Become a CEO of Your Own Health

Speaker 0 00:00:00 Our next guest, Dr. Sandy, has been such a gem to listen to. She gives us a roadmap for entrepreneurs to hear kind of what their daily must do health habits should be, along with supplementation. She's got a global presence talking about her passion, health and wellness and aging. And to think that she started her company in her seventh decade and is absolutely blasting this thing out, you're gonna have to listen to Dr. Sandy and hear what she has to say. Sandy, when I think about business success, I often think about, um, timing and headwinds versus tailwinds. And you have created this eight year business, global business that's really got so much tailwinds around in America. I mean, the business of health is big business. Can you just tell us, you know, when you decided to do this after your long career in psychology, what was the real tipping point and why you decided you had to start this next company? Speaker 2 00:01:03 Sure. Well, I always liked to dream big and when I was working as a psychologist, I was thinking how could I have a bigger presence? And so for a while it was local. I had a local TV show actually, uh, that was called Feed Your Mind Wellness with Dr. Sandy And I would interview people and had a lot of big ideas, but it was like the local public access show and there were a lot of restrictions and how far we can go. And around the same time, I had a lot of people who were trained as health coaches, but they weren't trained in a functional medicine approach. And they were saying, you know, I really wanna go further. I'm really lost. Could you like train us? Can you help to provide some instruction in how to go further as a health coach? So what I decided was to just take a chance and do it. Speaker 2 00:01:57 But what was really helpful is at the time I had, uh, someone who was working with me, her name was Elise Wagner, and she's ended up being our co co-founder. She was working with me and we love to brainstorm. And so we just were sitting around one day with a big whiteboard and said, well, what if we really started a school? And at first we thought, we'll just train a few people locally. And then I had just graduated from the Institute for Functional Medicine. I was actually the only psychologist who would, is in that graduating class, that first graduating class when they were, uh, giving board certifications in functional medicine. And as a psychologist, my license wouldn't allow me to do what the doctors who were trained in functional medicine do. So I thought, well, what can I do? Well, I can teach. And I, before I was a psychologist, I had been a teacher for many years. So, and at the time I was still teaching university courses and things like Psychology of Wellbeing. So decided that we would approach the Institute for Functional Medicine to see if they would collaborate. And that was one of the key. So rather than doing it all, the power of having a partner to brainstorm, she had strengths that I didn't have and vice versa. And then partnering with the Institute for Functional Medicine, because they were very well established training doctors. Lo and behold the pandemic came, uh, and a few years after we Speaker 0 00:03:27 Started. Let's just pause there for a second, cuz you just mentioned a couple things I wanna make sure people heard. Uh, cuz we've talked a lot about partnerships and having, um, the right partner and businesses are tricky to begin with, and sometimes the right partner can provide a lot of momentum and the wrong partner the opposite. So I think that was, um, something, a strong play that you made once you, you know, you went from psychology to business, which while it is a business, they're also very different. Um, the second thing you mentioned, which I think none of us think about enough, our collaborations and, um, almost if you, you know, riding on the coattails of, so to speak, um, how do we use our expertise and our companies to align with other companies to make us go faster? You know, that idea that one plus one equals three is so strong. So kudos to you for knowing both of those two things. Um, you know, both having more skill sets at the table because your partner had more skill sets, knowing that if you had, uh, validation and recognition from, uh, that institute, that would take your company further faster. So, uh, really good stuff. Sorry to interrupt. Go ahead. Speaker 2 00:04:35 That was so important and I always believe in the mantra that was actually coined by Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach who not how. And so I rather than I could not learn business and marketing, uh, and I also was not as, um, savvy in, uh, certain things that my partner Elise was. But I was able to build the curriculum. So I was more of the academic, put the faculty together. And where she was really great at sales, she could have a conversation with somebody. And after that conversation, yes, sign me up, I'm enrolled. And she always was able to have that gift. And the ability to use the prestige of the