be a valuable resource for women who are struggling balancing those out.

[00:24:34] Kathy Washburn: But you can't address hormones without addressing nutrition, without addressing stress, without addressing the spirituality and the motion, and the gut health and all of these other factors. It's just like, are the traditional poach is Here you go, one fix, you're gonna be good. It's not realistic. I mean, if we're all honest with ourselves, we have, problems happen for a reason. We know genetics are a piece of it, but it's just a small piece, right? You're, I always [00:25:00] say, the genes load the gun. The environment pulls the trigger. Our environment influences how our genes are expressed.

[00:25:06] Kathy Washburn: So if we just blame it on genetics or we forget the fact that, our lifestyle matters. We're never gonna see that end point of, of feeling vital and, and being well. And that's something that doesn't get nearly the attention that it should in my opinion. I feel like there's a researcher, her name's Sonya Lou Ram Meki, and she created this, it's called The Happiness Pie.

[00:25:28] Kathy Washburn: And she's got a lot of, there's a lot of controversy around it at the numbers that she used, and they're not exact, but the Happiness Pie says your happiness. Is one piece of the pie, which is 40%, is DNA, like what you were, what you were passed down. So if you had anxious parents, like you'll, you might get that in your DNA.

[00:25:54] Kathy Washburn: And then 10% is your [00:26:00] circumstance. The circumstance. And 40% is your choice. 

[00:26:05] Dr. Seth Osgood: Mm, 

[00:26:06] Kathy Washburn: that's good. So if you look at that pie and kind of layer on that, instead this health, like what percent is your health? Like yes, there is a DNA or genetics, element to it. There is a circumstance or environmental might be that piece, and then there's a whole world of choice.

[00:26:28] Kathy Washburn: Absolutely. Every choice that you make, whatever you put in your mouth, what you're listening to, what you're watching, but that dis disconnecting that huge chunk Yep. Is robbing ourselves of the agency or the ability to, to make choice. I don't know. Just reminded me of that. We need to make a, a physiological pie.

[00:26:51] Kathy Washburn: Is that what, how it, that's right. That's right. It's, it's so true. But no, but choice fits well into that. I mean, not only, choosing, choosing what we [00:27:00] eat, choosing how we move, choosing how we set our, our, our work schedule up. Choosing how think, choosing how we deal with emotion, how we deal with stress, all of that.

[00:27:11] Kathy Washburn: Really is a choice. It's not that these are things, that's the beauty of it. We can control it if we choose to. 

[00:27:17] Dr. Seth Osgood: Mm. 

[00:27:19] Kathy Washburn: Wow. Okay. 

[00:27:20] Wired but Tired: A Common Struggle

[00:27:20] Kathy Washburn: Let's talk about wired, but tired. Yeah, Sure. This, this is a feeling that people come to me a lot. They, they're like, can't sleep. They're anxious and they're exhausted, but they can't rest.

[00:27:32] Kathy Washburn: Yeah. Like, I'm so tired, I lay in bed and my eyes are wide open. You explain it as estrogen dominance combined with low progesterone. Dr. Tamock, who is the woman that did this research on type C, she says that this chronic emotional suppression keeps those inflammatory. Those two things that you talked about elevated.

[00:27:56] Kathy Washburn: So are we looking at a perfect storm where [00:28:00] behavioral patterns and hormonal shifts are essentially. Amplifying each other is, that's what's hap is that what's happening in that wired but tired. I think so, I think one feeds the other, and it's both of them need to be addressed. So, wired but tired is, is kind of like a, a woman's battle cry, right?

[00:28:18] Kathy Washburn: That is such a, it's such a common scenario in today's day and age. Unfortunately. But I think, but you can address it. And when you do, when you figure it out, when you get it in a better place it, it's amazing how much better people feel. But essentially, when you have emotional suppression.

[00:28:35] Kathy Washburn: And you have that, that elevated cortisol you're gonna be more prone to that estrogen dominance state and estrogen is very stimulatory. When you typically have estrogen dominance, you also will have low progesterone. Progesterone is very calming. And then you also have an increase in those inflammatory cytokines like interleukin six.

