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Redesigning Life with Sabrina Soto
Redesigning Life with Sabrina Soto is a podcast dedicated to inspiring intentional living, personal growth, and transformation. Hosted by design expert and lifestyle guru Sabrina Soto, each episode dives into conversations about wellness, mindset, home, and self-improvement with leading experts and thought leaders. With a mix of practical advice, heartfelt storytelling, and empowering insights, Redesigning Life is your go-to space for creating a life that feels as good as it looks—one thoughtful choice at a time.
Redesigning Life with Sabrina Soto
Nutrition Myths Debunked with Kourtney Simmang
Unlock the secrets to personalized wellness with our special guest, Kourtney Simmang, founder of Kale Diagnostics. Kourtney shares her inspiring journey of overcoming major health obstacles and creating a company focused on gut health. You'll gain deep insights into the critical role of lab work in crafting individualized nutrition plans and the complexities surrounding probiotics and supplements. Prepare to rethink what you know about gut health and discover the importance of a tailored approach to diet and wellness.
Explore the intricate connection between chronic health issues in women and their diet. With Kourtney, we dive into symptoms like joint pain, migraines, and mood swings, which often signal food-related inflammation. Learn about the challenges of tracking food sensitivities and the limitations of popular tests like those from Everly Well. Whether you're struggling with anxiety, depression, or a history of trauma, Kourtney provides a balanced approach to diet changes and discusses the nuances of dairy consumption in the U.S.
Discover practical strategies for managing blood sugar spikes and protein intake, particularly during perimenopause. We critically examine current health trends and the often overhyped benefits of certain supplements. From the potential dangers of non-organic greens to quick-fix solutions like Ozempic for weight loss, Kourtney's insights offer a fresh perspective on achieving better health outcomes. Join us as we navigate the challenges of modern nutrition, the benefits of personalized health strategies, and the importance of investing in your long-term well-being.
Get in touch with Kourtney Simmang on Instagram
Learn more about Kale Diagnostics
Courtney, welcome to Redesigning Life. People listening, courtney Simang is the founder of Kill Diagnostics, which is basically a virtual place for you to go to to heal your gut and to figure out what you should be eating and what supplements to be taking after getting labs and work done. So welcome, courtney. I have a ridiculous amount of questions for you because I'm sure myself and many of my listeners we get inundated with so much information on social media what we should be eating, what we shouldn't be eating, supplements to be taking, taking things that you should avoid, and I feel like in any given day, I see accounts telling me to eat something and another account telling me not to eat that exact thing. So, with that said, I have so many questions, but before we get started, can you please tell my listeners a little bit about your background and how you got started and how you founded Kill Diagnostics?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm so happy to be on. I love your podcast. I was able to listen to a few episodes and I'm just so excited to talk today.
Speaker 1:Thank you yeah absolutely so.
Speaker 2:I'm Courtney. I first and foremost just love helping people in their health, especially women. I had a really challenging health journey when I was in college health issues leading up to that. But it really reached a peak in college and I was totally failed by the medical system. So I was left on my own, hung out to dry a little bit, had to help myself, had to research. I changed my degree and I healed my own body. So I reversed Hashimoto's and PCOS, chronic migraines, chronic inflammation. I was like walking around feeling like I was 80 years old when I was 18. It was horrible, but that experience I had really fueled kale diagnostics as a whole.
Speaker 2:So I have worked one-on-one with thousands of women, helping them overcome chronic health issues also with men too. But let's just be honest women are typically the ones who are the most overlooked in modern medicine. They typically have the more challenging cases because of the hormonal aspect as well, and autoimmunity is also way more likely for women too, so that really complicates it. So overall, my passion is healing. There are a ton of facets to healing. The part where I fit in in terms of helping people on a large scale really would be understanding the data behind your health. What do the labs say and I'm not just talking about yearly blood labs to the doctor where they say, yeah, you're fine and maybe you are, maybe you're not right. It's really a deep look. We look at everything we possibly can and we help you understand exactly what you need in order to feel better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I actually got my normal physical blood work done and my estrogen was high, but then that doesn't necessarily mean anything because it's not the right time to be taking that test. It goes up and down, so it is a very complicated thing, and I know your number one focus is gut health and I think a lot of times we hear that your gut is your second brain and how important your gut health is to not only your physical health but even your mental health. But I don't think, even though I think I'm pretty well versed in this, in health topics, I still don't know what that means, and I've read the books. Body Keeps the Score. You know all of it, but, like what you were saying, you have to look at your labs to figure out what's going on in your body. So there isn't a one size fits all when it comes to what to eat. Is that true?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would agree with that, and I think it can also change throughout your life. What might have worked for you in the past might not be working now, and life as a whole is multifaceted and truly our bodies are too, and I think the best way to start small when it comes to understanding the inner workings of, specifically, the gut anatomy and physiology. It's fascinating learning about how our colon works and the small intestine, the large intestine and the small intestine absorbs most of the nutrients, but that's also where overgrowth is most problematic and that's most frequently found in women, and so there's always a rabbit hole that you can go down. But understanding the actual mechanics of the gut, it's just. I mean, maybe it's just me, but I think it's so interesting, like learning about how it works. It's so cool.
