Eat with Dominique
Eat with Dominique is the podcast all about actionable tips, trustworthy brands, and real strategies to make gluten-free, gut-friendly living easier, tastier, pain-free — and full of food that’s Good To You, Good For You, Good With You™.
Eat with Dominique
Why Olive Oil Is Nature’s Ozempic — And Can Stop Your Bloating
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Bloating, cravings, hormonal acne. As women, we’ve all been there — and we’ve all been told that it’s normal. That we should just live with it. But what if we don’t have to?
In this episode of Eat with Dominique, I sit down with Maya Ayed, founder of Alya Health — a company helping women take control of their gut health, hormones, and energy with a daily dose of medicinal-grade extra virgin olive oil.
Maya shares why inflammation is often the root cause of gut issues, why olive oil can be just as anti-inflammatory as ibuprofen, and why your cravings, bloating, and hormonal acne are simply signs your body needs the right nutrients.
She also dives into why she believes food is the next supplement, and how olive oil has even been called “nature’s Ozempic” for its benefits on blood sugar stabilization.
🎁Listen till the end to find out how you can receive a free box of Alya to try it for yourself.
🫒Check out Alya Health: https://alyahealth.com
And of course… don’t forget to like and subscribe to the Eat with Dominique podcast for more conversations like this.
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Now, without further ado — grab a seat, and let’s Eat with Dominique.
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This podcast is all about actionable tips, trustworthy brands, and real strategies to make gluten-free, gut-friendly living easier, tastier, and pain-free.
So whether it’s life or food — make it Good To You, Good For You, and Good With You™.
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✨ Follow Eat with Dominique for more conversations on gluten-free living, gut health, and the foods we love.
As soon as you wake up wanting to have caffeine, that coffee antistomic is perhaps the worst thing a woman can do to her cortisol or to her health.
SPEAKER_00Hi everyone, I'm Dominique and welcome to Eat with Dominique, the podcast for women with gluten sensitivities, IBS, and other gut challenges who want to eat confidently and pain-free. Bloating, cravings, hormonal acne. As women, we've all been there. And we've all been told it's normal. But what if it doesn't have to be? Today I'm chatting with Maya Ayed, founder of Alia Health. Her company helps women take control of gut health, hormones, and energy with a daily dose of medicinal-grade extra virgin olive oil. Maya explains why inflammation is often the root cause of gut issues, why olive oil can be just as anti-inflammatory as ibuprofen, and why your cravings, bloating, and hormonal acne are signal your body simply needs the right nutrients. We also cover simple ways to support digestion and hormones with easy meal and routine chips that help you feel energized and less bloated, alia included. Stick around to learn how you can get a free box of alia to try for yourself. And of course, don't forget to like and subscribe to the Eat with Dominique podcast for more conversations like this. I can't wait for you to hear this. So without further ado, grab a seat and let's eat with Dominique. I first discovered Alia Health because my sister met you at an event and she was like, there's this woman with an amazing like olive oil shot that helps with like floating and gut health. You have to talk to her. I'm really excited to talk, all things Alia, but first, why don't we go back a bit and talk about the moment when your own gut health journey inspired you to start Alia?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, um, I was working in tech. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to chat with you. I was working in tech. I had no business in CPG. I was um doing marketing for this, you know, software company. And I it was really, I wasn't trying to build a brand. I just started it because nothing was working. I was dealing with all of these gut issues um at the same time. And I was doing everything right, which would have been on paper, you know, clean eating, supplements, cutting things out. And somehow I felt warps, you know. So the turning point wasn't adding more, it was kind of like simplifying. And I just went back to where I grew up in Tunisia, and I was really just comparing my lifestyle there versus my lifestyle in the US. And it was so very clear that I was so fortunate growing up in a country where fresh, seasonal, nutrient-dense food was available to me. And then moving to the US, that was a whole like Purdue shift where I noticed everything was available, you know, at big quantities. And yeah, started to kind of like realize the gift that I had from where I was. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Do you remember what you felt like in those early days when you first started having symptoms?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was, it was, it was really horrible. I um I mean, I still have the symptoms whenever I don't take my shots, but it's it's chronic bloating, it's cravings, it's fatigue, brain fog, it's all of these kind of symptoms happening because of my digestion. And I was I was not digesting food properly. I was whatever I was eating, I had this like weird reaction to it. And um then it kind of created a this vicious cycle of stress around whatever I was about to eat, and I just wasn't sure whatever I would feel. So, you know, yeah. Um, I'd say that those are the first things that I've noticed. And so the the moment where I really decided to like solve this is is when I saw this huge like opportunity of me solving it, and then my grandpa calling me, telling me that like you know, he doesn't have time to take care of our family's olive group anymore. And that's kind of like the turning point of like, wait a second, there's a huge opportunity here. Like this, I'm not the only woman in the US, and men also struggle with gut health issues, but like this is a huge market opportunity. Like, why should why shouldn't we leverage you know this unique variety of olives that we have and bring it to the world instead of just like you know, keep it local family farm? And I mean it's still family farm, but you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did did olive oil play like a big role in you in your life growing up?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, every uh weekend we would go to the family's olive grove and we would just spend time there, have lunch with the family. It was very much weekends were a time, like every Sunday. I remember we would have uh lunch on the on the family's olive grove because it was a time for us to just go back to the roots and to the nature and to what kind of brought us here to start. So it's like very much like a tradition. Now that I think about it, you know, I forgot about these things, but it's like really what shaped me. And and I don't, I think it's quite beautiful, even though I suffered a lot with my bloating here, to see how all of these dots are connecting, being like, wait a second, you know, there's knowledge that I can kind of um bring from our ancestors.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. And it's amazing what you said too about like expanding it to the world, right? Especially like you said, because here, certainly in the States, women disproportionately are affected by these gut health issues. So being able to spread that more broadly, I think, is really incredible.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, so I know you talked about how you had issues with like the bloating and the fatigue and all of those symptoms. Looking back, what do you think you misunderstood about gut health and symptoms when you first started kind of feeling funky?