[00:28:53] Kathy Washburn: So women will, be running on adrenaline. Going through their day, they're exhausted, but they're on [00:29:00] edge. They're anxious, they're jittery, they're over-reliant on caffeine, which is only making things worse. Is, it is just, it's a vicious cycle. So, kind of to dive into some of those hormones, just so, so everybody's aware.

[00:29:12] Kathy Washburn: Progesterone is a really important hormone to have around. Again, as I mentioned before, we're talking about how hormones are created especially in the adrenal gland, progesterone's kind of higher on the list your body needs that I is really in charge of keeping estrogen in check.

[00:29:29] Kathy Washburn: It keeps the, keeps your body calm, it keeps you level at an even keel. And the other beautiful thing with progesterone is it helps support sleep. So that's a huge problem for a lot of women. Not only falling asleep, but staying asleep because cortisol their cortisol is all messed up. And then estrogen.

[00:29:45] Kathy Washburn: Estrogen's, much more stimulatory. It's, it can make you feel anxious and irritable. When men, women are perimenopausal, they'll have a lot of breast tenderness bloating around their cycle. These are all symptoms of estrogen dominance and there's a lot [00:30:00] more with that, but estrogen dominance and low progesterone.

[00:30:03] Kathy Washburn: And then of course you've got the interleukin six, which is that inflammatory cytokine. And, and that, and, and when that goes up, you know it's gonna affect your mood. It's gonna. create chronic inflammation and pain and fatigue and all sorts of different things. So again, just like we talked about before, all of these things are, are connected and dependent on one another.

[00:30:20] Kathy Washburn: So if cortisol is, is stealing the show, all of these other things are, are going to suffer. But you know, the, the emotional suppression will, will relay, increase the cortisol, disrupt the hormones, everybody feels worse, they can't sleep. And then that's where we started to see diseases sneak in.

[00:30:37] Kathy Washburn: And, and that's where we wanna intervene. Hmm. Yeah. 

[00:30:41] Hormonal Health for Men and Women

[00:30:41] Kathy Washburn: I wanna, I wanna highlight that this is not just for women like no, no. Modern life is hell on the undergrad system. And restoring hormone levels can really change your life. So, on a ma from a male perspective, is there anything different that you would add [00:31:00] or.

[00:31:00] Kathy Washburn: Is there? Yeah, I, think the big thing that, the big difference is men still will have an estrogen dominance, believe it or not. Men still do have estrogen. The but they have a low testosterone is is the other common culprit for men. I mean, both women and men. That's when they have no testosterone.

[00:31:17] Kathy Washburn: The first place I I look is their adrenal gland because we know that their adrenal gland is tanked. And So, and, and man, again, these te if you look at a, a testosterone range for male and conventional labs, it's, it's somewhere between 300 and 1200 is what they consider normal. Okay? And which is a huge ridiculous range.

[00:31:36] Kathy Washburn: A healthy range should be between 600 and and a thousand. But you know, you have a lot of men sitting right at that 300 mark and they feel. Horrible. They're exhausted. They have no muscle mass. They're, they've got a lot of fat accumulation. They have no libido. Some men will have erectile dysfunction.

[00:31:54] Kathy Washburn: They have brain fog, joint pain. The list goes on and on and on, and their doctors are telling them that, oh, they're [00:32:00] fine. Their testosterone is, is perfect, but in that state where their testosterone is low, a lot of times their estrogen will be higher than they should. So that's where they, they get a lot of those estrogen dominance symptoms as well.

[00:32:12] Kathy Washburn: Moodiness. Irritability, the unintentional weight gain it, it just feeling like garbage. So they, it matters, you're right to, for both men and women, it just, the hormones are a little bit different, but the big driver is the same. And is that, is that, that's that dysregulated cortisol?