Speaker 1:And you also like. We also hear about probiotics right and taking probiotics all the time. It's good, but I've also heard you say that that could cause problems too. So, without seeing somebody's labs because of course you have to be able to see somebody exactly what's going on in their body for the most part, overall, with everyone, should we be taking probiotics? Is it better to eat a plant-based diet? Are animal proteins okay? The dairy industry has been taken down. I haven't eaten dairy in eight years, so I know that's a lot of questions, but let's start with the probiotics. Are probiotics okay to take on a daily basis?
Speaker 2:That's such a good question. So I think that over the next 20 years, there's going to be more information and content and experts who are talking about how we've overused probiotics and I would not have said that when I first started in this realm, because I was young and I was so excited about the fact that you can introduce these compounds into the gut and it's easy and it's not that expensive and it can help what Like that's amazing. But a lot of that is marketing and truly, when you're looking at the, I guess like the ecosystem of a person, everyone's different. First of all and you have to remember that probiotics are living organisms I would say the best rule like really just across the board is to try eating food that's fermented, have small amounts and see how your body responds, because those foods are typically going to have really basic strains. That might actually be helpful.
Speaker 2:For example, if you had a lot of antibiotics as a kid, you might be missing the foundation of what you need, and so it's really not time to like hit hard with like, even like the spore-based probiotics. Those obviously like have a place. They do. The research is incredible. There's a place. They're not bad, but they're also not across the board good. So I would say start small with food, monitor your responses and then, if you feel like you still need help, run a stool test and that can help us see your commensal bacteria, which is neutral and good, and it can also help us see pathogenic.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so fermented foods like sauerkraut. Even Is it okay to eat tempeh?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good one. I would say that what also might be easier for a lot of people who might not have a taste for it is even having like high quality pickles, like I'm not talking about what you would usually just get like at the store. I'm talking about like what they usually have in a place like Whole Foods, where what's your favorite pickle person or?
Speaker 2:company Grillo's oh my gosh, shout out to Grillo's, they're so good. Company from grillos oh my gosh, shout out to grillos, they're so good. Um, such a big fan. They have one thing that's called the pickle de gallo. It's like a pico de gallo with pickles. It's good, um, okay, so that's easy. Yeah, it's easy. Most people like that, so it's also not going to like scare a person away. One of the first foods I introduced for my daughter she's a toddler are pickled carrots and she loved those as a baby. So it's like we can start young, we can help our kids.
Speaker 2:we can eat that on the go Like that's actually pretty good with like a hard boiled egg and like avocado.
Speaker 1:So eggs are okay. Okay, because now you said eggs Not for everyone. Not for everyone I'm in a plane. Do you know who Dr Amen is?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, like he says eggs are horrible, he also says stevia is great. I've heard. Now I hear you say to eat eggs and you told me stevia is not great, so eggs are not okay for everyone. Why?
Speaker 2:So a lot of people have egg allergies, and so that inflammatory response is the number one issue that I see with eggs. And so if your body is responding through trying to heal itself when you introduce these egg proteins, yeah, of course eggs aren't for you, but we have to look a little deeper.
Speaker 1:If eggs aren't for me, what would happen to my body? How would I feel? So?
Speaker 2:like inflammation. Usually you have like an underlying issue like maybe like early stage rheumatoid arthritis, like have you ever done a Pernobo scan?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Okay, so that's how I found out that I have like the very, very, very start of, like arthritis in my neck. I am so convinced that that started happening when I was in middle school because I had a lot of pain, then started happening when I was in middle school because I had a lot of pain then. And these chronic health issues of women especially, it takes like decades for them to really take their full form. But if you're really in tune with your body, you'll usually be able to see that something's off. And for a lot of women they have pain in their joints or in their muscles and that is usually the most common response to food, other than like having overt gut issues. I mean, that's obvious, but like the more non obvious it would be like a pain in the joints. Migraines, moodiness can be one, it's like irritability, like even though this is very old school, it can be triggering. And so I want to give a preface again for sure, be triggering if you've ever which like understandably. So I think most women have experienced like like a challenging relationship with food because of the measurements and you know all of that and like, yeah, like it's, it's a lot, and so I'm not I'm not recommending that anyone do this, but if you, if you feel like you're in a good place to maybe track your reactions to food, like that can be helpful to see if you're, if you're eating things that might be triggering negative symptoms for you, and it can usually be over like a three-day period so kind of hard to test.
