Real Integrative Medicine with Dr. Jordan Robertson ND

Welcome Back! After a very very long season 1 (that went on for 2 years and over 150 episodes) we decided to take a break over the summer before returning to recording.  This welcome-back episode focuses on the feelings of “new years” we often feel in the fall and how to start to think about your goals, your purpose, and your outcomes.  If you’ve ever felt disappointed by your outcome even though you tried really hard - this episode is for you.  If you’ve ever given up on a goal because you didn’t get the outcome you expected by a particular date - this episode is for you.  If you’ve ever even considered changing things about yourself - this episode is for you.  I also share my journey from a spiteful-counterculture naturopathic doctor (which is terrible to say that the counterculture in my profession was by being evidence-based at that time) towards a more compassionate and softer approach to sharing information with all of you to help you better understand your body and your health choices. I share my initial discomfort with what we all needed out of this podcast and how humanizing our health experience and behaviour change is really what we all need.  This episode gives us an amazing springboard to start our big conversations this season and I can’t wait to share them all with you.  If you’re a practitioner who supports people in menopause, you can now access the early bird pricing for my next course through The Confident Clinician happening Saturday, October 01 - Sunday, October 02, 2022. You can access the early bird pricing here. We will be covering bone health, cognitive health, mental health, and cardiovascular disease. We’ve limited the seats to 40 non-members.

Bloating is an annoying symptom that prevents many people from eating the foods they love, wearing the pants they love, and living abdominal-pain free.  In today’s episode, I’m joined by my college Dr. Dominque Vanier, a Naturopathic Doctor and Gut-Focused practitioner who is the perfect guide to your bloat-recovery journey.  In this episode, I ask Dominique questions like:  When is bloating something more serious? Why do hormones cause bloating and when should women have this looked into? Why does bloating happen randomly?  What are the first steps to understanding digestive health and bloating? If you’ve ever changed your pants part way through the day, felt like you had to limit yourself because of your digestive pain or wondered what on earth was happening inside your gut (since it feels like a total disaster in there), this episode is for you.  Dr. Vanier accepts patients in person and virtually in Ontario at Clarity Health and focuses on supporting people with digestive concerns and hormonal health (and both mixed together!). Dr. Vanier is hosting a FREE webinar for our community about the simple tips you can use to solve your bloating. Register here for the live event (or to grab the recording). 

I don’t hate the word should. I think we can use this word with the right intention to help us more towards our goals rather than always feeling that we are lacking something.  In this episode, I share the “summer shoulds” based on what I notice when working with patients through the summer months. The summer can be a wonderful time for celebration, but also is an opportunity to make things happen for our health.  Can we do both? This episode shares my summer goal setting and the three areas that I notice that things go sideways through the summer months. The summer is long (and short all at the same time) and as a result your health habits matter. We’ll cover how to stay on track and set reasonable goals for yourself over the next few months.  If you’re noticing that your summer needs more support, my colleagues at Clarity Health are here to guide you towards a better understanding of your health and to develop a plan for your summer so you can make the most of it.  You can book a discovery call here www.clarityhealthburlington.ca (Ontario Residents Only). 

Are you okay with an expiry date on your ability to be active and vibrant?  Nope. Me neither.  Our conversations about menopause and midlife on the podcast circle around similar themes. You can be strong(er) in menopause. You can be (more) confident in menopause. You can be better than you are today in menopause.  Today’s guest is Selene Yeager. A women’s health and fitness author, insane athlete and advocate for women achieving their health goals in midlife.  What does the outright winner of the race across America think about slowing down in menopause? (She beat the men too fyi). You’ll want to listen to her message, and it’s for all of us, whether you identify as an athlete or not.  Selene hosts a podcast Hit Play Not Pause, and her latest book with Dr. Stacy Sims is available now called Next Level: Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals Through Menopause and Beyond.  You can get a copy of the book here.: https://www.amazon.ca/Next-Level-Kicking-Crushing-Menopause/dp/0593233158

Stories are meant to be shared. Especially if they help others see themselves in your mess and springboard themselves forward by learning from others experiences.  In today’s episode I share 3 stories I’ve never shared. Together, they make up the 3 worst pieces of business advice I’ve ever received. Some of the advice came from the bank. Some came from financial professionals. Some come from people close to me. They are stories that remind us that not advice is for us, that other people’s fears will come through in their opinions about us, and how we need to hold our values up high as we invest in ourselves and our future (financially and otherwise).  If you’ve ever been told your idea sucked, that you should stay home as to not be a tax burden on your partner (yes, this is one of the stories) or that your quality of life should come last - this episode is for you.  It’s a raw 1:1 with me to give you the courage to stand up for yourself and make choices that align with your life, not the life of others.

