Everyday Wellness with Cynthia Thurlow ™

Today, I am thrilled and honored to be talking to Dr. Alexandra Sowa. Dr. Sowa is a dual board-certified physician of internal medicine, specializing in metabolic health, and clinical instructor of medicine at NYU Langone. She has served as a health expert for national media outlets and print publications like SiriusXM, CBS News, NPR, the New York Times, U.S. News, World Report, and more. In addition to her private practice in NYC, she is the founder of SoWell Health, a consumer metabolic health company. Over the years, people kept complaining to Dr. Sowa about weight gain, decreased endurance, brain fog, and irregular periods, even when their doctors had told them they were healthy and their labs looked fine. When Dr. Sowa checked their labs, however, she would immediately see that they had metabolic syndrome, an underactive thyroid, a vitamin deficiency, and in 90% of the cases, insulin resistance too.During the turbulent period of the pandemic, Dr. Sowa finally had the time to sit and think about how she could help those patients. She came up with a unique solution and developed a home-testing kit to assess and address the symptoms of people’s metabolic health issues.In this episode, we discuss the scope of metabolic health in the U.S., and Dr. Sowa explains how she came up with her Weight Biology Kit. We talk about the importance of making the right nutritional choices and improving your health by making better lifestyle decisions. We dive into the role of using technology to monitor health, the influence of alcohol, and using Naltrexone to overcome alcohol cravings. We also unpack the notions of cheat days and biohacking in the wellness space.Remember to check out Dr. Sowa’s Weight Biology Kit, a point-of-care testing kit for insulin resistance. Stay tuned for more! IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: How Dr. Sowa came up with her home-testing kit to address people’s metabolic issues. Insulin is often the first biomarker to become dysregulated as people move towards insulin resistance. Dr. Sowa explains why insulin is a better predictor than blood sugar of where people are in terms of their metabolic health. Why do people with high insulin levels gain weight even if they are calorie-restricting and eating very little? How does nutrition impact metabolic health? The two most important things you can do to improve your health if you have elevated insulin, and you show signs of insulin resistance. Three lifestyle changes that, in addition to better nutrition, can be instrumental in helping improve fasting insulin and blood sugar levels. The disruptive role alcohol can play in your metabolic health. Some tips for overcoming alcohol cravings. Why is it best to avoid having cheat days? The benefits of journaling, as a motivator for changing behavior. The roles technology and biohacking can play in metabolic health. The eight areas that get tested in Dr. Sowa’s core point-of-care home testing products. Dr. Sowa explains what the HOMA-IR score is. Connect with Cynthia ThurlowFollow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedInCheck out Cynthia’s website Connect with Dr. Alexandra SowaOn her websiteOn Instagram (@getsowell)On Instagram (@alexandrasowamd)

Today, I am super excited to welcome Gin Stephens back onto the podcast for the third time! She was with me before in episodes 81 and 104, where she spoke about strategies for intermittent fasting. Gin is an intermittent fasting expert who has been living the intermittent fasting lifestyle since 2014. She’s the New York Times and the USA Today bestselling author of Fast. Feast. Repeat, and author of the Amazon number one bestseller in the weight-loss category, Delay, Don’t Deny: Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle. Gin has just written a new book, Clean(ish): Eat (Mostly) Clean, Live (Mainly) Clean, and Unlock Your Body’s Natural Ability to Self-Clean, that will be coming out in early 2022. Gin’s lifestyle shift in 2014 led her to lose more than 80 pounds, launch her intermittent fasting website, self-publish four books, and start three top-ranked podcasts. (Intermittent Fasting Stories, The Intermittent Fasting Podcast with her co-host, Melanie Avalon, and the Life Lessons podcast with her co-host, Sheri Bullock.)In this episode, we talk about Gin’s new book, Clean(ish). We discuss how to navigate the selection of cleaner personal care products, the greenwashing endeavors of the personal-care products industry, subsidies, GMOs, the lack of clarity in labeling, and the dangers of hyper-palatable processed foods. We also touch on the gut microbiome and how to improve your health by cleaning up your nutrition, the environment, and the personal-care products you use. Stay tuned for this informative and enjoyable episode!IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: What motivated Gin to write her new book, Clean(ish)? A