Speaker 2:One lab that we run at kale diagnostics it actually measures the inflammation response to the food that you're eating, and so it's not like an antibody test, like anything else you could order online, like everly well Well, for example, huge company they what was the company they have? Like Everly Well, it's probably like the most common. That's like the most common way to get like a food sensitivity test. That is not actually like evidence-based, but like it's in demand. I understand why they sell it this isn't me, you know, in any way like. If you want to run that lab for educational purposes, I think that's totally fine, but if you're actually wanting to see what the inflammation responses are to what you're eating, you're actually going to want to utilize the blood test. That's like a lot more vile, it's not just a finger prick.
Speaker 1:Not the prick test, because I've taken that. Here's another thing that doesn't make sense, courtney, is I've taken those allergy tests. One day I was allergic to tomatoes. Two years later, tomatoes are fine. I'm like I can't. It's like that's what's so frustrating, especially people who are trying to get a hold of their health and be better and eat the right things. When every day something changes, I just feel like throwing the towel in, and I'm sure your clients feel the same way.
Speaker 2:They do. It's overwhelming and no one is making it easy or balanced or even honestly, even possible to conceptualize. If you want to understand any topic, you're going to have to have some solid principles and the issue is that everyone is, for the most part, most people are operating on a matter of opinion and they're being really like hyper reactive and they get on, which I mean I'm sure I've also been on my soapbox. I feel like anyone who like has a voice and is like out there and they're like willing to just like be heard and talk and whatever like yeah, like we all are, are like on there at a point. But I feel like the main thing I've emphasized with, with my following and with those who come to Kale Diagnostics for, you know, really understanding what they need to do long term.
Speaker 2:It's kind of like a multi-step process.
Speaker 2:So they first need to know that, like, your body has specific needs and we have to be an investigator through labs and we have to see where your imbalances are.
Speaker 2:Then we need to take the path of least resistance when it comes to food. This does not mean that you're perfect. This means that we are logical and we understand and remember that the majority of people who end up struggling with an eating disorder. They have typically worked with a professional that was not logical or intuitive when it comes to making changes in this area of your life. That has typically not been controlled by anyone, and so if you come in with high control and you're not providing a balance and an equilibrium that can cause a person, especially a person who has anxiety or depression or OCD or they have a past with trauma, they're just going to go to extremes because that's what they know, like that's what their programming has been, and so we're very careful to not um, not put a person, let's say, on like a 90 day elimination diet where they can eat like four different things. That's the best way to drive a person crazy and it's not going to help your health?
Speaker 1:No, exactly, and all the information is driving us crazy. I mean, the gut is your second brain and it does affect your mood, and completely believe that. But I also I was a pretty strict, plant-based person for many years and then I have fallen to the same thing that I'm sure a lot of people might during perimenopause and I'm following all these accounts. These like women that they start lifting weights. They look amazing and they're like protein, protein, protein.
Speaker 1:So, I started eating animal protein organic animal protein but I don't even know if that's right. I don't necessarily feel better, but I feel like at my age I need to be eating that. But I haven't reintroduced dairy because I know that doesn't work for me. How do you feel about?
Speaker 2:dairy as a nutritionist, yeah. So the way I feel about dairy is that, in the US especially, I think it's processed in the wrong way. I'm not like a spokesperson for raw milk. That's not what I'm saying. I think that's another extreme and a lot of people can become very ill from it because you also you don't know what the farms are doing, you don't. Yeah, I mean like I could talk about the others and everything, but I'm gonna like skip it, that's nasty. That's nasty, yeah, I'm, but like that's where my mind goes. That's why they literally started pasteurizing milk, because this is not clean typically. So I think that's just another example of an extreme that's not healthy or helpful.
Speaker 2:So when it comes comes to dairy, we have to look at the kind of dairy. So A1 versus A2, it was just a lot easier to break down. That's really all that people need to know. It's just a lot easier to break down, and so it can be great for kids. I wouldn't recommend having a child be dairy-free, especially because you want to introduce these allergens at a young age, even gluten and soy and corn and really just anything that they can eat or will eat. It's good to get that exposure because it has to have that information.
