The Truth About Chronic Illness, Nutrition, and Real Healing w/ Dr. Justin Marchegiani

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In this episode, Josh Hewlett sits down with Dr. Justin Marchegiani, a chiropractor and functional medicine practitioner, to break down the real drivers behind chronic illness. They dive into the critical role of nutrition, movement, and nitric oxide in overall health, while also unpacking common myths about vitamin D, cholesterol, and modern wellness trends.
Dr. Marchegiani shares insights on peptides, thyroid health, and why personalized approaches are essential for lasting results. This conversation highlights how understanding your body, optimizing your diet, and adopting the right mindset can lead to true healing and long-term wellness.

00:00 Introduction to Functional Medicine and Chronic Illness
02:57 Breaking Old Habits and Patient Mindset
06:00 The Importance of Movement and Nutrition
09:13 Understanding Nitric Oxide and Its Benefits
12:12 Myths About Diet and Nutrition
14:52 Peptides and Weight Management
17:55 Thyroid Health and Autoimmunity
20:52 The Role of Energy Drinks and Caffeine
23:56 Final Thoughts on Health and Nutrition

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

All right, all right. Welcome everybody to another pulse beat episode sponsored by Cardio Miracle. My name is Josh Hewlett. I'm the VP of Cardio Miracle. Very excited today to have Dr. Justin Marcaggiani with us. I want to do a quick uh intro for him. Dr. Justin is a chiropractor and functional medicine practitioner who focuses on treating the root causes of chronic illness. Trained at the University of Massachusetts and Life West University. He has over 15 years of experience in advanced study and nutrition, endocrinology, and diagnostic testing. Licensed in Texas and Kansas, he creates personalized plans to address hormonal, digestive, and neurological imbalances. He also hosts a popular podcast and YouTube channel and authored The Thyroid Reboot. So excited to talk to him for the next 30 to 40 minutes and just ask him some questions, pick his brain a little bit. Dr. Justin, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Doing great, Josh. Thanks a lot, man. Really excited to be on the podcast and uh just go back and forth on this topic. This will be great.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Heck yeah. Yeah, I'm really excited to dive in with you and and and really focus on um I'm really interested in in hearing about what you're what you're working on these days in 2026.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Yeah. So I mean, for me, it's just I'm in the trenches with patients, and so I'm dealing with a lot of people that have chronic gut issues, chronic neurological issues, digestive issues, hormone issues. And so the hardest part is you have the information, but you gotta work with these patients to come up with root cause solutions. You got to help them make steps. And the longer someone's been sick, the harder it is to take action, right? And so it's figuring out what those progressive next steps are, building on that momentum, and then just continuing to progress up and work with these patients to heal and get better. So that's kind of my journey. So some of it is, you know, a good chunk of it is the you know, the the biochemistry, the physiology, but then part of it is is just really tapping into people's psyche and getting them motivated and getting them focused to take action.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Very true, very true. And so, and so as you're going through this with people, how how have you, how hard has it been to try to get people to break old, old bad habits?

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Well, it's always tricky. I mean, the biggest issue out of the Gay Atel patients, like when we get to the plate, like we're just not gonna hit a home run every time, right? We're not gonna just have the Hail Mary, you know, and it's gonna be a completion. So we have to have that mindset that it's gonna be two steps backward, one step forward, and health healing is not a straight line. And so we want to have that mindset. We come back to the huddle, you know, we come back to the clubhouse and we make an adjustment. We're always tweaking and making adjustments, and that, and as long as you have that mindset, patients are gonna succeed because healing is just not a straight line and old habits die hard, if you will.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Yeah, heck yeah, that's amazing. And so as you're working with people, is is there is there like one thing that comes up pretty often and a belief that people are hanging on to these days? Have you noticed?