We often think about libido as a hormonal chemical spark that bursts in our brains and makes us hungry for passion.  Except you just rolled your eyes and racked your brain for the last time that things felt that way.  Today’s podcast is with my friend and colleague Dr. Jordin Wiggins, a Naturopathic Doctor and sexual health educator who is taking the world of pleasure and sex by storm. And quite frankly, offering sex re-education to a generation of women starved for pleasure.  We cover a lot of ground in this episode but focus on how your sex life IS your life. Meaning if you’re not having pleasure in the bedroom, you’re likely also struggling in the boardroom.  Pleasure is a different part of our brain than the ‘fireworks’ we see in the movies. Even if you aren’t in a partnership, or are just learning how to explore the pleasure side of your health, this episode will give you a framework for how to think about sexual health and steps to take to get on the path towards pleasure.  Jordin Wiggins has her very own podcast called The Pleasure Principles and offers support for women looking for a pleasure-filled life. You can follow Jordin on Instagram  @drjordinwiggins

I spent the last few months doing a deep dive on iron. It compelled me enough to sit down and record a full podcast on why this nutrient needs to matter to you, why the reference range isn’t good enough, and why we’ve got things so wrong about iron.  Iron deficiency is the most common deficiency around the globe. And when we have a stat like that, we often imagine women in low-resource countries. But it’s not just women living in developing countries that are struggling. You’re struggling too.  Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in ALL women. No matter where you live or how much meat you do or don’t eat.  This episode is for you if you have ever Been told you have iron deficiency. Even if you think it’s fixed.  Have fatigue but have been told your iron is “fine”.  Have a diet that is low in iron (vegetarian, plant-based, etc.) Have a menstrual cycle.  I talk through what iron deficiency looks like in your lab work (again, even if you’ve been told it’s fine), and how to go about starting to fix things.  If you’re struggling with how to get iron into your life or have a chronic iron deficiency that needs support, our team at Clarity Health is ready to support you. Book a free 15-minute consultation (Ontario only) with the practitioner who resonates, or call the office to learn who you would be the best fit. 

In today’s podcast, I’m joined by my colleague Dr. Fiona McCulloch ND and author of 8 Steps To Reverse Your PCOS. Fiona is a passionate advocate for better research and treatment of women and people with PCOS and in today’s episode, we break down the impact of epigenetics, the different types of PCOS, and the future directions that we both hope to see this endocrine condition go in.  PCOS is the most commonly diagnosed hormone condition in women and presents with acne, hair loss, unwanted hair growth, and irregular menstrual cycles. Where does this condition come from? Fiona and I discuss the genetic basis of PCOS, and how the development of PCOS likely starts in the womb.  We also share the challenges in the research with subclassifications of PCOS and the challenges of treating both lean and classical PCOS. We share how to decide if the research applies to your “type” and why an individualized approach to PCOS is the way of the future.  If you’ve wondered about a PCOS diagnosis, or have a formal diagnosis from your practitioner, this episode will give you direction and hope that you can make a difference in your hormonal future.  Dr. Finoa McCulloch owns an integrative medical clinic in Toronto Ontario called White Lotus ( Whitelotusclinic.ca). You can find her and the links to buy her book on Instagram

In this episode, I’m joined by my close friend, Dr. Kim Bretz ND for an honest conversation about where we go wrong in making recommendations for patients with gut symptoms, how hardly any people have SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth), and why we need a new solution for patients with chronic constipation other than magnesium.  Kim gives us a lot to think about as both patients and practitioners and highlights what the unintended consequences are when we label patients with gut “issues” that they don’t actually have.  This episode will help you understand what to look for in a practitioner for your gut symptoms and might teach practitioners a thing or two about the evidence for testing bacterial overgrowth.  If you’re a Naturopathic Doctor, Medical Doctor, or other practitioner that works with patients with constipation, we’d love to invite you to join Dr. Kim’s course being put on by the Confident Clinician LIVE (virtually) on May 27, 2022. We are on a mission to deliver evidence-based education for integrative practitioners. This 6 hour course will feel like you’re being handed the solutions for your constipation patients on a silver platter. Register before May 15 to save $50.00 on the course with our early bird pricing. Participants will get access to downloads, handouts, and lifetime access to the videos so even if you can’t make it live for the day, grab your seat here https://discover.theconfidentclinicianclub.com/constipation-intensive

Last weekend I participated in a masters age Olympic weightlifting competition and needed to lose some weight to make weight. I gained weight through covid and hadn’t tried to reduce my weight intentionally since my last powerlifting competition in 2019. The competition cutoff was a little below my natural body weight, and so I had to try pretty hard to change my body weight.  The last time I lost weight I posted that it took me 100 days to lose 10 lbs and a bunch of ‘gurus’ online told me that I had done it wrong. And if I had worked with them I could have lost the weight faster (insert eye roll).  This episode takes a very pragmatic approach to talking about weight management - which I can do. Certainly if you are struggling with your relationship with food, or have been diagnosed with disordered eating, I’d love for you to skip this episode or come back to it at a time when you feel confident you can listen without being triggered.  In this episode I cover What adjustments I made in my diet in order to move towards my goals.  Where I created flexibility in my nutrition to allow me to enjoy life right up until the week before the competition.  The impact of water weight, and why I want women to deeply understand this.  If this episode speaks to you, reach out. Each of the clinicians at Clarity Health have expertise in supporting weight management in people of all ages and stages. Connect with us at www.clarityhealthburlington.ca (Ontario residents only).