Speaker 2:The body has to have that information, or else you run the risk of rejection later on, not like full-blown rejection, but you want your body to at least know what to do with something. But you want your body to at least know what to do with something. So I would say that when it comes to dairy, the most likely I would be to recommend a person not have it would be, of course, if they're having noticeable gut issues. And I would always say have as small of an amount of dairy as possible, not because it's bad, but because it's rich. It's rich, it's rich and it's high in fat that's saturated. We don't need all of our fat to come from fat that is saturated, but we also can have some saturated fat. Once again, it's kind of that balance of our body needs, like a proper input of all of these categories in order to have balance.
Speaker 1:Do you personally eat everything Carbs, fat, sugar, dairy meat, nuts? I do have all of that.
Speaker 2:So I want to preface it that I I can basically count macros just through looking at a plate. Like I can look at a plate of food and I can get within like a few grams, but what is actually there and so that's what I want people to understand is like I'm very intuitive about how I eat. Want people to understand is like I'm very intuitive about how I eat, but I also this is like a huge part of my brain Like I just like know, I just know what's on a plate when I look at it In terms of eating everything. Like I will say like yes, if I'm on vacation, like I'm going to have fries by the pool with ranch Like I'm like I'm like I'm gonna do that, but I'm also healthy enough to do that.
Speaker 2:In the past that would have triggered a migraine for me, so I went through a period of time where I was more restrictive, but I also was only restrictive when I was in a really good place mentally, and so I want to preface that too. If you ever go into this really intense healing protocol, mental health support is so important because you're changing what has most likely been like a comfort ritual for you, so you don't want to pull the rug out from under your belt.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's so funny you say that because I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about that, like how when people are on a diet, it's like when you're taking away that comfort, whatever it is that you're taking out of your life that maybe you're using to self-medicate it Fs with you. So we have to not forget that. It's sort of supplementing to the mental health. And I know that you've talked about tapping and had two experts on my podcast. Do you know Tap With Brad is.
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, I love him. Maybe I do, I love him too.
Speaker 1:So he was on my podcast a few weeks ago and I really do believe in tapping. So thank you for even bringing that up, because I do believe that it's not just what we eat. It affects our, our moods and our brain and our mental capacity to take in information, to process, um. With that said, you were talking earlier about protein, carbs and dairy and all this stuff. How do you feel about carbs and sugar? And you know people are being like eliminate sugar, no salt. Now then people are saying salt's not the problem. Where do we go from here? Is it just about balance? Where do we go from here? Is it just about balance? Or is there an actual culprit or an enemy that we eat, that we're constantly having in our diet? That's causing a lot of havoc.
Speaker 2:That's such a good question. I think a lot of people are asking that question and what I would say is that more of an encouragement towards hey, I actually have some good news. You can look at the mechanics of the body. Look away from the food for a minute, like, look away from the fuel, like, yes, we need to understand what that is and we'll talk about that. But the mechanics of the body, the body intakes information, receives compounds, and so everything, ultimately, is at its molecular form. So, whether you're eating protein or carbs, these are just molecules. And so these molecules enter into the body and we have to ask, well, what can this machine do? Can it even handle, you know, on a carbohydrates that will cause the glucose in the bloodstream to rise to a high concentration? Well, we have to push out so much insulin that now this insulin that's being used to quite literally push glucose into the blood cell, because you have to have energy in the cell. That's why a lot of people who have high blood sugar, they also struggle with brain fog and fatigue because energy is not getting in. So of course, you're going to keep on craving your fuel if the fuel is not actually entering the room, the door, the cell, whatever have you? Um, when it comes to understanding the mechanics of food, moving into more of a mindset of okay, what can my body handle? Maybe I need to have 80 grams of carbs a day and only have 20 grams at a time because I have insulin resistance, and after I have my carbs I need to go on a walk because walking helps move glucose into the cell. Then I'm not going to have high blood sugar and I'm not going to have as many highs and lows and crashes and spikes and all of that that happens with glucose. So this is a part of the way my mind works.
Speaker 2:When it comes to helping a person. It's like how can we prevent, you know, just uprooting your life? How can we work with your natural flow, your natural rhythm, but also help your body improve at like, honestly, like a mechanical level? And so, when it comes to protein, you need protein, you need to have enough protein, but you can be eating enough protein and you could have issues with the way that your body actually processes protein and restores your protein structures, as in, like, your muscles, your gums, your hair. So that can actually be an issue of not having. This is just one example of many I could give, but, like you, might not have enough vitamin C. So that's so important for helping your body now use that. You know, let's say it's like 100 and 20 grams of protein a day. That takes some effort and so if you have like, it's hard, it's like oh my gosh, I have to eat. How much more right.