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Well, it just depends on where people are at from a dietary standpoint. If people are older and they're coming off of like the calorie counting method or low fat's bad, then there's you know, there's some limiting beliefs about, you know, what should I do food-wise? And the longer people have tried something and failed, their their nervous system is kind of already kind of ready to receive that failure. It's already kind of synced up. And so just really trying to look at the patterns and and try to come up with a plan based on where that person's at to break that pattern. So, you know, we're looking at are you eating enough? Are you getting enough nutrition? Right? If you are, okay, how do your macros look? Are you are you low fat? Are you too low fat? Are you getting enough fat, soluble vitamins? Are you too low calorie? Are you too low carb? Uh, and then are you able to digest and break down that food? You know, we need enough protein, but are you able to break down that protein and fat? How do you feel? Are you chronically bloated, gassy? Are you are you pooping 12 inches a stool every day? Like just looking at those simple foundational things, to light hydration. Are we trying to not overly hydrate with with foods? Try to, you know, hydrate before meals or in between, not overly with meals because it's going to dilute their digestive enzymes and acids. So just like simple foundational things are what we always start and then we kind of build up from there.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Sure. Yeah. And so what what the kind of cycle that I broke myself with walking, you know, over nine million steps a year is that now whenever I eat, like whenever I eat, I make sure to take at least a 15-minute walk. Um, is that is that a practice that you encourage your patients to try and do?

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Yeah. So with walking, for instance, my blood sugar meter. Here it is. So big thing is anytime blood, I always have patients do what's called a functional glucose tolerance test to see how their blood sugar looks pre and post-meals. And so we want it to be below 100 before meal and then ideally not go above 120 in that first hour and back below 100 within two to three hours after a meal. So a simple walk can can drastically lower blood sugar 10, 20 points easily. And then also just, of course, if it's a gentle walk, it's also going to help with motility and just moving that food through the intestinal tract gently. Not at a speed where it causes indigestion or argita, but as speed, where it's comfortable, you can still talk, your heart rate's not overly going up. So you get some digestive benefits from it. And um, you also get some blood sugar benefits of it. And especially if you eat a bigger meal, you know, a good nice 30-minute walk after a meal is gonna really help, especially if you overly carved it up or too much sugar. It's gonna really bring that sugar down, you know, after a Thanksgiving Day meal, a nice 30-minute walk is gonna take that blood sugar right down. It's gonna help that food move to the intestinal tract as well.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Definitely. Yeah, that's huge, man. And it it looks like, you know, forgive my judgment, but you're you you look like you're stacked up here on your chest and your shoulders. Like are you a big weightlifter?

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Yeah, I mean, so I'm I'm 6'2, 215, 220. Right now, in my in my 40s now, I got young kids. I'm into pickleball. Pickleball is my big thing, but I do weights. I got I do a lot of cable free weights. I like cables. And then I got my um Rogue Echo bike and my um air bike. So I do a lot of sprints with those. I think that's great just for cardiovascular. And then I got my treadmill over here. So I'm getting like, not as much as you, but I'm getting 15 to 20,000 steps a day. So over the weekend, I got 20,000 on Saturday. I got 18,000 yesterday. So getting steps is key because you're constantly allowing your body to clean up that blood sugar that's hanging out in that bloodstream. Because the biggest issue with most people, it's just insulin resistance is a big deal. And the older you get, the harder your body it is for to handle that extra glucose. So if you're getting some movement and steps in there, it's like wringing out that sponge and it's allowing that sponge to absorb some of that extra glucose hanging in that bloodstream. So that's really important for just staying generally healthy. And then, of course, getting some resistance in, whether it's interval or you know, moving some weights, uh, is also gonna be very important because it just increases that muscle mass. That muscle mass is like a bigger sponge. That the bigger that sponge is, it's gonna metabolically be able to clean up that extra glucose and insulin that's hanging out.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Totally, totally. And so I've, you know, there's a real big, like a lot of people talk about, you know, fasted cardio versus not being fasted and doing cardio. What's your take on that?

SPEAKER_01 7:12

So I think it just depends. Like if you're waking up and you want to go for a walk in the morning first thing, uh, and I think that's great. Or you want to do a quick little burst training session in the morning, I think that's great. I think that makes sense as long as you feel good and it's not making you feel lightheaded. I do think waking up and hydrating and getting some electrolytes in first thing is great. And then um, as long as you're not doing like an hour and a half, two hour long CrossFit kind of session, I think that's an that makes a lot of sense. And then if someone were were I uh, you know, the more intense the movement, maybe we add in some BCAAs or some creatine in your water before you go. But I think if the intensity is lower, I think that that's fine.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

Love that. And and I I have seen on some of your videos on YouTube um you talking about like nitric oxide therapy and things of that nature. Um how familiar are you with nitric oxide?