scary statistic about the diet of the average American adult. The negative effect that ultra-processed foods have on children’s health and behavior. How many ingredients in ultra-processed foods impact the gut microbiome and the brain. How kids changed between 1990 and 2018. What Gin learned about toxic chemicals in personal care products while researching her book. The cumulative effects toxic ingredients can have on your body. Having a balanced approach to changing the self-care products you use. What is greenwashing? Finding the cleanest and safest options for cleaning products. Gin unpacks the concept of GMOs. How to view food subsidies in the right context. Why do you need to avoid seed oils? Bio:Gin Stephens is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller Fast. Feast. Repeat., published by St. Martin’s Press, and Delay, Don’t Deny: Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle, an Amazon #1 best seller in the weight loss category. Gin has a new book coming out in early 2022, and it’s available for preorder now: Clean(ish): Eat (Mostly) Clean, Live (Mainly) Clean, and Unlock Your Body’s Natural Ability to Self-Clean.  Gin has been living the intermittent fasting lifestyle since 2014. This lifestyle shift allowed her to lose over 80 pounds and launch her intermittent fasting website, Facebook support groups, four self-published books, and three top-ranked podcasts—Intermittent Fasting Stories, The Intermittent Fasting Podcast with cohost Melanie Avalon, and the Life Lessons podcast with cohost Sheri Bullock. Gin splits her time between Augusta, Georgia, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she lives with her husband and their three cats. Gin is also a mother to two adult sons (and she is thankful every day for the intermittent fasting lifestyle that makes her life easier).Connect with Cynthia ThurlowFollow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedInCheck out Cynthia’s website Connect with Gin StephensOn her websiteJoin Gin’s community On Instagram and TwitterGin’s new book, Clean(ish), will be available from Amazon and all good book stores from January the 4th, 2022. If you buy a digital copy, download all the documents from Gin’s website.Books mentioned: Brain Allergies by Dwight K. Kalita and William PhilpottThe Unhealthy Truth by Robyn O’BrienThe Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker

I am excited to have Melissa Boloña joining me today! Melissa used to be an actress and a model. She is now the founder and CEO of a Bone Broth concentrate company called Beauty & the Broth. As an actress, people were constantly judging Melissa for how she looked. She tried everything, including Botox and laser treatments, to keep looking young and beautiful on camera. When she tried bone broth for some digestive issues, she could not believe how much her looks improved! The bone broth made the lines on her skin disappear, and her hair became super thick! Bone broth has amazing properties and is very easy to incorporate into your lifestyle. It is great for improving your immune system, and it can be profoundly healing. In this episode, Melissa explains what bone broth is, and what you need to look out for when buying it as a pre-made product. She talks about how she discovered the benefits of bone broth, how her career as an actress prepared her for marketing her brand of bone broth, and the importance of gut health. She also explains how much our gut health affects our bodies and minds, and talks about some new fun products she and her team are creating, including a pea vegan bone broth option. Stay tuned for more!IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: Melissa’s acting career prepared her for creating her brand of bone broth. Melissa describes what high-quality bone broth is, what it contains, and what you need to look for in a pre-made product. Bone broths bought from supermarkets are often diluted, so you will not benefit much from them. The potency of a bone broth depends on the number of solid components it has in it. Melissa explains why the quality of her bone broth is far superior to the bone broth you would find in a store or supermarket. There are components of bone broth, other than bone, that are intrinsically beneficial to our health. Why should you only buy reputably-sourced bone broth? Why is bone broth not your average drink? Fecal implants with mice have shown us how gut health impacts personality. How bone broth supports the immune system Melissa talks about the health issues she struggled with when she was in high school. Melissa discusses her exciting new product lines. Connect with Cynthia ThurlowFollow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedInCheck out Cynthia’s website Connect with Melissa BoloñaOn her website (This is where you can purchase her products)Purchase Melissa’s products on this Instagram, or connect with her personally on this Instagram.