Speaker 1:When I first started on this journey of now realizing that I'm perimenopause, they were saying you have to eat one pound of protein per how much you weigh. How can?
Speaker 2:I do that.
Speaker 1:And so then it makes you crazy that I'm like I'm looking at labels all the time and constantly eating protein. And then now I heard you on another podcast talking about greens not being so good for you and I'm like, what do you mean? Like that's what I base my whole life on. I feel good when I eat my kale, like in the morning. I feel like I seriously am saving the world when I have kale in the morning. So I just feel like and on top of that, all these supplement companies, like the green juices that were in the shakes that we're having I now I'm hearing that all of that is BS. So it's like I don't even know. I can't even imagine how frustrated I am, how other people feel who don't have access necessarily to all of this information, or even organic produce, depending on where they live.
Speaker 1:It's just a lot of pressure for us. And then I wouldn't blame people for giving up or feeling like forgetting, you know, because it seems like it's difficult and the way that our system is set up it's not making it any easier. So, with supplements, are they necessary? Are these green juices that people feel like they're having with their green powders in the morning? Do they matter? Does it even work? Is it even worth the investment?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So one question that comes to mind, if it's okay that I ask have you watched the Blue Zones? I've heard of it, but I didn't watch the documentary.
Speaker 2:When you were talking about like we hear this and we hear that, and like migraines in the morning and this, and you know it's like a green blend and it has like 80 different things and apparently it's the answer. But oh no, it's not that kind of thing. It's crazy. If you get a chance to watch watch the one in Italy and just look at how much peace and calm and regulation they carry Like as people like you can like feel it through the screen, like they're so calm and they're just like having their pasta and then they get their protein, and then they have this and that and they're eating as a family and in my mind I'm thinking well, the tomatoes have antioxidants and if they're eating, you know, like barley and rye and all of this that has fiber and fiber is great for lowering cholesterol. Most people die from their own heart heart attacks, so that makes a lot of sense. It's like you know the way that my mind's processing it as I watch it and they also have antioxidants and tomato. I think one I think we lack, and it's really challenging for all of us in a more westernized culture, is that we don't necessarily have like our own core culture and we don't have our go-tos like my mom or my grandma or whoever always made this, and this is just what we eat. And my grandpa is like 102 and he's been eating this like every day at lunch after you know, walking outside in the field or by the water, like I see that we're all really busy, really stressed out for the most part, and we're also constantly marketed to and this is a great place to be. If you want to have a company, if you want to help people, that's amazing. But there's also this opposite end of there's constant stimulation in terms of you're always told you need this, you need that.
Speaker 2:I think of colostrum. I was talking about this with my husband the other night. People are acting like colostrum is going to heal you from every ail. I'm going to have colostrum if I'm starting to get sick and I like colostrum for autoimmunity, but only in small amounts, because having too much can overstimulate the immune system and that's really kind of where it stops for me. I'm not about to say that it helps with hair growth. Maybe it could inadvertently, but that's a huge stretch and this is not going to make you have like a flat tummy. And when it comes to greens, I think it's great to have them, but you also have to be careful with, like not having greens that are not organic and they're heavily sprayed with glyphosate not organic and they're heavily sprayed with glyphosate Glyphosate's linked to I mean. I don't know if I can say this, but everyone can look at the lawsuits and the recent findings.
Speaker 1:It's funny that you say this, courtney, because it blew my mind how simple this is, but I've never thought about it this way. I was listening to a podcast and they were saying we all go out to eat and we order salads and we go okay, this is the right choice, the salad If it's not organic, it's actually probably one of the worst things you could order if it is sprayed with all these pesticides, because that's what you're eating. I've never thought about that before. I just always thought greens, raw greens, were always the way to go. And now it's like. Now I'm even more like God. What am I going to order? Just give me bread and water, because it's frustrating, but wait the supplements Do you take?
Speaker 2:supplements daily? Yeah, I do, but I also use brands that aren't like heavily tested. They're very reliable and I use them for specific things that I'm trying to adjust in the body, and so I always look at my lab testing before I take something.
Speaker 1:So you don't always recommend that everybody take this multivitamin.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, I would say. Like, if you're wanting to conceive or you're pregnant, like a multivitamin makes sense and maybe if you're older. But also like you run into issues with like your specific needs, like, especially with women. There's a tricky thing with calcium, like if you have calcification, like on the bones, on the joints, you don't necessarily wanna be taking like inorganic calcium which would be through like a supplement. So my philosophy on supplements I love that they are an option and I recommend using them under a very skilled eye. And the majority of clients we have who come to Kel Diagnostics, they've been given a list of 25 different things to take.