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Well, so nitric oxide is going to be a vasodilator, right? Um, and so one of the biggest things is excess fructose and excess carbohydrate in the diet. People get excess carbohydrate, it's usually coming from fructose, processed things, and that decreases the enzyme called endothelial nitric oxide synthase. That's a natural vasodilator. So vasodilation is good. You open the blood vessels, keeps the blood pressure lower, blood pressure's lower, the heart does not have to pump as hard to get that blood going into circulation. That's good, right? Less hard the heart has to beat, the better. And so keeping carbohydrate and insulin down is gonna be key. Now, next, of course, you got beetroot powders, those things are excellent. You know, there's a couple of different companies that I'll use where we'll put them in people's smoothies. They can be wonderful just to kind of open the blood vessels up. Um, and then also um, what's I gotta just say here? And then, you know, we'll even use things like systemic enzymes and things to make the blood a little bit thinner or good high-quality fish oils. But those things are they're a really good tool in your kind of functional medicine tool belt to really keep blood flowing and take the stress off the heart.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

Yes, sir. I love that. And so we did want to throw in a little little plug here for our corporate sponsor, it's Cardiomiracle. We have over 58 whole inorganic fruits and vegetables in here, and we actually uh we have proven actually with our science at Cardiomiracle.com forward slash studies that um we do actually um generate nitric oxide within three tenths of a second uh once you drink the mixed powder and then it lasts in your blood system for 24 hours. So we've actually proven that, which is amazing. So we're we're excited that um that you're familiar with that science and that you use it every day. It sounds sounds amazing. It sounds like an amazing um, you know, uh correlation there.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Yeah, I mean, so when I look at people with blood pressure, like the first thing we look at is we try to get the insulin and the carbohydrate dialed, and we try to get their macros and their micronutrients like really solid. So we want, you know, I'll tend to default to more of a lower carbohydrate, higher fat, like moderate-ish protein type type of diet, and we adjust according to someone's activity. I run my functional glucose tolerance test. We try to adjust carbohydrate according to someone's blood sugar, and walking helps. And then if we have high blood pressure, the first thing we're gonna look at is dialing in magnesium because magnesium is a nutrient and it has so many different enzymatic roles in the body. But then one of those stacks that we'll add in will be some a good high-quality beetroot powder to open the blood vessels even more.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

Yes, sir. That's amazing. So have you found, you know, working in uh both Texas and Kansas, have you found a difference in how how um either uh well people are absorbing night or vitamin D or utilize it or their their vitamin D levels higher or lower in different states?

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Well, I mean, I've read studies in San Diego where even patients in San Diego still have low vitamin D. Unless you're really truly getting out there and getting your shirt off. But let's say you're a surfer. Well, guess what? You make that vitamin D, you go back in the water, now it's coming off your skin in the water, right? And so it's not just about letting your skin get exposed. You have to let those oils and that pre-cholesterol kind of get reabsorbed into your bloodstream. So you can make it, but they also flush it off too if you're at the beach. And so, yeah, I mean, it's gonna be problematic this time of year, especially in the winter, with um kind of that sun's latitude, that angle of the sun being off based on the winter months, you're not gonna quite get that vitamin D. So having good vitamin D and maybe a K2 in there is gonna be solid, a solid advice for sure.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Yeah. Is there is there anything in your in your practice, or are there any myths that like big myths that keep coming up over and over again?

SPEAKER_01 11:32

In regards to food or supplements, or any area?

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Like myths, myths regarding like the food, basically just like food that that people need to have or people don't need to have. Um, because the the huge myth that we're that we're trying to dispel is the is the dangers of cholesterol and how much we actually need. We actually need to utilize cholesterol, you know?