SPEAKER_03I think what I misunderstood was like, oh, I should get I should buy products to solve this. Like, you know, I should just like fix my gut health with just other products and supplements. But what I realized is actually to solve health gut health, you need to solve it at the root cause. And most of the time it's inflammation that's going on. And so the only way to really solve inflammation is to start consuming a highly anti-inflammatory um diet and introducing these foods, one of which is olive oil. Like if olive oil is like super high in polyphenols, that's a high anti-inflammatory. It actually has a compound in it called oil kymple, which is the same one that you find in ibuprofen, which means it's as anti-inflammatory as ibuprofen. Wow. So it's it's really in reality, it was really just building those two daily habits. I was just chasing solutions instead of asking what my body really needed and what are the nutrients that really it craved, you know?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Why is your body, you know, I don't know if you noticed, but like whenever we start eating sugar and then you keep wanting to continue eating sugar because your body is asking you, like it's craving the right nutrients, it's not getting the protein, it's not getting the healthy fats. So it keeps kind of like demanding to eat more, but it's like it's not eating more sugar, it's actually requesting you to add those right nutrients.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's really interesting. Um, I know you've said before that symptoms are signals for our bodies. Is there any symptom that you think that women oftentimes like easily dismiss?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, a hundred percent. I think that all of these like symptoms that we're seeing, so most chronic disease are actually um can be pointed to symptoms that you have experienced. Like a chronic disease that you're experiencing in your 60s, it's actually tied back to symptoms you've experienced when you were like in your 30s. And so, you know, uh women do this a lot because unfortunately we're told that these symptoms are normal and that like you shouldn't ignore them. And we see so many women having bloating issues and be like, oh, well, I guess it's just part of my being a woman, and or PMS symptoms and being like, that's just kind of how it is. It's like, no, all of these just mean that your hormones are out of balance, and you always want to bring them into balance. And the way to do that is just provide them again with the right nutrients throughout each cycle. And I think that a lot of women see, you know, cravings or bloating or constipation or acne on the hormonal jawline and being like, oh, it's it's nothing as part of it. And I get it because I had that. And when I asked doctors to get a full hormonal uh panel, hormonal health panel, they were like, Well, you don't have that big of a problem like that. I don't think you require that. And so it was just like saying, Well, doctors are dismissing it, and we're left with no really choice but us experiencing. So we're like, you know what, it's just part of being us, it's part of life, but yeah, like brain fog cravings, like like as soon as you wake up wanting to have caffeine, like wanting like that coffee, like on an anti-stomic, is perhaps the worst thing a woman can do to her cortisol or to her health. The second one is going to the gym as soon as you wake up without having any food before. Like you should be eating something high in carb and high in protein before going to the gym, especially if you're gonna do cardio, high in carbs, high in protein, you know, if you're gonna do strength training. Um, not that, not that big, like 10 grams, 20 grams, like so. I think those are the things that are ignored. Like, I yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's crazy. I'm learning something new. I did not know those things. Like, with I mean, I guess with the hormones, is is what we're eating, I guess, affecting our like hormone levels then, like with some of those things you talked about, like cravings and wow. Wow, that's crazy. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, if you're gonna have a like coffee on an empty stomach, first it raises your cortisol. So you're just like on fight or flight mode instead of kind of letting your hormones like slowly, you know, wake or like and I um in terms of food, yeah, like you want to, you don't want to give it like you don't want to eat sugar in the morning. Like, there are some things like you want protein because protein is energy. So you always want to make sure that you have the right kind of energy in your body. That's why you always want to look for good energy. So energy is like the food. When you think about food, like what is the right information I give to my or energy I give to my cells to be able to perform this today and just like have energy naturally.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Is there women is there a reason that for women, like eating a meat, like you said, protein or carbs before workout is particularly helpful?