[00:32:31] Kathy Washburn: Yes. So what I'm hearing is, in my opinion, everybody should get their ho these testing done, especially if you're over the age of. I mean, yeah. 40, I mean, especially I think, I think 40 is kind of a good place to look. Yeah. But it depending a lot of, we have plenty of young women in their twenties and thirties who have totally disrupted hormones, from their sex hormones, their adrenal hormones, their thyroid hormones.

[00:32:57] The Importance of Functional Testing

[00:32:57] Kathy Washburn: And this, the endocrine system, which is [00:33:00] all of those things, is in, like I said, intimately connected. So you got, you gotta, you can't address one without. considering the others. And that's where the functional testing is important. 

[00:33:09] Challenges with Hormone Testing

[00:33:09] Kathy Washburn: '

[00:33:09] Kathy Washburn: cause if you go to your doctor and you, number one, you tell 'em you want a hormone test, most people are gonna be told, ah, that's, that's ridiculous.

[00:33:15] Kathy Washburn: We don't need to look at your hormones. If you are lucky enough to get them to look at your hormones, they're gonna draw your hormones and they may not know how to evaluate them, which is really common, unfortunately. So then you're left with them telling you your hormones look normal, even though you got 'em drawn, even though they don't know how to interpret them.

[00:33:30] Kathy Washburn: They're not drawn at the right time and it leaves you with no, no resolution. So you just gotta have someone who really. Who doing the right tests is essential. And there's a lot of tests out there that conventional world won't do because insurance won't cover it, unfortunately. But that's what gives you a, a deeper dive.

[00:33:47] Kathy Washburn: Then you gotta have someone who can really interpret those tests in a good way. we're seeing that a lot, unfortunately right now. The good news is, is these tests are becoming more readily available through the internet. So people are getting these tests, but then they have no [00:34:00] idea what to do with them because nobody's interpreting them for 'em.

[00:34:02] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: And so they're seeing what you saw, all the reds, all the bad, they're freaking out driving their cortisol up even further because they don't understand what's actually going on. Because unfortunately, the testing companies are just throwing it out there from a business standpoint, hmm. So they're, the tests are definitely like canaries in the coal mine, right? 

[00:34:23] Behavioral Changes and Supplements

[00:34:36] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Yes, yes, You get this information and they are, we don't just slap, like I take a lot of supplements. DHEA is one of those that, right. You mentioned that I take but the hor, the supplements I am taking are ma very aligned with what I'm.

[00:34:43] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Trying to solve for. Right. And there requires a behavioral change, like lots of behavioral change. And that's the other thing that I, I appreciate about your practice is that there are these [00:35:00] elements of change and all of them must happen. I have one friend that said to me well I just, if I'm really feeling stressed out, I just take three progesterone pills.

[00:35:11] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: At night instead instead of one. And I thought, wow, I, I don't think I would ever dare to do that. And she said, oh, that's what my doctor told me I could do. Right? Yeah, it's great. Or, and I mean, and that is that is not a great idea. But the other one that's even worse is. 

[00:35:28] The Role of Stress and Medication

[00:35:28] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: How many people are, oh, I'm stressed out.

[00:35:30] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: I'm gonna take a Xanax or a Lorazepam, or, all of these benzos which are being prescribed for anxiety and for stress and, and have really significant consequences. They're addicting. We know they're linked to cognitive decline. They, they're making people do crazy things while they're driving.

[00:35:48] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: It's, it's, it's a, it's a real drug and so. Like you said, we're just not You can use some of these tools, but that's all they are, they're tools. 

[00:35:57] Addressing Root Causes

[00:36:06] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: You know, we have to figure out what's actually driving the cascade to begin with what's at the root. And if we don't do that, whether it's a supplement or a pharmaceutical or, or whatever, or hormone, or we're gonna be, spinning our wheels.

[00:36:10] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Hmm. Yeah. I love that you say find the cause. Cool. The fire. Hmm. And I, I love that philosophy. I, I think I I often will try to find that root cause of the emotional distress that somebody's under. It's never usually the, the thing that we're getting all honked up about. It's usually multiple layers underneath that.