Institute for Functional Medicine was huge. We were, nobodies starting a school, uh, was very, very daunting. Uh, we actually entered the agreement with I fm then we had to build it, then we had to get students, we had to build a curriculum. But they were great in supplying the faculty. And our agreement is that they, we used the same training materials that they did the same faculty and people like Mark Hyman. That was huge. So Mark at the time was chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine. Uh, and I remember going up to him at an event and telling what we were doing. He said, oh my god, Sandy, I love it. I'm in. And so having people, Speaker 0 00:05:58 Okay, wait, another pause. When you look in health on the internet, um, Dr. Mark Hyman comes up as, you know, the number one person, kind of absolute guru on health. So now you've gone from, I mean you next leveled again, your play field. You, you didn't, you weren't playing with, you know, as a startup company, you were playing as a known entity with advisors and peers that are absolute next level in your field. And was he somebody that you could mention in your, in your marketing? Oh my goodness, Speaker 2 00:06:32 Absolutely Speaker 0 00:06:33 Epic. Speaker 2 00:06:34 He realized the need for health coaches. He was so aware that because he had just his concept of the community is the medicine and peer to peer coaching helping people. He had just, um, completed the Daniel Plan, which is Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, and Daniel a Amen, uh, was involved with that and Dr. Oz as well. And they, people were getting healthier needing once a week in the church basement. They were just gathering together. And he was big part of that initiative. And so he was such a big believer of getting, you don't need a medical doctor. In fact, the expert is often the one that, you know, you, you go to all these experts and you don't get any better. People know it's not a not being, having the right content, you know what to do, you know how to lose weight, but how do you get inspired? Speaker 2 00:07:31 And that is working with somebody, meeting with other people, and you gather as a community that works. So he was behind that. He had already, he knew how successful that was. So when we started Functional Medicine Coaching Academy, he was really excited. In fact, he was, was, um, the founder of the Ultra Wellness Center and Massachusetts and he was sending his nurses to be trained. And he was also had just been involved with the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. And they sent people to, to be trained as coaches. So they were buying into the idea that doctors can't do it alone. You need a health coach. And so, uh, that was really Speaker 0 00:08:12 Instrumental. Well let instrumental, lemme also say, Sandy, that, um, for not being a salesperson, um, you, you made that most important contact. And I think, um, I like to think about, you know, going for a lot of my very inspiring customers have stories similar where they walk up to that person like you did with Dr. Mark Hyman. You walk up to them and tell him your story and you inspire him to get behind your company. And oftentimes that's about how easy it is for us to ask for help for our business. If we can think of who would be the influencer, who would be the help, who has more experience than we do and who can help us get what we need. But whether we don't know who that person is or don't, you know, push ourselves to be outgoing enough, um, it's really about that easy. So congrats on that. I mean, I, I'm, I'm like one degree away from Dr. Mark Hyman now, so I'm pretty impressed by that. Um, how did the, the academy get so global so fast? Speaker 2 00:09:11 Sure. So when we were designing it, we had an advisory board. We spent about a year designing the program. I knew that I wanted it to be virtual. And we had some people who said, you know what, you really need that interactive experience meeting in person, so why don't you have it? Some of it like webinars being recorded, they can watch those. But then the real live training make it live where they have to fly in to a destination. And I said, this was 20, literally early 2015. I said, no, there's this new thing. I'm vetting it, it's called Zoom. And nobody had ever heard of it, you know, at the time. But I said, I think this could work. I think because what I wanted to do is have a blend of webinars, content that was asynchronous, which synchronous live training that was key. Speaker 2 00:10:07 So using Zoom allowed us to be anywhere. And we knew that there were many people who were in different countries who would be very interested in this. So right off the bat, our first, we called it our beta class had three people from the uk. We had somebody from Hong Kong, we had, and now we're in 60 countries actually growing. And what I love is the people who are the trailblazers. The, I'm the only functional medicine coach in India. There's this woman in Dubai who was in our first class and somebody who was in Mumbai only, nobody