I am thrilled to have Dr. Mindy Pelz back on the show today! She was with me once before in 2020, on Episode 113. Dr. Mindy is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, nutrition, and functional health expert who has spent over two decades helping thousands of people successfully reclaim their health. She is a recognized leader in the alternative health field and a pioneer in the fasting movement, teaching the principles of a fasting lifestyle, diet variation, detox, hormones, and more. Her popular YouTube channel (which just celebrated 18 million lifetime views) regularly updates followers on the latest science-backed tools and techniques to help them reset their health. She is the host of one of the leading science podcasts, The Resetter Podcast, and the author of three best-selling books: The Menopause Reset, The Reset Factor, and The Reset Kitchen.Both Dr. Mindy and I have reached a point in our lives where we feel inclined towards women who are energetically on the same page as we are in terms of mindset and methodology. We would both like to help the women who follow us thrive as they approach middle age, and we want to inspire them with a sense of optimism rather than despair as they head into menopause.  Dr. Mindy offers hope for women and helps them navigate middle age authentically while staying true to themselves. In this episode, we discuss an article in the New England Journal of Medicine about how ill-equipped the new generation of primary health care providers is to manage the symptoms of menopause. We dive into the importance of gut health and escaping the mindset of the rushing women syndrome (a term coined by Libby Weaver), and explain what the estrobolome is. We discuss various gadgets, including the V-Fit, the Apollo Neuro, and the Hyperbaric Oxygen Brain Tap, and talk about ways to navigate middle age as proactively as possible. Dr. Mindy also shares her best strategies for navigating middle age. Be sure to stay tuned for more!IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: How to support women emotionally and encourage them to talk about their   feelings as they approach menopause. Dr. Mindy sheds some light on the changes in middle age that could cause anxiety and depression and impact sleep quality. Some tips for navigating early menopause and bringing sanity back into your life. Dr. Mindy talks about the conversation that permitted her to find her own journey. It is vital to work on the inner you rather than grasping for things outside yourself. What happens to your body as your progesterone starts to wane? Dr. Mindy shares what she encourages her patients to focus on when they are in an estrogen-dominant state. Dr. Mindy goes through five lifestyle changes that middle-aged women need to implement. Dr. Mindy explains how the V-Fit can help women balance their hormones. The estrobolome helps the body break down, detoxify, and rid itself of estrogen. Why is it vital to add diverse foods to your diet? Dr. Mindy talks about her favorite biohacking tools to strengthen the parasympathetic nervous system. Connect with Cynthia ThurlowFollow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedInCheck out Cynthia’s website Connect with Dr. Mindy PelzOn her website   On InstagramOn YouTubeBook Mentioned:Rushing Woman's Syndrome: The Impact of a Never-ending To-do List and How to Stay Healthy in Today's Busy World by Libby Weaver

I am excited to have Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, an internationally recognized expert in nutritional endocrinology, joining me on the podcast today! Dr. Ritamarie is a doctor of chiropractic with a master’s degree in nutrition and certifications in herbal medicine, acupuncture, and Heart Math. She is deeply committed to transforming our broken disease-management system into a health care system in which practitioners are skilled at finding the root causes of health challenges and using the wisdom of nature combined with modern science to restore balance to the body.Dr. Ritamarie burned out in her early twenties and experienced many health problems. She wondered if her diet might be causing her problems, so she turned to the sphere of holistic natural medicine for solutions. She learned a lot and was able to heal. So she became passionate about using nutrition to help others make choices for better health. She founded the Institute of Nutritional Endocrinology to train doctors, nurses, nutritionists, health coaches, and other practitioners in the science of rebalancing hormones and restoring energy with nutrition and lifestyle approaches.  