Speaker 2:This is kind of like modern or like more so, like integrative allopathy. Like allopathy is like Western medicine. It's like oh, high cholesterol, here's the statin, you have cramps, here's the birth control pill, migraine, like imitrex, you know. So that is not actually going to get to the root, and so a lot of people are using these things to treat issues that need to be investigated and I I fear a lot of people are going to overlook chronic health issues that need major examination because they think that a pill that promises to help you not be bloated is going to be the answer. But what if they have precancerous growths?
Speaker 1:I'm not trying to bring those items down, no, but you're right. You're absolutely right. I also know Ozempic. I mean everyone's talking about Ozzempic and now there's new doctors, naturopathic doctors, that are saying microdosing of no ozempic is yeah, a good thing for women. So it's like, how does that play in our gut health?
Speaker 2:yeah, so ozempic is going to cause the like empty of emptying of the stomach to be delayed, meaning that you won't be as hungry. The main, the main like thing that's happening with people when they lose weight is that they're just not eating as much. So there's like a lot of jokes, a lot of memes, like I ate my one peanut a day on Ozempic, you know, and the issue is that like that's so like that the whole purpose of food is to receive these compounds that our body needs. Like we're literally made of the materials of the earth, so, like we are made, we are comprised of, like we have like calcium, and like lithium and magnesium and all these things. Look at your hands, look at your body. You are literally made of earth. You need to be receiving these compounds that help restore what you lose through your sweat, through urine, through, just like aging and pro-oxidation, which is basically like when free radicals are actually harming the cells. Antioxidants are like a huge reason that we have to eat food. Like our bodies are incredible and we have this intelligence within us that has requirements in order to like fulfill specific purposes, and so I would never, I would never advise that anyone lose weight through tricking their bodies into not being hungry.
Speaker 2:A way better option, in my opinion. If you have to go Western which there is a time and a place for medication Like I 100 percent you just want to be careful and safe and know what the risks are. Like. It's all about informed awareness of, like what you're using and what it can do, and if you want to make that choice, like I'm, I'm literally right there with you and I fully support you in general. A way better option, I think, than Ozempic can actually be metformin, which is a classic medication. It's very low risk. It can cause issues with the stomach in higher amounts, but that is a way better option that actually is proven to reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer's and even specific types of cancer.
Speaker 1:I was actually put on metformin a few years ago because in one of the tests that I took they found that I had basically Alzheimer's both genes, which is really rare. But I took the muscle. This is why it's so frustrating. I also took a muscle test with the metformin and it tested that it wasn't good for my body. Okay so muscle test, do you believe?
Speaker 2:in that, oh my gosh, muscle testing. No, you don't believe it. No, muscle testing.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:You don't believe it. No, I believe that our bodies are made up of like molecules of energy and we can have a draw and we can be repelled by something like. I am the last person to ever question anything metaphysical, spiritual that is, and I think it's more real than this reality that we like live our everyday life within. But muscle testing is not what I would choose or recommend. So, for those who are listening, I went to an allergist who did it.
Speaker 1:Muscle testing is basically where you put something on near your heart, your chest and you the practitioner. You could do it to yourself to test how your strength goes up and down. It sounds crazy, but what I did see is a difference. Whenever I was holding, I did see a difference in my strength.
Speaker 1:So some allergists believe that if your strength, your arm strength, goes down, that it's not a good thing for your body. So this is why, if I feel like I'm going crazy I can imagine my listeners are then I stopped taking metformin and I never took it again. So I'm just like I feel like taking metformin, yeah, and I never took it again. So I'm just like I feel like again, we're just getting different answers from different people and it could be really frustrating because I think we all just want to be healthy.
Speaker 1:But let me just go back to green. So you're saying because I've heard you sometimes saying that greens can cause havoc in the gut system, and if that's true, yeah um, are there some greens that cause more problems than others? Do you recommend zero greens?
Speaker 2:obviously not like it's okay to have organic. Yeah, totally right, totally, totally. So it's really more about how they're cooked. The raw grains can be really aggressive and really fibrous and typical and like especially not typically especially the women who have ibs or ibt that can just push them over the edge and they might not even notice the correlation. They know that if they have ice cream, like, they're not going to feel great, but they might not realize that, like if they grab a salad, that also can contribute to the cramping or the bloating. It's really helpful to like know the science behind it.