[00:36:36] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: But. If someone does all these functional medicine protocols, the supplements, the testing, the nutrition but doesn't address these underlying behavioral patterns that keep triggering the, this, that cortisol, that stress response, are they just gonna keep reigniting the fire? 

[00:36:57] The Bathtub Analogy for Health

[00:36:58] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Yeah, I think I look at the, the [00:37:00] immune system, kind of like a bathtub, right?

[00:37:02] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: And everybody's got a different size bathtub based on their genetics. So if you've got really good genetics, you've got a good large bathtub, you got a hot tub, if you've got bad genetics, you got a, you got a small bathtub. And negative influences from our environment, whether that's stress or poor diet or toxins, hormone imbalances.

[00:37:20] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Infections, the list goes on and on. All of those negative influences, negative stressors will cause the tub to fill up and, and, and in positive influences, setting boundaries, not people pleasing, eating clean nutrition, prioritizing your sleep, detoxing, all of that stuff drains the tub.

[00:37:40] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: So what we're dealing with in today's day and age. Everybody's running around with a bathtub that's overflowing, right? Mm-hmm. So yes, these functional strategies will help. Empty out the tub. And that's how I look at my job is I'm, I'm there to empty your tub. I'm there to help you empty your tub. [00:38:00] But no matter what supplements you take, no matter what, how clean you eat, if you have underlying stressors and emotions that are not being.

[00:38:10] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Addressed appropriately. That tub will never drain out to where you're going to feel well. So it, it has to, that has to be a priority, that addressing the emotions, addressing the behaviors, addressing your thought processes. And, the limbic system and the amygdala, all of that, that physiology that we mentioned before.

[00:38:31] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: If we don't do that, we're still going to be left struggling. There's no question about it. Mm, we're just slapping bandaids over bigger open source. Right. And that's not to say that, so that, so I could see someone listening to us being saying, well, then I, I, what does that other stuff matter?

[00:38:49] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Maybe I just need to address my emotion, well, and, and I think what's important for people to understand is that. 

[00:38:54] Holistic Approach to Health

[00:38:57] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: You have to work on everything simultaneously. Yes there are bigger fish to fry and [00:39:00] things you absolutely have to prioritize, but if you are eating clean and exercising and doing mindfulness practices.

[00:39:07] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: And, and, and taking your supplements and balancing your hormones, that's going to help you make decisions to deal with the emotion and the stressors much more efficiently, and quickly. So, We all want that quick fix. One step solution to get well, unfortunately, in our day and age, as complex as our world is, as complex as our environment is, I just don't think that exists.

[00:39:32] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: But what I do think is that we have to prioritize ourselves. we have to be a little selfish because we are, a lot of us are stuck in this mindset that we have to take care of everyone else around us. But if you jeopardize your own self-love your self-care, then you're not gonna be able to help anybody.

[00:39:50] Dr. Seth Osgood: Mm. IC Yeah, that's such a strong I think everybody should just walk around that with that on their forehead so we can see that in each other. Like, take care of yourself [00:40:00] Right. 

[00:40:00] Kathy Washburn: Right. 

[00:40:01] Kathy Washburn: So often I hear people say, oh, you go, like, I go, I have a therapist. I, I am an emotional health coach. I go to a therapist.

[00:40:13] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: I have a functional medicine doctor. 

[00:40:15] The Cost of Inaction

[00:40:15] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: I, and they're like, well, God, this seems so expensive. And my, my response is always, well, the cost of not doing those things right. There's a big cost of not doing those things. Yeah. And most it finitely is. Yeah. And most of it, or, or the, the underlying thing is being so disconnected and in a world where we just wanna belong and connect with other humans, to not be connected to ourselves is robbing us of that ability.