In this episode, she shares her story and we unpack insulin resistance, explain how to manage it, and talk about how intermittent fasting impacts blood sugar and helps overcome pre insulin resistance, insulin resistance, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. We also dive into successfully navigating perimenopause, menopause, and a plant-based keto diet and discuss the benefits of lifestyle medicine. Be sure to stay tuned for today’s educational and information-packed podcast!IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: Dr. Ritamarie talks about how she developed a passion for using nutrition as lifestyle medicine and became interested in managing blood sugar. The link between blood sugar imbalance and sudden heart attacks. The value of lifestyle medicine. What are the signs and symptoms of pre-insulin resistance? How do you maintain ketosis while following a plant-based diet? What is the problem with most of the fats on supermarket shelves? Find the carb-macro ratio that works for you. Why are whole food fats better for you than oil? Intermittent fasting is vital for optimizing your health and positively impacting the pre insulin and insulin resistance phases. How a woman’s diet and metabolic health impact how she experiences perimenopause and menopause. What happens to the brain that makes women more susceptible to type-3 diabetes as they enter menopause? Why is it critically important to get enough sleep? How does exposure to endocrine-disrupters in your home and personal care products negatively impact your hormonal health? Reference: Reinvent HealthcareConnect with Cynthia ThurlowFollow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedInCheck out Cynthia’s website Connect with Dr. Ritamarie LoscalzoOn her websiteOn Facebook – Dr. Ritamarie or Institute of Nutritional Endocrinology (INE) PractitionersOn InstagramOn YouTube

Today, I am honored and delighted to have Dr. Adrienne Youdim joining me! Dr. Youdim is an internist specializing in medical weight loss and nutrition. She is the author of Hungry for More: Stories and Science to Inspire Weight Loss from the Inside Out.   Before doing her fellowship, Dr. Youdim was a perfectionist who wanted to excel, exceed, operate, and fix people. Then, she became pregnant. This changed everything for her and thus, began her introduction into the space of obesity medicine.Dr. Youdim points out that exploring our relationship with food is an opportunity to explore our relationship with ourselves. When we answer the call to address our hunger with self-awareness and radical introspection, we can engage in the life-changing work of managing our hunger from within.In this episode, we take a deep dive into different types of hunger. We discuss the pendulum bias, beliefs about weight gain, and why Dr. Youdim feels that there should be compassion at every size. We unpack the normalization of body dissatisfaction and shame and discuss the importance of understanding the epigenetic changes associated with weight loss and weight gain. We also talk about the role of hormones in weight gain and weight loss, how to differentiate between needing and craving, how traumas and beliefs play into obesity, and the importance of lifestyle medicine. Be sure to stay tuned for more!IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: Dr. Youdim discusses weight-related beliefs and bias and explains why health at every size is a fallacy. Dr. Youdim explains how she fell into the obesity medicine space. What prompted Dr. Youdim to focus predominantly on different kinds of hunger in her book? Navigating away from shame and inadvertently projecting our traumas onto our children. Overcoming epigenetics and the generational patterns that impact our health and lifestyle choices. How sleep deprivation can negatively impact our mood, set us up for metabolic disease, and even change our hunger hormones. What does alcohol do to our brains that negatively impacts the quality of our sleep? How abuse, trauma, stress, and emotions are linked to illness, emotional eating, and obesity. What causes us to regain weight after dieting, and how can we combat it? Adopting a balanced approach to weight maintenance and changing body composition. The impact menopause and perimenopause have on body composition. Using the emotional hunger brought on by menopause and perimenopause as an opportunity for growth. Learning how to differentiate between needing and craving food. Learning how to approach food from a place of mindfulness BIOGRAPHY Adrienne Youdim, MD, FACP, is an internist who specializes in medical weight loss and nutrition. Her mission is to transform the weight loss narrative into one that is both empowering and compassionate, inspiring people to live more physically and emotionally fulfilling lives. Dr. Youdim draws on best medical practices in the field of obesity medicine and on her patients’ value system, trusting that we all inherently know what we need. Dr. Youdim believes that navigating our hunger is a process that requires, introspection, self-acceptance, and a sense of agency. One of the principles of her practice is to provide both inspiration and information. Dr. Youdim encourages her patients not only to consider the tools and logistics of a weight loss plan but also to consider the motivating values that inspire them. She gives her patients information relevant to their weight-loss journey, including resources to promote self-awareness, journaling exercises, and mindfulness practices. Connect with Cynthia ThurlowFollow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedInCheck out Cynthia’s website Connect with Dr. Adrienne YoudimOn her websiteOn InstagramYou can buy a copy of Dr. Adrienne Youdim’s book, Hungry for More: Stories and Science to Inspire Weight Loss from the Inside Out, from Amazon.

