Wake Up with Susan

Take Control of Your Health with DeeDee Mehren

• Susan Sutherland

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What if those "incurable" autoimmune conditions that left you struggling for years could actually be improved—or even healed—through strategic nutrition and lifestyle changes? DeeDee Mehren's journey proves it's possible.

After suffering for nine years with mysterious symptoms that doctors couldn't solve, DeeDee was finally diagnosed with four autoimmune diseases and the medical establishment told her these conditions were permanent. Yet through her own research and determination, she managed to heal three of them completely.

This conversation unveils the real reasons why so many of us—particularly women—struggle with chronic health issues despite our best efforts. DeeDee brilliantly explains how the conventional wisdom around nutrition often leads us astray. From the shocking truth about grazing to the unexpected ways certain "healthy" foods might be spiking your blood sugar, we explore how seemingly innocent habits might be sabotaging your health.

We dive into the science of autoimmunity, addressing why 80% of autoimmune patients are women, and the troubling statistic that it typically takes five years to receive a proper diagnosis. DeeDee shares her four-pillar approach to holistic wellness that addresses the whole person, not just symptoms. She offers practical guidance for optimizing protein intake, managing blood sugar, implementing strategic fasting, and navigating the hormonal challenges of perimenopause.

Whether you're battling unexplained health issues, hitting a weight loss plateau despite doing "everything right," or simply want to optimize your health as you age, this episode delivers actionable insights to help you feel truly nourished and energized. Prepare to reclaim your power over your health and discover that healing is possible—even when conventional medicine says otherwise.

Be sure to follow DeeDee on Instagram for amazing insights and recipes.  You can find so much information, meal plans, and register for the 5 day detox on her website. 

And, be sure to check-out Sacred Spaces a beautiful collaboration book which she contributed to. 

And of course you can connect with me on Instagram and TikTok and get more content weekly on my YouTube Channel.


Speaker 1:

Rise and shine everybody. It's time to wake up with Susan. Spiritual awakening can be a beautiful, messy and sometimes lonely journey, so let's do it together. I'm your host, susan Sutherland. I'm an intuitive healer and spiritual mentor. We are all called to rise up above our conditioning and limiting beliefs and shine our light on ourselves and others. So let's get to it. Hello, my family, thanks for joining. I've got a good one for you.

Speaker 1:

Today I'm sharing my interview with Didi Marin. Didi is a holistic nutritionist and certified culinary nutrition expert. She's done all of the studying and all of the research so that we don't have to, and this interview happened right after Peru, when I was eating so healthy and feeling really nourished, and I just got back from Switzerland, which was a little bit different, and so that's a different episode which I'm excited to share next week. However, this is a great conversation and we talk about detoxing and intermittent fasting and grazing, and she shares her four pillars of holistic health, which you need all of you know. As we are entering this phase, which could be middle age or over the hill, it is really about optimizing our health and harnessing really our power. That now we are freaking wise and once we feel good, we can really step into this amazing part of our lives to really make it the prime time for us. So I hope you enjoy this conversation with DeeDee. She's got so much to offer with with DeeDee, she's got so much to offer and I am going to link her website in my show notes, which has information about her book, her detox program and some incredible information and recipes available for you. So definitely be sure to check that out and enjoy this conversation.

Speaker 1:

Hi DeeDee, thanks for joining me today. Hi, thanks for having me. Susan and I introduced your other bits. However, I did not mention that you are now a published author.

Speaker 2:

Ah, yes, you got it.

Speaker 1:

Yay, I have Sacred Spaces that Colleen did with a collaboration and you are one of the authors who wrote a chapter.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it was a fun experience.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so fascinating and highly recommend this book.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you. Thank you, it was really fun. I've known Colleen now for a few years. She had asked I had met through a mutual friend and she did like a part of one of my presentations for my program a group program like three years ago I think. So we've been kind of keeping in contact and she floated the idea of the book and I was like you know, the first one I was like I'm not there yet, and then the second one, when it came to fruition I was ready for volume three and so I was dove in and it was a really fun project. So I'm glad yeah.