SPEAKER_03Oh, 100%. So I used to work in menopause, and when you when you get into your 30s, estrogen, which is one of your most important hormones, actually decreases. And estrogen is responsible for all of like um for bone density, and bone density is very important as we age because you know that's kind of like how we hold muscles and all that, and it's very common for a woman who go into perimenopause experiencing osteoporosis, which is you know a loss of of bone density. And um, when you consume protein, you're able to just kind of maintain that, and that's why why strength training is also really important.
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah, right, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Now I'm not a doctor, I'm just like anecdotal, and then have worked in the space, and I know a bunch of doctors are like definitely don't grow me in all of this, but this is kind of like what I've learned doing my own research. And I think that I just got really excited about the space, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, it's amazing. Um, so I know probiotics are often like the first thing women kind of reach for to try to help solve their bloating issues as like a quick fix. But is there a reason why, at least in my experience, like probiotics and other supplements don't always fix bloating?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think because they're often a band-aid. Like if your gut environment isn't right, if your digestion is weak, and if you're stressed, and if your diet lacks quality fats, probiotics are not gonna help with that. They don't have the foundation to actually do their work, their job. You know, it's like planting the seeds in the soil that isn't healthy. So you really want to bring like you want to have a good gut microbiome and bring it to balance. And that's what olive oil does. So olive oil is rich in polyphenols. Polyphenols are antioxidants, but they act as a natural prebiotic, feeding off the good bacteria, getting rid of the bad one, and kind of like balancing your gut microbiome to really be able to do the work of you know, whatever you're gonna introduce. So um, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And what what are the other like amazing benefits of all foil? Because I know it's really powerful, and I don't feel like a lot of people realize how good it is for us.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So one of that, one of them, the the biggest one that I have found was kind of gut health, like gut balancing microbiome, gut microbiome. Um, but specifically when it comes to that, like helping with regular bowel movements, so it acts as a lubricant in your um gut and kind of help you digest anything. So when you have it 30 minutes before a meal, you're really able to digest the food that you're gonna have. Um, and then so yeah, regular bowel movements, less bloating. And what that does, it means that like it, you're, you know, it clears your skin. You know, if you struggle with acne, if you struggle with inflammation, it reduces inflammation. And most importantly, it keeps you full uh longer. So it produces naturally GLP1 in your body. So kind of like reducing satiety and um reduce cravings. And yeah, like I mentioned, like one of the most important things that it does is really like reducing that inflammation and um reducing lower uh uh reducing oxidative stress, which is you know what happens naturally in our body as we age, as we eat, as we just grow older, our cells, you know, are are experiencing this kind of like stress. And so olive oil reduces that due to its highly antioxidants.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Um, so one thing that I find really interesting is that I feel like a lot of women focus on like what they eat, but not as much on like how they eat. I know you've talked about how like digestion can be affected by um you know how fast you're eating or like if there's stress or anything like that. Can you talk more about how that not only impacts us what us women, but also how olive oil can kind of help with that?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So if you're having a meal and you're stressed and you're eating kind of fast, you're maybe scrolling on TikTok, your body is gonna feel like it's well, it's under stress, and so it's gonna remember that. It's very smart. So next time you're gonna have that food or you know, being in that environment, your body is just gonna be stressed and kind of like, you know, because it's in fight or flight mode, it's not gonna really allow for smooth digestion. And what olive oil does is, you know, olive oil is not gonna make you not stress, like uh it does a lot of wonderful things, not that yet. But one of the things that it does, it does when you have it 30 minutes before your meal, you're really able to coach your stomach lining. So anything that you're gonna digest after that, you're really gonna be able to um, yeah, to to not be backed up and just like feel like you're okay, you digest the food and it's not like um keeping you bloated.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Um, one thing that you said earlier that's really interesting to me is that women, even when we're doing like the right thing on paper, we can still suffer a lot from gut health issues. Why do you think that is?