I am delighted to have Dr. Morgan Nolte joining me today! Dr. Morgan is a passionate board-certified clinical specialist in geriatric physical therapy. She is the founder of Weight Loss for Health, an online course, community, and coaching program to help women in c and postmenopause reduce insulin resistance for sustainable weight loss and disease prevention.Dr. Morgan is dedicated to helping women feel empowered, confident, and in control of their health. She teaches women how food, fasting, stress, sleep, exercise, and mindset all play a role in reducing insulin resistance. The key to maintaining long-term weight loss and health is living a low insulin lifestyle. That requires unlearning old weight loss beliefs and overcoming self-limiting thoughts. Thoughts determine emotions. Emotions determine actions. Actions determine results.In this episode, we dive into maintaining weight loss, the role of insulin in the body, understanding macros, overcoming insulin resistance, and keeping your brain healthy after mid-life. Dr. Morgan also shares some actionable tips for overcoming limiting beliefs and maintaining weight loss. Stay tuned to learn what Dr. Morgan has to share in our interesting and informative conversation today!IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: Dr. Morgan unpacks the false dogmatic dieting principles with which many women struggle. Why do we need to change from the caloric model of obesity to the insulin model? What we need to understand about macros. Which macros are the most satiating? Why do you need to forget about the food groups? Lifestyle changes can help reverse insulin resistance. Some key roles insulin plays in the body. What happens in the body when cells cannot communicate with the insulin hormone? The benefits of a low-carb diet and intermittent fasting. Why it is vital to get enough sleep. How stress causes weight gain. What will happen to you if you fail to manage your blood sugar dysregulation? What women in their forties and fifties need to do to maintain their brain health. Understanding the limiting beliefs that could impact weight loss and some tips for overcoming those beliefs. Connect with Cynthia ThurlowFollow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedInCheck out Cynthia’s website Connect with Dr. Morgan NolteOn her websiteOn Instagram and YouTubeReshape Your Health PodcastBooks mentioned:The Big Fat Surprise by Nina TeicholzThe Obesity Code by Jason FungWhy We Get Sick by Benjamin BikmanThe XX Brain by Dr. Lisa Mosconi

I am delighted to have Sam Apple joining me today! Sam is on the faculty at Johns Hopkins. Before he arrived at Johns Hopkins, he taught creative writing and journalism at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Creative Non-fiction from Columbia University. Sam has written many books. His most recent is called Ravenous: Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection. It is about the German biochemist Otto Warburg and his new developments in cancer science. Warburg was a unique individual. He was a Jewish man who managed to keep doing his biochemical research despite living in the extremely challenging time of Nazi Germany.In this episode, Sam talks about Otto Warburg’s incredible discovery regarding cancer cells and the research done by Nazi scientists. He also discusses the shift in the focus on cancer research in the post-war period, how insulin drives cancer and metabolic diseases, and how to make better dietary choices. Stay tuned to hear what Sam has to share about his book, Ravenous, and the connections between diet and cancer. IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: What motivated Sam to write about Otto Warburg? Otto Warburg’s fascinating discovery about what makes cancer cells unique. Nazi researchers were way ahead of their time in discovering the link between environmental toxins and people developing metabolic diseases and cancer. What happened to much of the advanced research done by German scientists during the war years? What happened in the 1950s that entirely changed the direction of medical research on cancer? The accidental and surprising discovery that was made about the benefits of mustard gas. Insulin drives metabolic disease and causes cancer cells to grow. Why most Americans could develop cancer. Why do you need to get your fasting insulin checked? What does fructose do in the body that differs from what is done by other sugars? Some of the changes that Sam made in his life after researching his book, Ravenous. The cancers that you will be more likely to develop if you eat too often. Bio:Sam Apple is on the faculty of the MA in Science Writing and MA in Writing programs at Johns Hopkins. Before he arrived at Johns Hopkins, Apple taught creative writing and journalism at the University of Pennsylvania for ten years. He holds a BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Michigan.Apple is the author of Schlepping Through the Alps and American Parent. His most recent book, Ravenous (Norton/Liveright, 2021), is about the German biochemist Otto Warburg and new developments in cancer science. Apple has published short stories, personal essays, satires, and journalistic features on a wide range of topics. In recent years, he has primarily written about science and health. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Wired, The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times Magazine, ESPN The Magazine, The MIT Technology Review, and McSweeney’s, among many other publications. Schlepping Through the Alps was a finalist for the PEN America Award for a first work of non-fiction.Connect with Cynthia ThurlowFollow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedInCheck out Cynthia’s websiteConnect with Sam AppleOn his websiteFollow on Twitter and InstagramBooks mentioned:The Nazi War on Cancer by Robert Proctor

Today, I am delighted and honored to be talking to Dr. Philip Ovadia. He is a board-certified Cardiac Thoracic Surgeon and Founder of Ovadia Heart Health. His mission is to help people stay off his operating table by optimizing their metabolic health to lower the risk of heart disease and other chronic illnesses.  In this episode, we take a deep dive into clinical medicine. We explain how it is possible to reverse conditions like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes and become healthy without taking any medications. Dr. Ovadia defines metabolic health, talks about his journey from being morbidly obese to losing more than 100 pounds, discusses Gary Taubes’s influence on his health journey, and his seven principles for health and wellness. We also get into metabolic health markers, the hyper-palatability of processed food, metabolic syndrome, and the metabolic inflexibility of most Americans. Dr. Ovadia’s approach to nutrition is all about bio-individuality and having enough protein in your diet to ensure satiety. I really enjoy connecting with other western medicine-trained health care professionals who have pivoted towards optimizing metabolic health and flexibility! Stay tuned for more! IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: Problems that exist within the medical system. Dr. Ovadia shares his health journey and talks about his mission. Why much of Dr. Ovadia’s current education is coming from non-physicians. Dr. Ovadia talks about metabolic health. The physical effects of eating hyper-palatable processed foods versus eating nutrient-dense whole foods. Take control of what you eat rather than letting food control you. What metabolic syndrome is all about. The benefits of using a continuous glucose monitor. Why no one diet will serve everyone. Using metabolic health as a system to guide you to good health. The benefits of pushing for nutrient density to feel satiated. Bio:Dr. Philip Ovadia is a board-certified Cardiac Surgeon and founder of Ovadia Heart Health. His mission is to optimize the public’s metabolic health and help people stay off his operating table. As a heart surgeon who used to be morbidly obese, Dr. Ovadia has seen firsthand the failures of mainstream diets and medicine. He realized that what helped him lose over 100 pounds was the same solution that could have prevented most of the thousands of open-heart surgeries he has performed—metabolic health.In Stay off My Operating Table: A Heart Surgeon’s Metabolic Health Guide to Lose Weight, Prevent Disease, and Feel Your Best Every Day, Dr. Ovadia shares the complete metabolic health system to prevent disease.Dr. Ovadia grew up in New York and graduated from the accelerated Pre-Med/Med program at the Pennsylvania State University and Jefferson Medical College. This was followed by a residency in General Surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey and a Fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Tufts-New England Medical School.Connect with Cynthia ThurlowFollow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedInCheck out Cynthia’s website Connect with Dr. Philip OvadiaOn his website At The Stronger Heart Society On Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn,   and TwitterA simple calculator for metabolic syndrome Dr. Ovadio’s book, Stay Off My Operating TableBooks mentioned:The Unhealthy Truth by Robyn O’Brien    The Case for Keto by Gary TaubesSalt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss

Links and Resources:Hex FermentsGut Health podcast with Dr. Uma NaidooThe Drive Podcast with Paul OffitBook Preorder Link