[00:40:51] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. That's, that's powerful. And, and again, people, it's just, perspective. People need to think about that and sit on that and, and [00:41:00] just recognize the importance of their health. And unfortunately, we. That's where all of this matters, right. It's not just, yeah. All of the, the emotion that, you know, recognizing where people stand in their relationships and their decisions in their mindset will influence their physiology.

[00:41:16] Proactive Health Management

[00:41:16] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: That's what I hope everybody takes out of this talk in, in general. But, we, we, and I see it on a, on a very frequent basis where. People go from living a completely normal life and thinking everything is good to, just being, all of a sudden something crazy happens and it, they, get a diagnosis or they, they have a loss of a love them where their, their world is just turned on end.

[00:41:37] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: And it's heartbreaking to see people go through that again. That doesn't mean they can't overcome it, but it, some of these things. Can be avoided, and and, and just like heart disease for example, or even, cancer or some of these other, lot, there's, there's no question.

[00:41:51] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: The emotion and the environment plays into these things happening. And in medicine right now, we are completely reactive. [00:42:00] We are not. There is no prevention, there's no being proactive when it comes to our health. It's just like, let's wait for the problem to show up, and then we will figure out how to deal with it, and then we're gonna slap you on a medication just to help you with your symptoms.

[00:42:14] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: And it really doesn't fix why it was there to begin with, and that's just way too late. So, you know, that I don't think the medical world is going to change, unfortunately, anytime soon. I hope it does. I don't think it is. And, and that's where each person has to be their own advocate. You have to take control of your health.

[00:42:30] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: You have to recognize the cost of inaction, like you were saying there, because it is significant. If you don't take care of yourself, people are going to be stuck taking care of you And, and I think that's something, and nobody wants that. And I see that, I see that with people who have Alzheimer's or people have, debilitating neurological symptoms.

[00:42:50] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: I mean, that one of their biggest worries is the fact that, that what they're, the role, the toll they're taking on their, their family members. There's the people who are now taking care of them. That's a huge [00:43:00] stressor. So, and that's a huge fear for a lot of people too. So you gotta figure out what's gonna motivate you.

[00:43:05] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: But ultimately you gotta figure out what's gonna motivate you to take care of yourself because it's, it's one of the most important decisions you can make. Hmm. So I am, I am going with the assumption that you've just motivated many of these listeners to be like, okay, what do I do? What is the most important step for me to take right now?

[00:43:27] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: What can I do from a functional medicine side and from maybe even addressing the emotional patterns? Yeah. So I think there's, there's. Two different questions there. From a functional medicine side, I think it would be, it's important to know what's happening with your physiology because like I said earlier, your, your physiology will keep the score long before you reach symptoms.

[00:43:51] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: And we see that with autoimmune disease where people will have antibodies present years before they actually have physical symptoms. We see that with heart disease. We see that [00:44:00] with cancer. There's, there's a lot of ways. To to be proactive with, with preventing these problems. But if you just rely on conventional medical model to, to get you to that end point, you're going to fall behind because they, we are not trained.

[00:44:17] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: I've been through the, been through conventional medical training. We are not trained to really be proactive. We're trained to be reactive, so you have to do your due diligence to find someone or find a team to partner with to help you be proactive and preventative so you don't hopefully have to deal with some of those, those things.

[00:44:37] The Importance of Testing and Data

[00:44:37] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: I am a huge proponent of testing. I think that saves a lot of time and energy and suffering and the long run. Is having the data to guide you. Otherwise, we're just guessing whether that's with medicine, whether that's with supplements, I know it's easy to get pulled into marketing these days because every supplement seems like it's going to be the end all [00:45:00] and be all and fix all your problems.

[00:45:01] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: We can't use supplements like we use medications where we're just utilizing Tim to, to help with symptoms. We need to use them strategically and we need to have information to guide us. Because the whole point of supplementation is to optimize physiology and make your body work efficiently as it should.

[00:45:18] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Now the goal is to get that from food. We all hope that that can happen. I just don't think it can to be fully transparent. Everybody I see, I have a lot of patients who eat like rabbits. They eat or they eat like cavemen where they're eating. Fresh vegetables, clean meat, and they're still nutrient depleted, and I think a lot of that has to do with our food not being as nutrient risk as it should be.