Speaker 1:

And you shared your journey through all of this health crisis really through autoimmune disorders, and how that kind of launched you on this path. Do you want to kind of give us an overview?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sure. So I was 30 years old actually not quite 30 years old and I ended up giving birth to my beautiful firstborn child eight and a half weeks early. So, beautiful baby girl she was born and you know, actually for eight and a half weeks early she was four and a half pounds, so not so bad, but it kind of set forth this cascade. She was in the NICU for a whole month, but she's great, she's healthy, living, thriving in DC. But you know, it kind of brought me to my knees after giving birth and I think the stress of everything I started having all of these mysterious symptoms and it really started with like burning in my feet, which was crazy, and I thought it was like a dermatological problem. So I went to see a dermatologist to begin with and you know they gave me a cream and I was like, okay, but it was really hard for me to wear shoes in the office because my feet would burn so much. But literally, long story short, nine years later, after you know the burning spreading from my feet to my hands, to my face, to my ears, and it's visible too, they swell and they turn red and itch and really uncomfortable. But it also included deep tissue, muscle fatigue, you know, just feeling terrible most of the time, not being able to get up. I couldn't for a while I couldn't.

Speaker 2:

One weird thing was I couldn't lift my arms above my shoulders and I went to so many different doctors over the nine years and then finally, literally after exasperation, I went to a neurologist and a rheumatologist and they gave me one simple blood test and they're like you have four incurable autoimmune diseases. You have lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, sjogren's syndrome and severe Raynaud's. And I was like, oh, after everything, I even had a surgery that was fruitless. You know, it was as simple as that. Had a surgery that was fruitless, you know, it was as simple as that. But that's the case with most autoimmune disorders. I mean usually today they're saying it takes about five years on average to get properly diagnosed, but in the past it was about nine years on average.

Speaker 2:

Now it's, you know, like there's 50 million Americans, one in six, and it's 80% women. So it is very common but it's still not that understood because the symptoms can be so nebulous and so different from person to person. So the only autoimmune disease I have left right now, out of the four I was able to cure three of the four is Sjogren's syndrome, and most people with Sjogren's syndrome actually experience extremely dry eyes, dry mouth. They're very susceptible to mouth and eye cancers and things like that. I don't really experience any of that I still have.

Speaker 2:

The only symptom I have left is peripheral neuropathy, where my hands and feet swell, turn red and itch and burn, and it's just neuropathy. So everybody is different, everybody's experience is different. But it was a nine-year journey and that's kind of what led me to here, because before that I was an advertising executive and I didn't realize that my lifestyle I always thought I was a healthy person my lifestyle was setting me up to kind of topple and, you know, have this happen Now, now that I understand looking back, I understand the cascade of events, but while I was in it I had no clue.

Speaker 1:

Right, and so what? What I mean? You went to all of these doctors, you had surgery. How, how did you heal three out of four of your autoimmune diseases?

Speaker 2:

thought was healthy right, and I was running in the Chicago Marathon and right before the Chicago Marathon I experienced, about a month and a half before I experienced a severe bout of pneumonia, which I had had five serious bouts of pneumonia as part of this whole thing in two years, with pleurisy, so meaning I was hospitalized for like a lung lining issue and it was pretty severe. But I healed up and I ended up running Chicago I probably shouldn't have and qualifying for Boston. So, you know, I was that kind of person where I you know perfectionism and I had to do everything and I had to go full bore into everything. But after that I just, you know, went to my doctor. I had made an appointment with my doctor. I said what am I doing wrong? Is there something I am doing? And he would always say, no, you know, this is just who it, who you are, this is what you're, these aren't curable. Here's another pill bottle.

Speaker 2:

And I came home super frustrated and I Googled can't lift my because my, as I told you, one of my symptoms was lifting my arms above my shoulders. And I Googled can't lift arms above shoulders and you know, then the story came up of Venus Williams, who's a tennis player. I think you're a tennis player as well, right, yeah, so I'm a tennis player. And it was her story with Sjogren's syndrome and how she couldn't lift her arms and had to drop out of the US Open. And I was like, hold on, I hadn't ever heard of this. When you tell people you can't lift your arms above your shoulders, first of all, they don't really believe you. You know, it's just such a weird thing. But I looked into her story and she was seeing a nutritionist and this nutritionist had had her go vegan and gluten-free. And I had been vegan in my twenties and I was like, oh, that didn't really work for me. So I was like you know what, I'm going to try gluten-free. And this was what, almost 15 years ago now.