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Yeah, I mean, it's a big thing, even in the bodybuilding community, right, um, is a lot of focus on calorie counting. Um and so the biggest thing is calories have different impacts on your hormonal system. So I'm not a super huge fan of calorie counting outside of making sure we're getting enough. Uh, there are some people that have broken satiation signals where they they may have a hard time, you know, to stop eating. But for the most part, if we're getting enough good fats, enough good proteins, and we're digesting things well, hormones have different satiation compounds, should say different macronutrients in the foods have different releases of um satiation compounds, peptide, YY, adiponectin, coli cysticine. And these are things that happen and are released in the digestive tract. They're part of fat digestion, and they're gonna tell your brain that to be full and to feel satiated. Uh, and so if we're doing the right things and we're eating the right foods or we're not gobbling our food down and we're chewing enough and we're coming into our meals in a more parasympathetic state, more rest and digest, our brains and that feel more full with the foods we're eating. And so calorie counting is a big thing, especially if people are are overly worried. So we want to make sure there's enough. And with some people, we may have to worry about it for most. If we get the macros right and we time up our meals, then usually we're pretty dialed in on the foods and it'll allow us to feel a little bit more satiated. We don't have to worry about the the overeating aspect. So I think that's a big one.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Sure. Oh, yeah. And then with your chiropractic uh practice, are you are you using peptides right now, or what is your belief on those?

SPEAKER_01 13:21

So it depends, right? So like you got BPC 157 and TB500, those are great for like just tissue healing. So I'm doing a stack of BPC157 liposomally, about a gram a day. I think that's it's has some really good benefits on tissue healing, connective tissue. Uh, the more acute the injury is, maybe we want to inject more. Um, but if it's more localized stuff, then we can definitely do that more uh orally and get a more systemic benefit. So I do like that. The GHKU peptides for the hair or for the skin are wonderful, and you can use that as a natural way to kind of support hair growth. Um, maybe combine it with some sapametto if there's androgenic alopecia. Yeah, I get you. And then um, lipos only on the skin, there can be some good benefits. And then also there's some peptides like dark adyl and gray burst that are interesting for reversing gray hair, been playing around with those kind of things. And then, of course, you got like your, you know, Eurozimpics and things like that, your GLP ones, GLP2s and threes, you know, they can have a lot more side effects with it. But um, but those are the big ones I've been playing around with in my practice.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Yeah, I was told that if I was gonna look into any of those, if I wanted to, because right now I'm sitting around 280, 285, if I want to get down to like 250 or something like that, that uh looking into the uh, you know, the uh semiglutide or whatnot, I was told I have to 100% make sure I continue to lifting um because it it would first kind of melt away or whatever my muscle is. Can you can you talk about that a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 14:45

So I've been the biggest thing with like peptides like GLP1s, right? Eurozempic, your Munjaro, your um, there's a couple others that are out there, GLP3s, is number one, it the the primarily works, the mechanism it's gonna work by is going to be decreasing satiation. And so where it makes the most sense. So no, don't get me wrong, there's some insulin sensitivity that happens too. So you get some insulin sensitizing aspect. That means your body's gonna make less insulin. You're also gonna have decreased satiation. So there's all kinds of other studies looking at that actually helping with other addictions. Because even though it helps with food cravings, that part of the brain that hits is also gonna hit alcohol cravings, uh, drug cravings. And so you're really decreasing your cravings, which allows more willpower to come in. I know people that will just be like, yeah, I forgot to eat today because I'm on it. I'm like, well, that's absolutely terrible. And so, and then also you have delayed gastric emptying that's happening. So you get a lot of gastroparesis. So now food sits in your stomach a really long time. And so that's what kind of that's part of the appetite thing. Because when food sits in your stomach a long time, now you get this low-grade nausea, you're not gonna feel good. So you have like the decreased craving sensation of the brain, you have this low-grade nausea that's happening, you have some insulin sensitizing benefits, but then now it's gonna be really difficult to eat. So most people do it the wrong way. You still got to be doing a one gram per pound of body weight of protein. You still have to be doing resistance training to stimulate the muscles and the bones. Um, and then also on that, too, um, you still have to be making sure. And if you're gonna do it, I always recommend microdose. Start at the lowest possible dose, like an eighth or a tenth of the recommended dose, and then kind of work your way up slowly. You know, you can work, work with your clinician, test your blood sugar out too, and make sure you're getting enough nutrients too.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Yeah, for sure. So I'd love to hear more about your thyroid reboot um podcast. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Yeah, so I got a book I I wrote. It took me a while to get done. It's, you know, it's always my clinical work, so I'm trying to take actionable information and and put it in a book. And I'm I'm a talker. I like podcasts and videos because I can just get my information out fast. I'm not a writer, it just takes a long time to kind of take this and type it out. And so book is thyroid reboot, thyroidreboot.com. We'll go to my Amazon page so you can see it there. Feel free to get the book. It's great because I take all actionable information. So we're looking at the major root underlying issue of why there are autoimmune thyroid issues out there to begin with. Most are actually autoimmune. So most is actually the immune system attacking itself. And so we go in and look at all of the underlying reasons why. Everything from gut permeability to insulin resistance to dysglycemia to gut infections, right? To uh leaky gut or gut permeability, detoxification issues, heavy metals, mold. So we try to look at all the underlying issues and we compare and contrast kind of how conventional medicine would handle this versus how us in functional medicine land would handle it, try to get to the root cause. And when you compare it from a biochemistry standpoint, it's like, well, we're not getting to any of the root issues on the conventional side. We may bring that TSH down, give you some level of thyroxin. That may be necessary too, by the way, but it may not get to the underlying root issue. So everything that I'm focused on is looking at the biochemistry and the physiology, trying to get to the root of what's happening.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