SPEAKER_03I think because women are just over-optimizing and you know, they're following trends and marketing instead of truly listening to what the body is asking for. Um, cutting more, adding more, tracking more, like it's all about like all of these different solutions, but it's actually not that hard. You have to just simplify it. It's really like sometimes, really, the most advanced advanced thing that you can do is just like go back to the basics and like go back to the roots and truly see like instead of adding all of these supplements, really look at what what are you currently doing? What's your diet, what's your sleep schedule, and are you exercising? These are the foundations, they're so boring, I know. So truly, let's start there. And most women have the sleep and most women have the sleep or fitness, you know, workout uh handled, but the diet and is not really handled, you know. It's like today, unfortunately, even when we try to eat clean, we're just it's just impossible. Like our soul is so depleted in its nutrient density. The food that you're getting has traveled so far away, and it's very just hard to to you know track bad. So I think it's just like lots of education is required. We have to no one knows what polyphenols are, they're the most powerful plant compounds in the world that can help us really heal our bodies. So that's what I'm excited about, just bringing that forth.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, you're right. I feel like it's funny. Whenever I have had to like track food, just like, okay, is there a particular food that's bothering me? Like you said, eating clean, it's funny when you start kind of shifting how you eat because sometimes I'll look and I'm like, oh, wait, that's what I was eating. Well, of course, I'm not gonna feel well if I eat that. I always joke, like it keeps you honest when you have to like track it in that way.
SPEAKER_03Also, it might look clean, you know, it's like better for you brands. Like a lot of them are like, but it at the end of the day, it's like not that benefit. Like you just want like whole nutrients-dense and like fresh fruits, and like it's hard, it's so hard. Yeah, like I don't even know how to get it. It's just hard. But the one step further, or like one step closer to that, is like consuming, you know, the Mediterranean diet, and one of the most important key ingredients from it, it's olive oil.
SPEAKER_00And yeah, yeah, it's powerful compound, yeah. And is so with Oli, are you able to like cook with it, or do you recommend maybe like drink like taking a shot of it? Like, how do you recommend people use olive oil in that way?
SPEAKER_03So, because there's tons of olive oil brands out there, we're we're truly focusing on the health aspect of taking a shot of olive oil and actually seeing what it does to your health and focusing on that. So, with Alia, because of this unique variety of olives that we source from our family's olive growth, it's like seven to fifteen times higher in antioxidants than anything out there. Wow, we really just want to make sure that you take it as a shot. Like, if you're gonna drink olive oil, like this is the kind that you want to do it with. Yeah, and that's kind of like the positioning that we're more excited about because there's tons of olive oil brands out there. There's a lot of options of cooking olive oil, but there's not so much more about the education of what medicinal olive oil, like olive oil for like health purposes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And that's what I think is so amazing, too, is because I feel like I look like some people might know, like, okay, like olive oil is better to cook with, like, it's healthier, but like you said, they don't know why, and they don't know how you can have like a version that has higher antioxidants and how the effect of because I feel like when you cook with it, it can kind of cook off, you know what I mean? So you're not even probably getting most of the benefits anyway. But I think taking it in this like concentrated way, I think is much more helpful and has much more of a positive impact for people.
SPEAKER_03Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're really trying to, you know, um, doctor says this all the time that they say their patients would rather change, would rather try any supplements of the shelf than change their diet. And so what we're trying to do is really combining the effectiveness of food with the convenience of the supplement. So we're really just taking the most like anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense, natural compound from food and truly introducing in a way that you would take a supplement, right? Through the form factor, through the dosage, through like just the the ritual, like all of it is just like, yes, this is food. We know it's not patented, it's like one specific variety, it's it's just olive oil, but you just want to take it on the on through your day and don't have to think twice, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, that's great. Um, so I know you mentioned that you went back home to Tunisia, and that's kind of when when you were having the gut issues. Can you talk more about how that moment shaped your vision for all you and then also using your family's grove as well?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think it was just kind of like really seeing how my gut was doing. I was like, and and and truly finding that as a solution and then kind of comparing both lifestyles and seeing that you know, olive oil is part of every meal. Like it's we consume it, like we consume water here. And so matching that with the science that exists out there, matching that with the current landscape of where people are in terms of supplement fatigue and the the opportunity to really introduce this olive oil and and bringing high, bringing access to this high quality olive oil, but in a way that's more exciting and can really help you feel better. I think a lot of people are just so sick of trying a lot of things out there. And and you know, I was there, I was trying all of these supplements, I was really trying to solve it, and and I think I was just trying. From a different approach and not the right one. And I think being from Tunisia and growing up there, I was just able to have this mindset of like, oh, I think we can actually get rid of our symptoms in a way that's a little bit more sustainable in the long term. Quick fixes are great, but how can we actually solve it at the root cause, reduce inflammation? And when I noticed that my my skin, my energy, my digestion is all this like you know improved. I just got excited about okay, well, I must not be the only one. I actually shared with some friends who was like, Yeah, I struggle with gut health too. Like, and every time I would talk about Alia, you know, the person will say, Yeah, I actually have the same issue. Like, I oh, I also got diagnosed with SIBO or like all of these things. And I think that like science is already, you know, this is ancient wisdom, but it's ancient wisdom that has been backed by science today. So let's leverage that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely. Yeah, it is interesting. I feel like I feel like nobody really outwardly always shares the gut health issues they're having, but I do think the more you talk to people when it comes up, it's like, oh wait, everyone basically is suffering from this. And like you said, if there's an actual natural version, because so many things are like not natural, and then like you said, it's like, what's the long game of um having to take a prescription or another supplement or something like that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, totally. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And when you first started taking all of oil, like when you went back home, did you know, like, oh, I'm doing this for my gut, or it just was like, oh, like this is just my day-to-day, and now I'm realizing it's impacting my gut. Good question.