Speaker 2:

And I was like I'm going to try going gluten-free, which was completely out of the realm, my realm of awareness, because I was a long distance athlete. So I lived on like bagels, pasta, carbs, anything to quick, energy, right. So, but literally the next day I went gluten free. Um, and it was a lot harder back then and I started, you know, like two weeks later, um, I felt a lot better and I would say maybe like 50% and I could lift my arms up.

Speaker 2:

I was like what happened? The fatigue had kind of diminished, and so that was the beginning of my journey of thinking, wow, I can do something to control the outcome, whereas in the past I had been totally giving away my power to the physicians. You know, oh, you need surgery. Okay, oh, take this pill. Okay, I didn't see that I had any power in this situation. So I started to kind of examine what I was doing and realizing that, you know, the food had gotten me about. You know, just even the elimination of gluten Turns out I'm probably celiac disease as well, but I never was tested and I've been gluten-free for 15 years, almost so, but it's you know.

Speaker 2:

So that was the start, and I was really intrigued with just taking control, and so the more research I did led me to quit my job. My husband got a job in Canada as an expat. I went there with him and my three young children and I couldn't work. So I ended up going back to nutrition school while I was in Canada, at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition, and I loved it. I like soaked everything up as this one. It was like found my tribe, like I found the people I loved starting every day with, like you know, meditation and mantra and we would do like massage trains and, you know, talk healing, and it was just a beautiful place to be, and so that was the starting of my journey, and that was back in 2013.

Speaker 1:

And how interesting that you didn't want to go to Canada because it was so cold. But had you moved anywhere in the US, you would have been able to work and would have just perpetuated this instead of completely shifting and going back to studying.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and they didn't really have any schools like that in the US. They have, like health coaching certifications, not nearly as comprehensive and as well done as I would say the IHN program is. Now I think they do offer an online program, but it was pretty intense for a couple of years, you know, going in person to classes, which is what I loved taking chemistry and anatomy and physiology and psychology of disease and I just actually loved the courses and really fell in love with it. But I didn't ever really intend to make it a business. It was all just for myself my healing journey and that of my mother who had a lung, a hereditary lung condition that she was battling. So it was all just to heal my family. But then you know, things happen for a reason.

Speaker 1:

Things happen and people say oh, how did you do that Can?

Speaker 2:

you teach me Right.

Speaker 1:

That's exactly what started happening, right. So what I love about your approach and your, your website and your newsletter is it's not just diet focused. It is very much about a well-rounded, holistic approach, because I think, like you were saying, I'm a runner, of course I'm healthy. We we feel like if we're doing one thing really well, and I think a lot of times spiritual people can kind of ignore their body or not take care of it in such a way because we become so much about the spirit that we do not nourish our vessel the way we need to, and so I really like that you make it where it's all components of wellness.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, my healing has been anything but just nutrition, that is for sure. It was the start, I would say. But my approach has always been and I I wrote this down when I was thinking, you know, back in 2017, I remember sketching out um this, what looked like a table at the time, and it was, you know my four pillars. It was nutrition, movement, stress and sleep. And then I always you know my four pillars. It was nutrition, movement, stress and sleep. And then I always had underlying this community and purpose component, and then I flipped it upside down, so it was like a tabletop, and so I kept thinking, you know, if any one of those components fall down, like, as you said, like you could be eating clean and green, as I say, and like the most beautiful organic whole food, nutrient dense but if you're, you know, running yourself to the ground or not sleeping, you're going to fall apart, and mine was definitely.

Speaker 2:

I was obviously eating the wrong thing from my body. Gluten was not the right thing for my body, but more so, my healing journey has been with the stress component, because, when I look back and my story started, as I said, with that birth, that early birth of my child I know now what happened Like I and no one still to this day has ever told me this, but I remember them going in and saying well, you're, for your next two pregnancies you're going to have to do, you know, weekly progesterone shots because you didn't have enough progesterone to hold the baby in. And there is a saying in holistic health when progesterone goes I mean when cortisol, which is your stress hormone, goes high, progesterone goes shy. So meaning when you are stressed, you have zero progesterone. It flatlines and progesterone is absolutely needed to hold a pregnancy in.