Speaker 2:So FODMAP, f-o-d-m-a-p-s. I could like explain what they all are, but I will give you an example of one O in FODMAP is ogliosaccharides, and so ogliosaccharides are a prebiotic fiber that are found in various foods, so like it's kind of it's kind of the naked eye. When you look through what FODMAPs are, you're like wait, mangoes and raspberries, and that's weird, I didn't expect that. But then there's not a lot in strawberries, for example, so they can only be found in carbohydrates. This is why a lot of people who are not as nutrition-informed Wait, are FODMAPs good or?
Speaker 1:not you have to talk to me like I'm a five-year-old. That nutrition Wait. Are FODMAPs good?
Speaker 2:or not. You have to talk to me like I'm a five-year-old. That's a good no, that's a good question. Thank you. Fodmaps are not good or bad. They can be triggering if you have overgrowth because they feed bacteria, Got it. But they're great if you have a healthy and balanced gut. So we have clients who, like have overgrowth. They come to us. They're like I'm eating healthy and I'm having issues, what's going on? And usually they've been put on like a godforsaken candida cleanse from a naturopath.
Speaker 1:Literally like I just got a cleanse in the mail and I still haven't taken it. Because now I hear that people, it's like you shouldn't take it anymore. Oh my gosh. Yes, because now, like, apparently everyone's walking around with candida. Is a candida cleanse a good thing or no?
Speaker 2:you should look at your individual soul profile and see what your gut is experiencing. You should see what overgrowth you have, where you're missing good bacteria and just start there. It's kind of like okay, like this is how crazy it is. To me it's like if you were told oh gosh, I mean this might come across as really extreme, it will. This might come across as really extreme it will. It will come across as really extreme, but I think it's actually accurate, like knowing the inner workings of the gut this is. It's like if you were told by like a random infomercial everyone's in $20,000 of credit card debt, so you got to start paying the collectors now, and you're like wait what I am.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Okay, like no one told you that except an infomercial right. So now you're like freaking out. Yes, I didn't even know. Like was a card open in my name as in? Like what was I exposed to? Like how did island obtain this candida in my body? Now you're just like, oh, like, I need to buy this program. That's three hundred dollars and I need to fix this issue. And it's like, maybe we should identify, like maybe you should pull up, like Equifax, and maybe you should actually check your credit cards. Maybe you're fine, you're right, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1:I am the worst because I do fall for the. Just buy this cleanse and you'll be fine here's the worst part. Then I'll go buy this stupid candida cleanse and then I'll take it and I, I'm like what am I doing?
Speaker 2:I feel like the intuition at times can be like wait, like I thought I was going to do this, but I just have this resistance and I think resistance at times can be our body's way of kind of like wanting to protect us and maybe like use that logical part of our minds that we have to like really understand, like, what exact action step we need. I would say like everyone have candida, but they have a small amount. Everyone has a small amount of like strep and staph and H pylori and we have a little bit of everything in our bodies, for the most part, even parasites. We have parasites in our body that actually serve a purpose and they keep the balance. I know it's like scary to think about until you reach a place of acceptance.
Speaker 2:I was like very paranoid for a long time. I started my health journey when I was 18 and I'm 28 now, so it's been 10 years. I've had a long time to get used to this stuff and so also at the time I was listening to these podcasts that were like you have to do a candida cleanse. What did I do? I did a candida cleanse.
Speaker 1:You know I did it all and a parasite cleanse.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, I literally did it all. I read this crazy book that was like you can't stay in hotels because you have to rinse out your water cups and if you breathe in with the air ducts you will breathe in parasite eggs. Like a hypochondriac by nature, but like yeah and yeah, but like it's like it's not, it's not intelligent and I feel like live like that.
Speaker 1:Even you're saying about the blue zones in italy. Yeah, like that sounds fantastic, but I don't live in italy. Okay, I live in los angeles, which is like the most frustrating, I think, place almost in the country, because it's wellness, but like it's kind of vain and so, yeah, it sounds great that I could eat pasta with my family at five and yeah, but it's like that's not my life, yeah like I can't live in Italy here right now especially so yes, it's about finding balance.
Speaker 1:I think it's about finding balance in the way that we live right now, and we're all doing our best, but I guess at the end of the day it's getting tested is probably what everyone needs to do. But also frustrating because a lot of our health care we don't cover it and, like these, out-of-pocket expenses are through the roof and most people can't manage that.