had heard of functional medicine. She found us through Mark Hyman. And now she's founded her own clinic with a doctor who trained in functional medicine. So I just, I wake up every day just chills thinking of all these people around the world who came to us and now they are doing these incredible things, helping people get healthier. Well, Speaker 0 00:11:01 An impact. So why do you think that? Um, I mean it's just a small side step, but I need to know, like with all of this kind of data that we have, we have the internet, we have these schools, we have more and more people interested in this kind of being healthy. Yet you, your opportunity will never die because we are the most unhealthy that we've been in the history of our country. You know, if you boiled it down to three things, what with all your learning would you say are three things? People just don't focus on enough that got it, kind of got us in this position. Yeah, Speaker 2 00:11:33 So they often don't focus on the toxic load that we're exposed to. Um, so they're not aware that there are things we take in every day. Endocrine disruptors for example. Uh, not aware of, you know, for example, I asked for water, you know, before we started you gave it to me in a glass, an actual glass. Whereas nine times outta 10 it would be in a plastic bottle. Those are things that disrupt your hormones. And you are then in a situation where your body is just literally out of whack. And so the average woman before she leaves the house has put on like over 200 chemicals on her face and hair and skin. We're just not aware of the toxic burden that we are taking. And so that's number one. Uh, number two is we are not aware of the sugar impact and how many things. So we think, okay, well I'm not gonna eat dessert. Well what about ketchup and sauces and all of the other things and bread that turns to sugar. So we're not aware of that. We're not aware of, um, processed seed oil. So it's the quality of our food. And then we're not moving, we're sitting all day. We're not in, uh, really moving very much. Um, and so those are, those are three, not to mention stress. And um, Speaker 0 00:12:53 We'll, we'll dump that under toxic burden. Yes, exactly. Um, which is just interesting and fascinating that that's number one. Um, because I probably don't think about that enough and, and two and three seem so obvious. So, um, that's, that's helpful. So here you are, eight years in. Um, what are some of the biggest challenges that you, you face as a CEO of your company? Speaker 2 00:13:15 Sometimes, uh, because I'm a visionary and to visionary to start F M C A. And so sometimes I will have ideas and I get really, really excited, but the devil's in the details, right? And so sometimes having, it's challenging that I will get excited about something and then not taking into account what it takes to actually implement it. Or maybe we already have a project. So that has been a challenge. Thankfully our coo, because she's my daughter <laugh>, she is not afraid to say, you know, if we do okay, we can do that, but what projects do you wanna drop so that we can do this? Uh, and so that is something I am learning, uh, to focus on one thing, what is the most important thing. And so that I find challenging. Yeah. And, and getting lost in the weeds. Uh, there's a new books 10 book 10 X is easier than two X by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy. And most of us just are in that. We may have big goals, but we're not, we're spending the time on the minutiae and not doing what it takes to, to get there. And so that is something I'm also learning as well to delegate. Speaker 0 00:14:32 Isn't that funny? Those are two very countercyclical topics. One is, you know, starting a whole bunch of things, which I totally understand and I'm very guilty of as well. Um, but the second is, you know, with the devils and the details and execution is really what gets our companies moving forward. It's, it's executing the right stuff at the right level. And, and that's a real struggle because certainly we could do better than a lot of people the tasks that are on our desk. That doesn't mean that they need to be done by us. Is that a belief that, you know, you don't wanna add to the bench strength or just something, you know, and so you purposely hold onto things or more so that you just say, no, I enjoy this work and I reluctantly give it up. Speaker 2 00:15:17 Yeah, so I think where I, uh, struggle is those things that it's gonna take me a long time to figure out how to do it, but I don't wanna burden the team with it. So, as an example, uh, I had somebody who's a, a graduate and he's amazing, who's, um, in the military and is starting this great program and he needed a letter from me. And so, uh, so it was great that I had the template. So I got it done. I was in an airport and, you know, getting it done on my phone, and then he comes back and says, oh, um, the top brass that it has to be, uh, an actual signature on it. Cuz I just did a virtual version of it. I said, oh no, like how am I gonna do this? How