Is there like a tiny change that can can totally like reboot someone's whole system that they can do? Is it a bunch of big changes that they have to do all once?

SPEAKER_01 18:05

So it's usually a bunch of big changes, but I mean, big things are gonna be like gluten and glyphosate. If people are eating a lot of processed gluten and flour, um that can be a big stimulator of autoimmunity. Plus, the residue on gluten and glyphosate, uh gluten and grains is very high for glyphosate. And glyphosate really increases gut permeability. And the more permeable your gut is, the more chance you're gonna have an autoimmune issue, right? The more the those enterocytes in the intestinal tract open up, more food and gut bacteria particles can get into the bloodstream, and that can create an autoimmune response. These proteins can be tagged, and then surface proteins in the body start to get attacked, and the thyroid is one of the most common ones.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Yeah, man. It seems like when whenever people are holding weight or they can't seem to get past those uh barriers or they like plateau, it like it seems like they first go and get their thyroid tested. Is there any uh hacks that you have for for people to figure that out on their own, or is it best to go in and get all your blood?

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Well, I mean, you can definitely go just get a complete test done. That's the first thing. Now, your conventional medical doctor typically will only run TSH. That's it. Maybe T4, but unless you have some kind of symptomatic reason of like, I'm really tired and my eyebrows are thinning, I'm cold, hands, cold. Unless you have like the classic symptoms, typically it's not going to be done. Maybe a TSH and like a monthly annual screening, but that's it. And so you can have thyroid issues and have your TSH still be fine, right? TSH is kind of a late stage indicator. So when it comes to your thyroid testing, you have TSH, which is in the pituitary. It's actually a brain hormone. TSH is thyroid stimulating hormone. So it's your pituitary talking to the thyroid to make T4. And your T4, you have free and total levels of T4. And T4 is mostly inactive, right? So it's active, but it's three to 400% less active than T3. So it's TSH, then goes to T4, and then that could converse to T3 systemically in the body. So a little bit locally, and then the rest systemically. And T3 is more active. And so if we don't have that domino rally of TSH to T4 to T3 happening, um, then we're gonna have problems. And many people have conversion issues, even if you give a medication of like which is basically synthetic T4 here, it may not convert downstream. And then the biggest issue is most thyroid problems have an autoimmune issue happening. So your immune system is actually attacking the thyroid. And so that's creating inflammation and that's decreasing the functional capacity of this thyroid tissue. The more it becomes inflamed and attacked, the less functional capacity to make thyroid hormone there is. Less there is.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