SPEAKER_03I didn't think that it was gonna impact my gut. I was just doing it because my grandpa was doing it and was saying, you know, how good it is for brain health and heart health. It reduces your cholesterol levels and uh improves your brain health in terms of um mood, memory, cognition. And there's actually tons of studies on um people with dementia. And so my grandpa was just doing this for that, and he didn't doesn't know such thing as bloating, my grandpa. So I was just like doing it for you know with him. And I took I took it back with me to the US just to continue the ritual, and actually noticed when I stopped taking it, my senses came back, and so I introduced it again and I saw my senses gone. So I was like kind of like noticing how this thing is happening, and and be like, well, wait a second, this olive oil is doing a thing to my gut, like what? And I did some research and I found that that it helps with digestion or reduced bloating and actually works, which is insane. Yeah, what I've thought olive oil out of all of the other pills and powders and supplements that have ingested.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03And doctors I've seen.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it feels like the moment you had is like, you know, like the Spider-Man meme where like they're pointing at each other and they're like, wait a minute, wait a minute. It kind of feels like that. So true. Um, was there a moment when you realized, like, okay, this is helping me and I want to spread it like more broadly? Like, what was that moment like like for you?
SPEAKER_03I mean, I've shared it with friends. They were like, oh, I also experienced this problem. And then I worked in menopause, so I already knew that the gut health and like, you know, women were struggling with weight gain, like the food system wasn't great. I just like was here enough to see that there was this was we have we had to bring back the Mediterranean or bring the Mediterranean lifestyle and diet and and ethos to the US because I think that there's something to learn from you know um these civilizations and the blue zones as well, you know, when you look at what they're consuming, they're still drinking, but they're look at their diet, look at what they're doing. And I got excited because I know how big of an issue it is. And I also saw like how much money people are spending to solve the solution, but it you know, it it's still not working. I most of our customers are women who spend over, I mean, they spend so much, they have 20 pills, they take 20 pills a day, yeah, hoping to solve their bloating and their all of you know brain fog, and then they realize, well, it's unworking.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, yeah. You spend all that money and then you're like, wait a minute, what is this actually doing? You get so caught in the loop of like trying things out that you don't even realize sometimes that it's not even working.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, exactly. I think it's like people are just desperate.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, definitely. Um, what whenever we're consuming like a high quality olive oil like alia, what's actually like happening in our body when we do that?
SPEAKER_03First, it's coating your stomach lining, like I mentioned earlier. So it helps with kind of like lubricating your internal digestive system and allowing you to digest whatever you're about to consume. Um, and then it stabilizes your blood sugar. So the healthy fats really just allow you to um not have that high sugar type. Like if you're gonna if you're gonna have a meal high in sugars or car carbs, you can have a shot before and you're gonna notice how you're feeling less like lethargic. It really helps with your energy levels because of the stable sites stabilizing your blood sugar.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Wow, that's really interesting. Is it something then that you think like people with like diabetes or something like that? Do you find that it's particularly helpful for them as well?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there's tons of studies showing um how people with you know prediabetic or diabetic um could consume olive oil and see an effect on their blood sugar. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Wow. It really is like the super like food like turn supplement. Like it does all these amazing things.
SPEAKER_03It's called, yeah, it's dubbed as nature's ozempic, um, which is insane. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, so like we discussed, there are so many like supplements and other things that a lot of women might be taking. What would you say if you were like, this is like the one like biggest reason you should take it that makes it different than everything else you're taking, what would you say?
SPEAKER_03I would say just that it reduces inflammation, which is the most important, like whatever symptoms you're experiencing, it probably has to do with inflammation. And you just want to make sure that you're consuming the most anti-inflammatory foods. And so that's like the main reason. Like if you experience any kind of inflammation in your face, in your digestion, in your joints, in your weight, like it's just the best thing that you can take. And it doesn't have any harm. That's the best thing of it. It's like it just there's only positive effects from it, you know?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Is it something you recommend people take before every meal or like once a day?