am I gonna take this? And so then I figured it out, well, I'll turn it into a PDF and I'll do a markup and, and hand do my signature on my phone. Speaker 2 00:16:12 But if I had just sent it to someone on the team, just get my signature on this would've taken a lot, a less time than me and I could have gone back to the important work which I'm doing, which is revising a book we did a few years ago. So I I Dr I went away from that, which was what I attended to do that morning, to make a lot of headway in that writing, distracted by that menial task, which I didn't really, I don't put a signature on, uh, on that kind of form virtually very often. Speaker 0 00:16:45 So no, I, no, I get it. I think there are things that can, you know, hijacks a big word, but do hijack your time. Yes. And, um, having both boundaries and, um, people around you to pick things up and being able to ask, those are all, um, not easy and not intuitive. You just have to get good at, you know, practicing them. Because I think the, the team knows that if you're doing the, the work that you're supposed to be doing, things get better and there's more opportunities for them. I, I mean, you know, I always look at it like, you know, I'm not asking them to do something I wouldn't do, it's just that if I do what I'm supposed to do, more opportunities are coming for them and that should be good for them. And then if they're taking those things off my plate, then um, I'll be able to stay focused on that. But it's a balancing act. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, there's, there's just no doubt. Exactly. And so what, you know, if you said, okay, we could make this, you know, three times bigger, uh, um, in five years, but we could do it even faster, what would the levers be to push so that you could get bigger faster if that's a goal goal? Sure. Speaker 2 00:17:44 Yeah. There's two things we're doing and they're related. It has to do with our career advan, our coaching advancement initiative. So we have a controlled study, randomized controlled trial. We just completed with Institute for Functional Medicine with very good results. And so that is currently submitted for publication. So we are committed to growing the profession, not just growing the school, but growing the field of health coaching. Yeah. By engaging in research. And we want to provide opportunities for our graduates and grow that way so that we will become known as you study with us, you become a health coach through us, we're gonna help you when you graduate. And so we started a workforce wellness program and did a very successful pilot for that with a company called Slalom Consulting. And so we are going further with that. So looking at, you know, companies are very concerned about the wellbeing of their employees. Sure. And so many programs have not worked. They've been one size fits all. And so we are offering health coaching, personalized health coaching. And so that's something I'm super excited about that I want to grow the company at that end where we didn't anticipate that model when we launched that we're just a training program. Um, but this is something that we're gonna be doing on a bigger scale. Speaker 0 00:19:09 And I, I was thinking about the, you know, sort of like a subscription model if you have a class, but at the point, at some point that ends because they graduate. So I like the idea that now you go back to those clients and have another offering so that your, you know, um, relationship with that person extends and which means they'll refer more people and just be part of your company. So, um, is there anything that you could create that, you know, extended was more of a subscription model, less, I don't know, some sort of information, community, social media where they could go as a resource, an ongoing practice? Speaker 2 00:19:47 Exactly. That is what we do. We have an alumni program and so those who graduate can opt in, they can pay membership to be part of the alumni program. And it offers continuing education every time we revise the content, cuz new information is coming out all the time. We have new faculty and they have access to those new recordings. We have asked the expert series where we bring in renowned experts in different areas. We, I have office hours that they, I give to our students, but as members of the alumni program, they can still do that. We have mentoring programs, workshops on building of coaching business or how to get hired with doctors. We have a job board where we're, somebody says I want a health coach in my practice. Uh, we will have them re help them craft a job description and then we will help, uh, to place them as, as a result, as their, as well. Speaker 0 00:20:41 You just have checked so many of the boxes. You have multiple revenue streams and no customer concentration and you know, you've got a coo. I mean you just have checked so many of the boxes of what good businesses look like, which I know is a lot because of your passion for what you're doing. Um, but I think it's also, you can have a passion and