Speaker 2:You know I totally agree. That is one thing. So I was connected to a few of the higher-ups in the health insurance industry. These guys have been like on Wall Street. They've had huge groups with like Nike is one of them, you know with like all the employees work with, like Blue Cross, blue Shield, aetna, and they are so incredibly outspoken about how, like the health insurance industry is rigged their words not mine. They say like it's literally a highway robbery, like what is happening in insurance and in the medical system. Everyone's lying. This is horrible and I am so worried about the future. Like they have kids, they have grandkids and they're literally like they're like older men and they are putting all their efforts towards like exposing the corruption and it's just frustrating, it's scary.
Speaker 1:It's crazy. I do see a rise in all of these at-home testings for women with hormones and what you do and yours is virtual too, so I know that there's probably different tiers and different lab tests, but for the most part, if you do if my listeners want to look into cali-diagnostics what is the cost for a basic testing that you do?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So what we do is offer yearly packages and you're able to pay on installments. Hsaa we are, I would say, like compared to what we give and what we provide and what we help you with, long term it's one of the most affordable options you could ever find in the functional medicine space and that has been a goal for a long time and because we've helped a ton of people, we're now able to do that, which is a huge, honestly a huge gift to be able to give people. So it's very affordable In terms of the yearly, like what you're looking at over the course of a year, like the average person with a package they choose. It's going to be about like 200, maybe 300 a month if you want more support, closer to that 400 range.
Speaker 2:So a lot, a lot less than health insurance. A lot more helpful in a lot of ways, especially if you're wanting to be more about prevention. But in terms of what you get, you are meeting with a doctor, so a naturopathic physician, a licensed naturopathic physician, registered dietitian, functional nutritionist, and we're viewing your labs from a perspective of your biology, your extensive health intake form, family health history. We have found precancerous growths with clients. We've helped clients who have been, you know, like right on the verge of using IVF because they haven't been able to ovulate on their own. And boom, we're able to help them. You know, of course modern medicine interventions are needed at times, but we're able to reduce that and that can save people thousands and thousands and thousands, and also, like pain and suffering, I would say, say too, it can just help overall with your quality of life I have a friend of mine, um, whose mom would always tell him when he would spend money on gym memberships and whatever and sometimes it was expensive he would stress out about.
Speaker 1:His mom would say that's an investment in your future, that is an investment in your health is the best investment you could make. So I know it sounds like a lot to people, but are you able to also help with if somebody needs it hormone replacement therapy, peptides, things like that Do you also offer that service?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're able to do that. That's not our first line of approach, especially like I mentioned earlier I think I mentioned this like with the Dutch test if we see that your estrogen is only slacking a little bit, we're actually going to try to raise that on its own. First, this example applies to those who are like premenopausal and maybe they're like noticing some spotting, or they're like kind of getting closer and closer and they're like having only like a few cycles a year. Okay, well, we want to actually help bring your cycle back, because the longer that your body can actually be producing its own hormones, the better you're going to feel I would say like the better you're going to look if you're coming from like an aesthetic perspective too and the less risk you have from the like bioidentical hormone replacements. There's a fine line.
Speaker 2:I think there's a time and a place for hormone replacement. Absolutely like. Yes, even in pregnancy, if you have low levels of progesterone. Like that's a time and a place for hormone replacement. Absolutely Like yes, even in pregnancy, if you have low levels of progesterone. Like that's a huge, that's incredible. It can, literally it can save a pregnancy and with women who are, you know, in that place, their estrogen now being lower because the ovaries create estrogen and they won't forever. I think it's great to use that, but only use it when you have to, because the later you start, the less risk you have and the better you can feel.
Speaker 1:And there are so many, you have like a thumbs up coming on your screen. I don't know if you see it.
Speaker 2:I have no clue why. I think it's your thumb. I don't know, but I'm here for it.
Speaker 1:I'm here for it. I thought that was you and I was like, okay, encouraged, okay. Oh god, people watch this on YouTube, you'll know what we're talking about. But I, yeah, and I think there's a lot of people that are just throwing ozempic and these GLPs and hormone replacement without doing the testing, and I think, because we're so desperate to have an answer, a lot of my friends are just taking it without the blood test and I think there's such danger in that because you just never know how it's going to affect you.
Speaker 1:But, courtney, I could talk to you for another hour. Usually my podcasts don't go this long. I appreciate it and I also am going to put for anybody listening if you're driving in the show notes. Courtney Instagram I'm following her already on my account so you can see her Kill Diagnostics. I'll put even all the information to get in touch with her. Thank you so much for trying to bring light into such a complicated topic and I know there's not a one size fits all and I understand that, but I feel like we're all just trying to find answers and so any information is always beneficial. Thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you for having me on. It was so great to chat and thank you for all that you're doing to help people.
Speaker 1:Thank you, don't hang up yet, okay.