SPEAKER_03I would, I mean, honestly, I do it once. It depends. If I if I know I'm gonna have them, usually I do it like before my heaviest meal, um, which usually is my dinner. And sometimes I know if I'm gonna have a lunch, I usually take it whenever I know that I might, if I eat this food, it's gonna make me like happy. Like, I don't know, if I know I'm gonna have pasta, like but the thing is like if you have it before a meal, like 30 minutes before a meal, it actually gonna like make you feel full longer. So you end up not eating as much. Oh, so if you really want to eat, probably shouldn't have it before. But honestly, it's just like it's pretty great because it helps with your digestion. So if you know you're gonna get bloated by eating the specific food, a strike is to actually have it vitamins before, and then you'll see your bloating won't have it.
SPEAKER_00Okay, wow. That's smart. That's very good advice. So maybe like on Thanksgiving, someone might not do it, but on like a regular, like day-to-day. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03Or you might want to do it on Thanksgiving so you're not actually bloated from all that food. Depends on your goals, you know?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, true. Um, so something you mentioned earlier that I'm curious about is the idea of how maybe part of what's affecting women are like all the trends that we might try to chase with wellness. Um, how do you think that social media has impacted like women's views on wellness and how we treat that?
SPEAKER_03I think it's it's overconception, it's just like being thrown all of these different things that we must buy in order to solve our symptoms when it's actually in reality not quite the way to go about wellness. Wellness is everyone should have their own definition of wellness. And I think that when you look at social media, we're like we should get inspired, we should get ideas, we should get ideas of what other people use for their wellness, but we shouldn't take that as oh, this is the only way for us to for me to like go about my wellness and like health, you know, or heal. And I I think it's great to learn about stuff, to educate yourself, but I think it's also very important to ask yourself what are the areas, what does wellness mean for me? Like, does that mean you know, going every Friday out with some girlfriends and have a glass of wine? Or does it mean like going to a meditation class and just like going home and just you know, not really be social? Like, I think it's really just important, and and it's okay to not be perfect, like the Mediterraneans. Yes, I know alcohol is not great. I don't really drink, um, but I do pick my occasions, which is very rare. But that's the thing, it's like it's having a good balance and knowing, like defining and owning, owning the definition of wellness. I think that's what is important because I think that with social media, we're just seeing all of these things and getting excited about purchasing all of these gadgets, and all these gadgets actually end up mimicking nature, you know, red light is the sun, like sauna, heat, and like uh grounding mad is just going out in the wild and like walking in the park. So I think that's just like do it in a way that's fun to you and don't add stress. I think the worst part of wellness is like stressing over having a perfect routine and like within like that perfect Instagrammable, like um almond girl.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. And it's really interesting too what you pointed out about how so much of the wellness stuff now is just mimicking like nature, kind of like you said, all boil going back to your roots. Like it's interesting how so much of wellness is trying to replicate that, but like all boil is great because it's actually is that, you know, you don't have to get like a mask or something like that. It's just like you said, it's in the grove and like it's there. Exactly. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I think that's what people love. People just love the fact that it's single ingredients, it's potent, it's simple, like it's not that complicated, and it does work wonders. So that's kind of like a thing that I'm excited about is like thread is gonna be the next supplement, but how can we focus on the you know, simplicity, single ingredients, less ingredients and more potency, more absorption, like more better, better quality, um, which I'm really excited about.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Was there any sort of like testing process you had to do in order to like get, like you said, to that like highest level, like the most effective level, basically of uh of alien?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so fortunately the olives that we source are uh a unique variety of olives called shatui, and they're endemic to Tunisia. So you can only find them in Tunisia, and they're naturally seven to fifteen times more potent and higher in antioxidants. And what we do once the harvest happens, so there's three reasons why it's very potent. The first one is um the variety, like I said, where it grows, like the microclimate. It's on the hill, so it's like very much exposed to environmental stress. So these um olive trees produce polyphenols to protect themselves from environmental stress, and those polyphenols are what protect us from oxidative stress. So there's this beautiful synergy between nature and humans. But the second one is really the early harvest, making sure that we're harvesting at the peak freshness of these olives. And third, we just you know, send the once it's pressed, we went, we make sure that we send it to the World Olive Center in Greece, and they come back with a lab analysis and they make sure and that says how much polyphenols we have. So last year we're like 1800, and that was like you know, very high, above, like like I said, seven to fifteen times higher than industry standards, and they put in the comments section of you know, due to the higher threshold of polyphenols, you can make a claim that this helps reduce oxidative stress, like this has been proven. So it's really things that like we're not making this up, like it's part of the science.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, that's amazing. Um, do you still go back to Tunisia for like yourself to the grove, or how does that work now?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I go there. My family is still there, so I go there like once a year.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. That's amazing. It's it's so cool to see, like you said, like this family grove that you've had that was such like a central part of your childhood to now like be able to use it still as your family, but like use it to help so many people. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I know it's it's amazing to just like being able to just bring this, bring and share this wisdom that I was fortunate to grow up in.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Um, and you said something a moment ago that I really loved, which is um that food like will be the next supplement. Um can you tell us more of what you mean by that?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I think that you know I think about the evolution. First of all, if we wanted to heal, we were taking medication. Then slowly it was like, oh well, this supplement, it has something synthetic, but it's also natural synthetic. And then it's like every phase we're getting closer to that solution being food, which should have been that first thing that we sold with. And so the problem with that, it's like, like I said earlier, like no one wants to change the diet, like it's so you know, there's so much friction to doing that. So people are going to start leveraging matching that convenience with introducing those nutrients. So people are realizing what is the best way to heal is food, but they want the convenience of it. So food is gonna be the next supplement. Like this is this is the a supplement, and it's but it's still food, you know. The supplement when I say supplement, it just means like how convenient it is, and like what are you using it for? You're using it to kind of like heal. But that's kind of like what I mean by that. And I'm excited by the the the future of that, and and consumers just I think supplement fatigue is playing a huge role in that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, and like you said, it gets so expensive too when you're spending a bunch of money on things that don't work, or like sometimes one thing helps and then it causes another problem, and it's just like a bad feedback, it's not a good synergy, it's like a bad feedback loop for the lottery.