Speaker 2:

So I was in this state where I was probably overexercising, I was not sleeping, I was an insomniac, I would only sleep a few hours a night and I was working, like you know, 60 hour work weeks and that was just my type A personality. I've kind of always had that tendency and that's what I've had to learn more so that anything is to kind of view myself when I'm getting into that type A mindset of more, more, more is no, maybe. You know, we need to stop and we need to reflect and we need to meditate and we need to journal about this and think about what you're doing, because that's just where I feel like I still am not, you know, sometimes in control of my health because I'll let that stress wheel go a little bit too long.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I think that's kind of culturally what we have here and we keep compounding it, where, even when moms might back out of the workplace, then they pile three sports per child and you know, trying to manage a schedule, and I feel like we have gotten so used to things have to be chaotic, to where, when they're not, it's like well, how can I fix that and make it more stressful? How can I make my life more crazy? Because that's what feels normal to me. We don't know how to be at rest.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's very much an issue and I think that the prevalence of autoimmune disease is reflecting that. I think there's a lot of environmental triggers, but I do think, because it's 80% women, there's something to that. Women do hold their stress a little bit differently. I mean, there's the estrogen component as well, but I do think the stress and how we metabolize and process stress is very much a big part of it.

Speaker 1:

So I was having a conversation with some ladies the other day and two of them were like we hit a certain age and then there's unexpected weight gain. Two of them were like we hit a certain age and then there's unexpected weight gain. They're doing all of the same things, even you know being more mindful to get exercise to do all of these things and the pounds just add up. What's going on with that?

Speaker 2:

Well, the thing that's really hard there is that our metabolism doesn't really change all that much. Actually, it's very minimal, you know, because I hear that and I you know, as a 53 year old woman and I see the women that I work with, so I'm not calling anyone out on it. But what is typically happening there is that in my mindset, is that the hormonal shift and our decline in estrogen. Estrogen is protective on so many levels, but with that we start getting, you know, we start getting insomnia because we're not sleeping well, because our body temperature might rise at night, so we're having night sweats or hot flashes, so we're not getting any sleep or any quality sleep. We're, unfortunately, when you're sleep deprived, you're eating more, and the more of the wrong thing.

Speaker 2:

The next day, it's usually about an average of 300 to 400 additional calories when you're sleep deprived the next day, and a lot of the things that we're doing that we used to do, like maybe the chronic cardio, just aren't working for us.

Speaker 2:

So that is, you know, I think it's more that we're not feeling well and so we're maybe doing the wrong thing, you know. Or we'll say okay, I'm going to go run it off the next day, so you'll go for a run, but that's putting your body in maybe even more of a cortisol stress state. You'll go for a run, but that's putting your body in maybe even more of a cortisol stress state, and when your cortisol is high, which is the stress hormone, your blood sugar goes high and you hold on to weight because cortisol is a fat storage hormone. So I think you know we're kind of punishing ourselves and going about it a little bit the wrong way, when sometimes maybe we do need to just, instead of like pushing ourselves harder the next day, is take a nap or meditate and journal on why we're not feeling so good and try and address that issue.

Speaker 1:

Doesn't that sound better than a run, you guys? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I mean I definitely and I have to take that advice myself. I used to be, as I said, a big time runner. I don't really run anymore, but I still exercise every day. I do believe that we need to move our bodies every single day to feel good in our body. So a lot of times for me that is like weightlifting and then a walk or something like that. I mean we do have to move and we have to build that especially.

Speaker 2:

I've noticed, when you hit that 45 age, maybe 40, building that lean muscle mass, because you're building that what's called your metabolic sink. So the more muscle mass you have on you, the more glucose you're going to be able to store and burn. It's metabolically very active tissue. So we're going to want to have as much muscle mass on us. For that reason Also, I just you're going to increase your basal metabolic rate with the more muscle mass you have, and so that basal metabolic rate is just what you burn at rest.