[00:45:40] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Our digestions jacked up so we don't absorb the nutrition that we're even eating. There's a lot of variables that play into that. So. Testing and knowing where you stand and then, having a structured plan of action is absolutely essential. And then, so that's the functional side, don't guess test and then, work with someone who's going to [00:46:00] be able to strategize an individualized plan.

[00:46:03] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: For you, but I will tell you it's not easy. You're not, it's not a one and done thing. As a provider, my goal is to coach you and to help you make the right decision. Then that's all I can do. I can't force you. To exercise or go to the gym or go to sleep at the right time, or, or not choose that carb rich, sugar rich meal every day, is really a partnership where, we're here to guide you and give you information and help tweak your plan.

[00:46:34] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: So it's individualized for you, but ultimately it's your actions that make the biggest difference. So that's where when people come to us and they're like, oh, thank you so much, like, I didn't do anything, I'm here. To guide you. I, I simply was, was, was giving you information that you could implement and, and you made the changes.

[00:46:51] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: And I think that's important for people to recognize that they, they're in control. They're, they're the ones that are doing the hard work and making it happen. And I just love being a [00:47:00] part of that. 

[00:47:00] Emotional Health and Stress Management

[00:47:07] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: And then on the emotional side of things, that has to be addressed simultaneously. there's a million thing, and I like Kathy, like with you, like, I think it's, it's important for people to recognize, for people like you out there who are coaches, who help you break these things apart and, and figure out , where are things imbalanced and, and what decisions do you make?

[00:47:20] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: There's always gonna be stress involved with everybody's life. I wish that wasn't the case, but it's there. But you have to be able to separate, okay, what are the stressors that. Start going away. What are the stressors that I can just completely let go of? And with those stressors that are there, how do I deal with them more efficiently so they're not so stressful?

[00:47:38] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: How do I set the boundaries? How do I say no? How do I get on a schedule to make sure I'm prioritizing me over everything else? Because when I do that. I'm gonna show up in this world in such a better place. Mm-hmm. There's lots of, programs out there. There's lots of different different therapists and different specialists to help with that.

[00:47:59] Dr. Seth Osgood: There's [00:48:00] neurofeedback, there's Olympic system work. 

[00:48:02] Kathy Washburn: work. 

[00:48:03] Kathy Washburn: it all works for different people. You just gotta figure out what tools. And what strategies are going to be the best for you, but ultimately it's your decisions and your ability to separate these stressors. I think that make the the, the biggest impact.

[00:48:20] Kathy Washburn: Hmm. Yeah. And what I also am hearing you say is this is not really to be done in a vortex of view. Like, I mean, we're not gonna be sitting behind AI and saying, what supplements should I take based on. maybe that's even possible. However, it is the guiding of somebody that has been doing this as their life's work, right?

[00:48:45] Kathy Washburn: And there's the witnessing like there. I think there's so much power, even when I come to you to be witnessed in like, wow, I see your, your change. Like, I see it's happening. Let me mirror it back to [00:49:00] you so you can. Feel like Right. You're showing up differently. We can't do that in our own heads. We, It's like a spin cycle that we can't get off of all of us.

[00:49:10] Kathy Washburn: Yeah. We're all guilty of that, right. And, and some of that is, again, just the way the bo, the brain is wired related to previous experiences and traumas and stressors. It's like, it's almost like we have come, become accustomed to the point where. We are comfortable, where we're uncomfortable.

[00:49:26] Kathy Washburn: You know what I mean? It's like, it's, it's, it's scary. So sometimes we need someone to say, Hey, you're actually doing a really good job. Look at this. This is something to be proud of. This is something to to, to motivate you to continue and do things, to, to keep going because change isn't easy for anybody.