SPEAKER_03Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, if someone listening to this wants to take their wellness and their gut health seriously, what's the one thing you'd recommend they do to start out?
SPEAKER_03I think diet, not not doing diet, sorry. Definitely don't do a diet, just look at what are you consuming, what is your routine? I think it's really about the daily habits that you do every day versus the one off thing that you do one day. So yeah, just looking, taking a closer look at what is the first thing I do in the morning, how do I balance my hormones naturally, and um what are the nutrients that I'm consuming? Am I consuming enough protein? Am I consuming enough healthy fats? Am I consuming enough, you know, um uh what else is left? I guess.
SPEAKER_00I feel like that's a good start. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I guess if anyone like you is like inspired by you, because I know I am, and you're like, I want to start like my own company just to help people with like maybe health or food or wellness, is there any advice that you would give them?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um if you wanted to start your own brand, I think just start with a very deep problem, you know, a problem that you have experience, people have friends who have experience, and I think it's better when you have experience because you know it intimately. And truly think about if you're introducing the solution, are people is the problem big enough and and bad enough that people want to solve it? And two, do they want to solve it with your solution? Like it's what you're building something that people would be willing to pay to solve their problem with. So I think it's important to ask this question to really make sure that you know you're introducing something that is really effective and it really works and people love it and doing tests, like you don't you can never know. I started with pre-orders. I did not know if this was gonna work, you know. I didn't know if people in the US were ready for like the average American ready to like chug olive oil, it's definitely not, but I because it's something very Mediterranean, and like if you're if you're not from there, if you don't know that, like you probably wouldn't, you'd be like, oh, gross, and that will make me fat and stuff because it's high caloric. But it's like not the case. No, it actually makes you feel full longer, so it's actually better for you to consume it, and you have to do it with the right kind, which I think the US hasn't we don't have the right kind in the US, like it's not it's not great olive oil that we have here, even if it's exported and stuff. Actually, that's the issue. You want to make sure that there's it's directly coming to you, and um, but yeah, I'd say that really just making sure that we started the pre-orders and testing if people wanted to buy this, and we sold out quickly of the first small batches. So I was really excited to kind of like you know, order a bigger batch and really introduce this to the world, and that's kind of like how I did my test. And we haven't spent anything like a dollar in marketing, it was just like organic growth, you know, sending the product to some people who have platforms and potentially can share about it if they really like it, but um, I it was really just ripper old and word of mouth and people being like, wait a second, this works, and then now there's this growing trend on TikTok of people doing it, but it's really it truly works. I mean, yeah, and I've said it. And um, if there's anyone who struggles with hormonal acne in their jawline or or like you know, puffiness, inflammation, whatever they're experiencing, or floating and want to kind of see if this works, and maybe they're on the fence if if it works or if it doesn't. So I am gonna be choosing like five people who um experience these and want to test it out. The only requirement is that they document their journey and we'll send them like a free box of aliash. So sharing that in case your community could be interested in trying it out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, definitely. I feel like people definitely will be. I mean, like you said, like it's such I feel like bloating is such a prevalent issue, gut health problems, all the things you said. I mean, the hormonal acne, like I think pretty much everyone I know probably at least suffers from one of those things. So I think definitely will be super helpful for the community. Thank you. I know it's hard to believe. It's time for the rapid fire already. Um, the first question is sweet or savory? Sweet. Me too. Um, what is your go-to gluten-free gut-friendly snack? Ooh.