I've read that the Olympic athletes drank 10,000 or more monster energy drinks during the Olympics. And so I'm just wondering if if there's a correlation between uh performance that you know of or the thyroid and like energy drinks and things like that that people are putting their bodies.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Yeah, I mean, energy drinks tend to be pretty garbage across the board. There are healthier ones out there. I mean, you're my like, you know, there's some benefits of caffeine, right? So let's just break it down. Like, what's an energy drink, right? When you really look at it, it's a bunch of caffeine and some B vitamins. And then maybe some better ones will have like taurine and carnitine, and they'll have some amino acids, or they'll have like ribose. So my whole thing out of the gate is, but usually you get a bunch of sugars and sweeteners and other junk is like, okay, if you need caffeine, like, all right, here's a high quality coffee, a high quality espresso, a high quality tea, like much better off getting it from a natural clean source with bioflavonoids and and nutrients in it. Next, you know, obviously outside of your food, outside of your food being perfect and super nutrient dense, much rather just give a good B vitamin or a good mitochondrial support that has everything in it without all the crap. Because the problem with these drinks, it's got to taste good. And a lot of these nutrients don't taste that good, right? And so getting them in capsule form tends to be better because then you just mitigate all the flavors and all the crap in it.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Yeah, definitely, man. And and with um like with nitric oxide, definitely. Um, as you know, all these, you know, T3s and everything with the microbiology and all that. Have you seen that nitric oxide therapy will help kind of open up those mini capillaries and whatnot and vasodilate?

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Yeah. I mean, at that level, those kind of nutrients are going to be excellent, right? These you want to have reduced inflammation, you want to have great blood flow. Um, things like red light and infrared lasers can be wonderful for just helping with inflammation, stimulating the mitochondria, of course, getting the blood vessels to open up. Uh the most important thing is just a good anti-inflammatory diet, and then plugging in some of those supplements, like we talked about, are going to be great, whether it's magnesium or some of the beetroot extract powders that we talked about, those are great kind of modalities. And then also just like even systemic enzymes can be great away from food because they can kind of break down inflammation, break down some of the platelets that are, you know, just make the blood flow better, right? The more, the less sludgy that blood the blood is, the more it can flow. The more the more viscous it is, the slower it is.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

That's amazing. Yeah. And so with your um, with your chiropractic uh practice, are you doing more of that these days? Are you doing more podcasts, more speaking? Uh what are you kind of focusing on?

SPEAKER_01 23:11

It's just functional medicine because how it used to be is I had my localized chiropractic practice, but you only can service people that are in your area, right? Functional medicine, I've been virtual since 2012, 2013. And so it's this limitless potential. And so because you have a bigger, bigger, bigger ocean that you're fishing in versus your local pond, you're just gonna have more fish to catch there. And so that practice just kind of ballooned up. And plus, it's just um it's hard doing chiropractic all day. That's hard work, man. It's physically hard on the body. It's tough. It's really tough on the body, especially if you're doing some physical stuff. I do applied kinesiology, doing different work, working on disc issues and herniation. It's a lot of work. So great, very rewarding work, right? And so, yeah, I've been just focusing on functional medicine full time the last 12, 13 years.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

That's amazing. Well, you know, I I I would like to know where we can uh we can tell our viewers where they can find you. Where can they where can they find you these days?

SPEAKER_01 24:06

It's great. I'm at justinhealth.com, J-U-S-T-I-N like my name, H-E-A-L-T-H dot com. While you're there, there's a link for my my blog posts, my podcast, my YouTube channel. I do a lot of live videos. I have a lot of podcast conversations like this with people like yourself where we go in depth. I do a lot of stuff live because a lot of people out there, they just read scripts. I don't read scripts. I do this all day long. And so I love having live questions. I love being able to think on the spot. I think it's great. I think it shows authenticity. And so people want to connect with me there. That's great. I see patients worldwide. So if you want to jump in, there'll be a link with uh work with Dr. J on the website. You can click there and reach out to my staff and see if you're a good fit. We're happy to work with you and help you out worldwide. So that's that's where I'm at right now.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

I love it, man. Well, thanks so much for your time. It's been such a pleasure. And if you could give us like uh 30 second or 90 second, uh, what would your message be uh to the masses?