not have a good business. So do you attribute some of all of this sort of know how you have to the strategic coach and other learnings you've done? Yes. Or what really is your, I mean you've onboarded your business brain very, very quickly. Speaker 2 00:21:14 Yeah. One of the first things I knew I needed to do was to get support through mastermind type programs. And so I joined several, one was with JJ Virgin, it's called Mindshare Collective. I went to a big event and then decided I would stay on as part of a smaller group called a mastermind and really learned cuz they brought in experts, but more than that, relationships, relationships, relationships, building those contexts where they were then saying, oh, if I remember, um, Dr. Jill Carnahan, she's a functional medicine doctor, she said, oh, I referred my sister. And somebody else would say, uh, that they, again, if some, what do you think of health coaching programs? Oh, FM c a, they're the best. So it was that word of mouth that helped spread as well as asking me to be on their podcasts on summits that they were having. Speaker 2 00:22:06 Uh, Joe Polish's Genius Network, that was wonderful. Um, and Joe and many people in that group that I met there, we built, we decided we would build a career navigation track. So as part of our curriculum now we are helping people, things like mindset and, um, how do you build a business? Do you need an llc? All of those from the very basic questions about starting a business to more of the fear, the imposter syndrome, things people have about, um, starting a coaching business or approaching doctors for interviews or companies if they wanna do wellness programs. So, so having those relationships with all the people I've met, I was just at a consumer health summit with Michael Fishman that runs. So it being able to, uh, be, um, on a first name basis with people like Dave Asprey and Ben Greenfield, um, it's been great. So, um, Speaker 0 00:23:02 Honorable, unbelievable journey. So, so, you know, besides sort of the book and you mentioned your daughter, is is the, the goal at some point for her to take over the leadership of the company? Speaker 2 00:23:13 Yes, and uh, early on I read a book that was recommended in one of the masterminds called Rocket Fuel. And that is like, as you visionaries can go so far, but they need an integrator. They need somebody who is focused on running the operation, who is the kind of known nonsense person who can implement or integrate what we've thought of. And she's been great for that. Um, so Speaker 0 00:23:39 Yeah, we're definitely gonna put in the show notes, all these books. Um, I feel like it's super applicable. We're sitting in a library because, uh, I think we've mentioned about 400 books in this last 20 minutes. I think good students of the game are the people that go so much faster at their business and, and all the things that you're doing. You know, you could have easily put them aside, been distracted with all the things that it takes to start a business. But I I just appreciate how much learning both through seminars and networking and then reading good old fashioned reading, um, can really get you a long way. So any um, any big tailwind that you're most excited about in the business right now? No, Speaker 2 00:24:15 I think it is that people are really waking up to the importance of taking care of their health. And we learned that from the pandemic. There are also people who are finding, wanting to find meaning and purpose in their life. And so we are reaching people who want to change careers, uh, who are thinking, you know, I, I worked for a long time for, I've reached my financial goals where I wanna be in life or achieved a certain degree. Um, and now I want to give back. Now I want to do something that will fulfill my, my purpose in life. So we're finding that as well. And um, just excited about what the future holds for health coaching. Um, we are in the brink of getting insurance reimbursement, for example, so. Speaker 0 00:25:02 Oh, Speaker 2 00:25:02 Nice. Very excited about the potential for health coaching to really help people live happier, healthier lives. Speaker 0 00:25:11 Yeah. Well, um, the work you're doing is amazing. I think your timing is perfect. Um, I hope that your company spreads and spreads and spreads cuz it sure makes a difference if you feel better and you live a happier, healthier life. And I think that would solve so many of the problems that our society's having all the way down to, you know, even possibly is there an is do you attribute people's healthy body with some of the mental health issues that the the country's having is, I think they're pretty connected. It would take ab Speaker 2 00:25:43 Absolutely. Yeah. It is tied together. When you are spending a day, let's say binging on sugar and eating all this ultra processed food and you're not moving and exercising, the next day you're gonna have brain fog and it'll be like what you did hijacked your brain. And so you're gonna be irritable, you're gonna be more likely to feel depressed. And there's