SPEAKER_03Ooh. Smack, I'm so boring. Um, oh, I love nuts. I am a nut. I don't know. I grew up with that. I just love nuts.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03My mom would always have my favorite nut, it's cashew. Very random.
SPEAKER_00It is random. But I mean, I also feel like a lot of vegan like cheeses are made with cashews. Like whenever I've had it, it's yeah. Really?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00I don't know why. Anyway, are you vegan? I'm not, but I've had like I've been to a few restaurants where like they have it, and I'm like, oh, like interesting. Because they'll have like a little like nut, you know, allergy notice on there. Um, but yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um, what is the best way to take all the olive oil drizzle or olive oil shot?
SPEAKER_03Oh, 100% allya shots.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03Are you crazy? Um, a hundred percent alia shots.
SPEAKER_00Um, what's one food that women think is healthy but actually wrecks their guts?
SPEAKER_03Where do I start? How much time do you have? Um so this doesn't wreck your gut, but it it doesn't help with bloating. Like raw veggies, like like not raw veggies, um, they're healthy for you, of course, but they they actually caus me a lot of bloating. So salads can be very harsh to digest because they're like um they're raw vegetables instead of being cooked.
SPEAKER_00No, that makes sense. Um, what's the one food that instantly feels like home?
SPEAKER_03Couscous.
SPEAKER_00My mom loves couscous. Um, what is your the most underrated gut health habit?
SPEAKER_03Oh, uh I don't know if it's underrated, but it's like the best thing that I've found. Like when I'm I know I'm gonna be bloated after a meal. I go for like a w a uh like a 10 minute walk. Right. Or 10 squats. Like if you can go on a walk, you do 10 squats. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh wow.
SPEAKER_03It actually helps.
SPEAKER_00I did not know that. I knew the walk, I did not know squats. Wow, that's interesting. Okay. I'll have to try that next time. Yeah. Um, and what's one thing you wish more women understood about gut health?
SPEAKER_03That it all starts with stress within your body and inflammation, or whether it's like inflammation, oxygen stress, or it's like chronic stress, like you're you're going through a lot, not sleeping well. No.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03That's there's that's there's a huge correlation between you know, gut brain access is um very much a thing. So I think people don't realize the impact it has.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah, isn't there a thing where it's like is it like 90% of something with your brain is like in your gut or something like that, right?
SPEAKER_03Of your immune system, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Wow. That's crazy. Um, okay, so to close, so growing up, my dad would always say, whether it's about like food or people or life, that things should be good to you, good for you, and good with you. When it comes to like gut-friendly, like gluten-free eating, what does that mean to you?
SPEAKER_03First of all, that's the cutest thing I've ever heard, and it's so true, and I love it, and I want to make you that I'm obsessed with that. I approach it with just kind of asking myself, like, what is well, first of all, if I'm solving a problem, what is what is it coming from? You know, sometimes I'm just like really stressed, and you know, I'm feeling these, you know, brain fog because I'm not eating well and I'm not really taking care of myself. I think it's very I didn't mention much of this, but like when you're going through your menstrual like cycle, like it's important to really give rest to your body because otherwise it's gonna hit you later in the month instead of like really taking the time to rest. Like sometimes you can't really exercise as you're used to. So just like listening to my body, and I think this might be a boring answer, but really just like yeah, I think it's just feeling what it does to you when you're consuming and trying it, and it feels right, like consune. If it doesn't, then you know, change it out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, that's great advice. Um, well, Mai, thank you so much for talking with me today. It was really great to learn about alia and the power of olive oil and not only like what we eat, but in how we eat, um, and going back to those roots. Um, for everyone who wants to learn more about these amazing gut-friendly, gluten-free olive oil shots, they can head over to aliahhealth.com or follow them on Instagram at drinkala. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_03Yay, thank you for having me, Dominique.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much for tuning in to Eat with Dominique. It was so great chatting with Maya Ayed about Alia Health and learning how inflammation, gut health, and nutrition all play a role in cravings, bloating, and hormonal acne, and how olive oil can be a simple, food-based way to help. Don't forget, Maya is giving away five free boxes of alia to try and document it for yourself. I've included the link to their website in the description, so be sure to check it out. If this conversation resonated with you, I'd love to hear from you. What's one change you've made for your gut or hormonal health that actually worked? Let me know. If you like this episode, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you have a gluten-free, allergy-friendly, or gut-sensitive friend who needs better options, send this episode their way. We'd love to have them. This podcast is all about actionable tips, trustworthy brands, and real strategies to make gluten free, gut friendly living easier, tastier, and pain free. So remember, whether it's life or food, make sure it's always good to you, good for you, and good with you. I'll see you soon.