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Yeah, I think out of the gate, just really focus on increasing your nutrient density. Make sure every calorie of food that you're eating is as nutrient dense as possible. High quality grass-fed protein, pasture-raised eggs, you know, uh more vegetables than fruit and starch, especially if there's weight issues. Really try to increase the nutrient density. Try to move. If you're not that active, just go for a walk, get some sunlight on your skin. Keep it, you know, go to go to sleep with the sun, right? Go to sleep at, you know, 10, 11 o'clock, get up at six to eight o'clock, try to just live your life in that kind of harmony. That's foundational. And then everything else from there, a good functional medicine doc will help you if you're struggling. I also have the first chapter of my thyroid reboot book for free on the website. So go to Justinhealth.com, there'll be a thing where you can get the first chapter for free. So those are some good options. I got some video series there on um thyroid, female hormones, and even um ketogenic diets and gluten sensitivity. So if you want more support, a lot of free stuff on the website.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

I love that. Thank you. And yeah, I was gonna say, actually, I was I was gonna ask you your your viewpoint on the ketogenic diet because my first 180 pounds came off uh being in full ketosis for two years. And it was it was a wild journey, man. But um I love that.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Yeah, so when it comes to me, right, people have like their diets, right? Like they they label each diet. So I try to look at like this. I just say, I I focus on a paleo template, right? All that means is food, old foods, foods that we've evolved to eat on for many, many years, right? So it just takes away all the Neolithic foods, all the processed flowers, grains, vegetable oils, all that crap's gone. So now we're focusing on old foods because old foods don't cause new diseases. What does that mean? Go look at the incidence of heart disease and cancers and all this stuff. Over the last hundred years, it's up exponentially, right? Cancer used to be like one in 35 back in 1900. Now it's like one in two, one in three. Same with heart disease, right? So old foods don't cause new disease. That's like kind of the first thing, all right? Secondly, then I'm macronutrient agnostic. So we adjust the carbohydrate according to the person's demands. Work with professional athletes, they're gonna have a much higher need for carbohydrate. And of course, we won't want to eat processed junky carbs, right? We want to eat really good, healthy, starchy tubers, good quality fruits, things like that. But for someone who has insulin resistance or metabolic damage, you know, one of the first things we can do is pull that carbohydrate lever down. And that's gonna mean moving into more of that lower carb, which starts to allow more ketones as a fuel source to be used, right? That's kind of the ketogenic diet template. And so we can adjust that lever, protein, fat, and carbs, and we can adjust it for the patient. So I am like patient focused and result focused, not like diet focused. But again, most people have insulin resistance, and so they're gonna do well on that lower carbohydrate kind of style of eating for sure. And that's kind of where I eat most of the time. The more active I am, the more I adjust my carbs. The less active and the more sedentary, then I just tweak that a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 27:52

It's a great question, though.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

No, man. Yeah, thank you. And um I love the fact that I mean, really, this is amazing. You the knowledge that you're spitting out so fast is we didn't send any questions beforehand. We just dissolved God. Yeah, no, you got it.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

And what happens is someone has an experience with a diet, right? Like you on the keto, which is great, but then everyone should be on a keto. So for me as a practitioner, it's like I have this big toolkit and there's a nail there, right? And I know the best tool for that nail is this hammer, and there's, you know, uh, there's a screw there. The best tool for that's my screwdriver, right? So I want to look at the what the patient's dealing with and apply the best tool for what I see. That's kind of my focus.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

I love that because it's so it's so authentic and it's it's customized. It's not a one size fits all, which which we know is is not uh truly possible.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

So the reason why most people benefit from more ketogenic diets is because of the insulin resistance. And one of the best things you can do, pull out that glucometer, right? Get below 120 in that first hour and back below 100 within two to three hours, that's a good sign that you're becoming more insulin sensitive. And so if you start to go higher on that, that tells you, okay, maybe I gotta cut those carbs down. Or if I'm doing good, maybe I can ratchet them up. So I always want tools that are objective that you can't allow your own biases to kind of infiltrate.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Yeah. No, I love that. It's it's very, very true, it's very smart. Man, I just thank you so much for taking it, taking some time with us this morning, and and thanks for sharing your wisdom. And I'm gonna send you a care package uh just for being on the web, you know, being on the podcast and and um so you can give our product a try, see if you like it. And um, we'd love to get your feedback on it.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

So awesome, man. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Yeah, thanks for your time and um thanks so much, Josh. Yeah, we'll we'll be in touch, but we're gonna get you these clips and we'll we'll get everything uh out to you in the next couple days here. So thanks so much for your time, bro.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Nice chatting with you. Appreciate it. Let's stay in touch, all right.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Thank you very much. All right. All right, take care. Bye. Thank you. Bye bye now.