[00:49:41] Kathy Washburn: But but when we see the, the benefit and we can witness the reward, we're gonna be much more apt to continue with that. that's another thing I wanna highlight. You do the testing, you do the work. Diet. Supplements, exercise, all of these, and then [00:50:00] you do the testing again.

[00:50:02] Kathy Washburn: And there's something really powerful to see those numbers go from the red down to the green or even into the yellow. There is something very validating that, oh, this is working. Versus, taking three progesterone and believing that, oh, I had a good night's sleep last night. Right.

[00:50:20] Kathy Washburn: So things have changed wildly inside my body. Oh, it's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. It's so And even on the hormones, like there's so many providers out there where hormones are just interesting. That's a whole nother talk topic, but it's like. They are comfortable with prescribing these synthetic hormones like birth control, or, or various other forms of synthetic hormones, but yet the, the natural hormones, they're totally against.

[00:50:45] Kathy Washburn: Luckily, that's changing. We're seeing that even, e even nationally. It's getting a lot of attention. They're taking black box warnings off of a lot of these hormones that traditionally had black box warnings because they realized the science wasn't there to show that they were problematic. But no matter [00:51:00] what the intervention, you still have to do lab testing and so many providers aren't.

[00:51:04] Kathy Washburn: Testing labs They're just even with these hormone specialists, they're throwing you on hormones and saying, Hey, how are you feeling? Oh, great. You're better. Well, then we'll keep it going, but you need to be looking at the levels. Even when you're feeling good, you need to be looking at how you're metabolizing those hormones so you're not breaking them down into inflammatory metabolites.

[00:51:21] Kathy Washburn: There's, there's lots of things that need to be monitored and, that's where, again, as, as consumers, you just need to be aware of this stuff and, and ask the tough questions. And if your doctor is not going to give you the time of day or is just going to brush off your questions, it's time to find a new doctor.

[00:51:39] Kathy Washburn: Hmm. And that one might not be covered by. Insurance. Right. Unfortunately. And it's worth every penny of your investment you are worth investing in. Oh, thank you so much for your time and your gift of genius. I have one last question for you for sure. If I were to crush you up [00:52:00] and put your essence in pill form, what effect would you have on someone taking that pill?

[00:52:05] Kathy Washburn: Well, I think that's a great question. If I was to crush up, in essence, I would say probably, I mean, honestly, it would be in alignment with everything that we just talked about, I think. What I would like to see from a pill is removal of inflammatory stress. If we could take a pill and all of our inflammatory stress would go away, I think that would be a beautiful thing.

[00:52:31] Kathy Washburn: I would like a pill to turn off that danger signal that a lot of people have in their mind and in on the forefront of their brain. Even in a state of, of, of safety, we're kind of all there. We're on edge. We're looking for threats. We can never calm down. We can never chill out. We, our, our, our state of inflammation, our state of stress is always heightened, and that's leading to a lot of destruction.

[00:52:56] Kathy Washburn: So I know, if pop all that pill does exist is Xanax, no. That [00:53:00] doesn't fix anything. Right? So we, the, the pill doesn't exist. And and what, what, what's gonna really, and I don't think they ever will, you know what, what creates that pill is the choices you make day in, and day out. How you, how you con wake up in the morning, how you confront your day, how you deal with stressors, how you deal with confrontation, how you deal with problems, the lifestyle choices you make day in and day out.

[00:53:23] Kathy Washburn: What you put in your mouth, what you put on your skin, what you know, how you. You know how just everything you do, that is what is going to influence this. And they're trying, even though it's funny you asked this question 'cause one of the things that came, comes to my mind is I was at a conference not too long ago and the longevity world is trying to find a pill.

[00:53:43] Kathy Washburn: They're trying to make a pill. This is in the works. Whether it's a peptide or a pharmaceutical, they're trying to make a pill that mimics. The benefits of exercise without actually exercising. That's what people are shooting for right now. So, that, and so in, and [00:54:00] that's real. That's real. So instead of just getting up and moving your body and getting, being in nature everybody is looking for that, that, that quick fix, that, that pill which is really unfortunate because we're just losing.