direct connection, for example, between our, our brain here and our guts. We have a second brain there. And so analyzing and what's going on, what many people who, that's what functional medicine is about. Not just looking at a pill for every ill, but if you're depressed, okay, not just, it's not a Prozac deficiency. Um, as Mark Hyman says, if you're depressed, why is that? And it's many, many reasons. You know, it could be your toxic load, it could be gut health, it could be mercury, it could be, uh, not enough vitamin D or, uh, so many things are going on. Um, and so that's what functional medicine looks under the hood and tries to find the root cause. Speaker 0 00:26:42 You are impressive. Thank you so much, Sandy. It's uh, absolutely great to hear more about the company and what you're doing and I think just to take away the inspiration that, um, you know, you can do something you're so passionate about that will have a great business result but also a great impact in the world. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:26:58 I always like to think, um, that you know it, my friend Dr. Joan Rosenberg says, we fail our way to success. Yep. And so to when you have those failures, what can you learn from them and how each step along the way, uh, create your creating more wisdom and perspective and ability to be a better leader? Speaker 0 00:27:20 Sandy, I think the entrepreneurs out there operate at such a high level in a fast pace and perhaps with a bigger toxic load than, than really any other profession. There's just things coming at you day and night that you have to deal with. What would be your sort of prescription joke, um, for what, um, you would recommend that really gets all of us to operate at our full peak performance? Speaker 2 00:27:44 Sure. I think that when we are, things are coming at you, when you are under a lot of stress, what's compromised, I you're food choices. We're tending to go with ultra processed foods. We tend to be snacking, uh, and not realizing what we're eating. And the other thing that's sacrificed is moving around. We tend to be sitting all day not realizing, let's say there's something that's been challenging and now you're at your computer and three hours have gone by and you haven't moved. Every time you take that step to look at what my, what's my of my food choices, how am I moving or not moving, that is going to contribute to being more productive. And so having it, there are things that I do, for example, no matter what, I will start the day with yoga. I do headstands and handstands and I just, it's a ritual I've been doing for many, many years. Speaker 2 00:28:42 If I don't do it, I feel off. Some people do meditation, they will do journaling, something that is a ritual that they know, they block out on their calendar that my day's not starting before I do that. So we are, as Joe Polish likes to say, the million dollar racehorse for our companies, often for our families, would you feed a million dollar racehorse junk food, for example? Yeah. Um, and so you take care, you, you take time away, um, have days when you are just saying this is a play day, but it's not really, it is a way to restore yourself so that you can, as a visionary, as the leader of the company, can be inspired to have new ideas to be renewed. Speaker 0 00:29:25 So important. So thinking about the CEO's role as the million dollar racehorse and really focusing on food and movement and the rituals that set us up to perform like we need to, to protect our businesses and our family. It's really not that complicated if we stay in the basic lane. I think that, uh, we all get a lot of noise and a lot of information about, you know, yes we can drill down and get better and better, but keeping it very high level, um, those are really good reminders that I think everybody could subscribe to without needing a lot of resources or extra time or anything of the, you know, there's just a lot of, um, focus on getting back to basics when you say that, which I think I always believe in my business sense there, a lot of the things that when things go right, it's because we, you know, we executed, we executed, we executed. Not sexy, but super important. Speaker 2 00:30:20 Yeah, exactly. I've gotta tell you the story. So I was um, traveling and I was on the plane and the woman next to me, she was very high power, like very, um, she, she worked the entire time and so she had a diet coke next to her and then a big piece, the meal they gave us big piece of chocolate cake, which she was eating and out of complete unawareness. Like she was doing so much work and she had her cake on the side and just eating it without even processing like, what am I doing? And I'm thinking, what's in the cake and the diet coke that's hijack your brain. Um, so you would be a much more efficient and whatever you're doing, you'd be doing a whole lot better if you didn't have those things. Speaker 0 00:31:02 And we see that every day. Yeah. You know, people walking through eating and not realizing it. So what would you recommend for