[00:54:14] Kathy Washburn: Again, we're, we're losing sight of what really matters. And this is not rocket science, it, it really isn't. We just have to be intentional with our time and with our behaviors. And if we can do that, we're gonna live lives that are much more enjoyable with purpose, and we're gonna feel good doing it, so, that's a great question though. Well, and I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm going to kind of defend you a little bit. You do reduce inflammation. I, I've taken that pill of being part of the grassroots system where I think my inflammation has been reduced with your, influence. So it's your demeanor, like right from that start of like, here's the video, watch it as many [00:55:00] times as you want.

[00:55:01] Kathy Washburn: Set up an appointment so we can talk about it. Like right there, my inflammation was reduced versus sitting across from a doctor looking at all these red things that are blinking out at me. You are calm. Like interpretation of numbers, like this is all data. We're collecting it. And then the guidance of how I can reduce inflammation, whether it's at your facility, which is phenomenal.

[00:55:30] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: You also have a sauna, you have a cold plunge, you have all these other resources that I can use where I can physically reduce inflammation. You had in your most recent newsletter. 

[00:55:43] The Power of Cold Plunges

[00:55:47] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: I love Cold Plunges. I live, there's a river right behind me. You said that it decreases your cortisol by 250%.

[00:55:51] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: Is that what that did I read that? Yeah, you can. Again, so there there are, these are good stressors, right? Right. So it's a stressor. It is a stressor. But again, sometimes with these [00:56:00] stressors there's rebound effects. Right? And, and I think another statistic I saw was like doing a. A five minute or, anywhere from a two to five minute cold plunge is the equivalent of doing a 20 to 30 minute session of cardio.

[00:56:11] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: I mean, there's, there's lots of benefits there. I needed to hear that. You feel it? Yeah. You, you feel it when you get in there though. Like you, it is, and I think there's so many benefits to a cold plunge, just emotionally, right? Mm-hmm. That is tough. If you ever sit in an ice bath, it is not easy.

[00:56:26] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: It is a challenge mentally, more so than physically, I think. But when you get out, man, you feel like you conquered the world. And it is a great way to start your day. Yeah. So you, you are a you're inflammation reducer. That is your essence. I don't, Oh, I like that. I like that. Thank you.

[00:56:44] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: I've taken the pill. Well, we will have all your information in the show notes. Is there anything that you want to promote, share with us before we hop off? 

[00:56:53] Final Thoughts and Resources

[00:56:53] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: I would, I mean, I would say just check out our website again. One of my passions is educating people. And [00:57:00] yes, we obviously take new patients and we work with patients in, the office and that is what we love to do.

[00:57:06] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: we, I also am one of my passions is just educating the community. So we have a lot of free resources. We have guides, we have YouTube long form videos. We have. All sorts of blog articles. To, just to help you understand, there are things that you can do to take your health in state of wellness to the next level because ultimately.

[00:57:27] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: That's what you gotta do. You can't rely on your doctor. You we want to utilize them. And again, I think most doctors are, are doing, are in it for the right, with the right intentions, but you and you alone are the one that's in charge of your health. So you have to, you have to be proactive and there's so much you can do on your own.

[00:57:42] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: And, and one of the, my favorite things too about working with clients is that. A lot of the changes that they may her generational, so, They're taking care of themselves, but you also see it spill over into their spouse and into their children, which in turn is going to, affect their grandchildren.

[00:57:58] GMT20251205-150709_Recording-esv2-80p-bg-2p: And that's something that's really [00:58:00] rewarding for me. So the, not only, and I think that's just something I wanted to bring up just 'cause I want people to recognize the changes you make. Aren't just influencing you, they're influencing the people around you in how you show up in the world. So, be strong, be courageous, do the difficult things, and your body will reward you.

[00:58:17] Kathy Washburn: great ending. Thank you, 

[00:58:19] Dr. Seth Osgood: you Dr. Osgood. [00:59:00]