makeup? Speaker 2 00:31:08 Yeah, so think about you don't wanna put anything on your face that you couldn't eat. And so that has to do with skincare as well. So there are fortunately some great makeup lines that are, because the thought is that they're inferior. They, you won't look as good if you are not using a conventional brand. But the problem is lipstick has lead in it, high amounts of lead, for example, uh, the environmental working group, EEW G is a really good source where they will rate companies for example. And it doesn't like the very expensive brands like Chanel and ifra often have very high levels as well. So that doesn't mean that it's going to be toxin free. Look, uh, Jane Dale is one that is a great brand, a hundred percent pure is one of my favorites. I love their stuff. Ilia, I L l I A is a brand as well. Um, so there are a number of companies, if you go into a store like Sephora for example, or Blue Mercury, ask what lines do they have that are organic, that are chemical free Speaker 0 00:32:17 Or organic and chemical free are the words that we wanna use. Speaker 2 00:32:19 Yeah, okay. Yeah. Mascara is often known to be very, very toxic as well. Foundation. Uh, and then, yeah, not to mention nail polish, which formaldehyde and other chemicals. There are some unfor, unfortunately good brands coming out that are chemical free as much as possible. Speaker 0 00:32:38 Wow. Thank you. I mean I think um, you know, that is the difference between that really, you know, excels us is when we look at all the, the little places that, so it, you know, we talked about food, we talked about sleep, we talked about hydration, but to really now go back and look at makeup, um, what an opportunity. Thank you for that. Instead of lightning round, we're gonna ask you about supplements because every, we get so much information on that. What would be the three top supplements for uh, entrepreneurs that you just say gotta have 'em? Speaker 2 00:33:07 Okay. Well the easiest is a good multivitamin. There are a lot of very poor ones out there. So rather than going to the discount brand, it's very important to look at the companies that are manufacturing quality. So getting a quality, they're called nutraceuticals. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and there are good multivitamins, Kriss Kresser, um, for Adapt Naturals is one that I love. Uh, that's a good multi. The second is something we tend to not think of. It's creatine, especially for women. It got a bad rap because it was associated with bodybuilders, but they were also on steroids, creatine, I've started taking that I have actually gained muscle. It is essential as we get older that we preserve muscle. Most women don't do resistance training, so taking creatine that's gonna help you. Uh, and the third is Inital. It's another one that's not well known. Um, but it will, uh, it's for cell health, for energy as well as quality sleep. And that's an area that most of us need more support with as well. Speaker 0 00:34:06 Okay. We're definitely gonna have to put these in the show notes cuz two and three are not, you know, not your basics. And I also heard recently, um, maybe we can put a link where you like to buy these, that buying things off Amazon. Um, they did some studies and showed that the label, what they said was in these vitamins was like not even 50% of what was actually in the vitamins. So buying from a good quality resource is so important, um, in a lot of these things which are not, um, regulated of any sort as I understand. Is that right? Speaker 2 00:34:37 Absolutely. Okay. And there are vitamin factories in China. Yeah. For example. Yeah. Um, so synthetics, they put fillers binders and so you wanna be very, very careful and there are nutraceutical companies that have third party testing. They test every raw ingredient that comes in for toxic load and of heavy metals for example. That's where a good doctor, a functional medicine integrative doctor can come in because they will, they will have accounts with companies where you can get that. Health coaches often they do not prescribe supplements, um, but they will often have accounts where you can use that. They will set them up for you so that you can, uh, have access to companies that are built manufacturing good quality supplements. Um, but Adapt Naturals is one that is relatively new from Chris Kresser that we like a lot, that has a lot of these. And Cynthia Thurlow is somebody who also, um, she's a friend of mine and she just started, um, with her new supplement lines of Inositol and creatine. Speaker 0 00:35:44 Okay, good, good to know. Well I've learned so much and, um, it's a subject I'm so passionate about, but you really, uh, you make it I think very, um, easy for people to find the resources and, and a lot of this is a little bit of digging still in this day. So appreciate all the insight and the books and the recommendations and uh, we'll definitely leave your information and hope that people reach out with questions. Speaker 2 00:36:07 Thank you. It's been a pleasure to talk with you.