Speaker 2:

So like I'm not I'm a petite person, you know, I don't. I'm five, four, I'm not, I've never been a big bone person, and so my basal metabolic rate is only about 1200 calories a day. So when I wake up and I look at my aura ring metrics. If I did nothing all day, I would you know, to be, you know, energy balanced, I'd have to eat about 1200 calories, which I eat about 2000,. Maybe 2200 a day, but that's because I have a lot. I lift weights two or three times a week. Every day I'm getting at least 10,000 steps. I do my walking treadmill because I live in Chicago during the winter, but every day I'm trying to aim for about, you know, my active calories, to get me around to that 2000 mark so I can be at energy balance by eating about 2000 calories, which is where I feel good and strong and healthy. Now, yeah, if I were getting up and sitting in front of a computer all day, I would be at that 1200 calorie mark, and that's hard to do, that's hard to do.

Speaker 2:

It's not fun, mark, and that's hard to do. That's hard to do. It's not fun. I mean, I'd much rather be like moving throughout the day and eating delicious food. But because I also have this metabolic sink, as I said, building up this lean muscle, I burn more at rest too. So I'm burning more overnight. I'm burning more just sitting here talking to you, but I definitely am trying to get in a lot of NEAT, which is called non-exercise activity thermogenesis, during the day.

Speaker 2:

So that's what you know, these women that are struggling.

Speaker 2:

Definitely, things change and I think it's more that you don't feel good and so you start changing your behaviors and maybe you don't notice it as much.

Speaker 2:

But again, when you're having night sweats and hot flashes and you know menopause perimenopause can cause fatigue in general and aches and pains there's so many different things that it can cause You're not feeling good, so you're not doing maybe the same things that you used to do and you're not as energetic. And then you're maybe making the wrong choices in food because you don't, maybe just don't even know, maybe that you know you used to be vegan and vegetarian and you're still eating, that you're not getting your protein in like you should be, because that's going to help you build that muscle mass. So I kind of that's you know what, what the science is saying, that if you can really try, and you know, address the symptomology of menopause and for some I haven't started hormone therapy, but I'm researching it every single day almost and I do plan on starting it when I need to I still should we go get like a hormone panel done?

Speaker 2:

when I need to. I still ask should we go get like a hormone panel done? Well, during perimenopause it's really tricky. I did, and the one I recommend is called the Dutch test. So but just know that during perimenopause you're all over the board, I mean. So it's really hard to pin down and you can't really pin down like, oh, am I almost at menopause? You know, as it started. I mean, you can notice changes in your cycle and changes in your symptomology, so you kind of know. But a hormone test is really tricky at this time because your hormones are all over the board. So I would rely more on symptoms.

Speaker 2:

It's nice to know, like I always say like for like a Dutch test. It's nice to know because it's nice to know how your different hormones are metabolized. There's metabolite pathways, so you get a good physician that can help you understand that and optimize it. And then maybe start, like I'm considering starting low dose progesterone and estradiol, just because I've noticed that my body temperature is raising a little bit at night. I have no other symptoms of menopause yet, but I do notice that when I have this aura ring on, especially during the second half of my cycle, that my body temperature goes up about a degree every night and that's pretty significant and it causes me not to sleep as well. So you know I'm starting to, and progesterone is really going to help you get that better sleep, especially in that second half of the cycle. So that's why I'm considering it at this time.

Speaker 1:

Okay, and what are other symptoms that somebody might experience that would say, hey, your hormones are definitely out of whack.

Speaker 2:

Well, I would say that you know, the most common one people are complaining about is the night sweats and the hot flashes, but just fatigue in general and joint pain is a huge one. Frozen shoulder is you know, another one, maybe you know. And then, as you get older, you're worried about brittle bones. And estrogen is very heart protective. So that's why heart HRT can help with heart issues. But you know, there's a lot of things. It's just you know. If you feel like you're off, it could be just that lesser loss of estrogen because estrogen is so protective.

Speaker 1:

Okay, interesting Now as far as I know you. Just you went with protein forward there and I know it's important, I understand and I used to log all my meals and my fitness pal and did 40, 30, 30, like 40, 40% carbs 30 fat, 30 protein, and I was really diligent and now I don't do that as much.

Speaker 1:

I'm probably not getting that amount of protein. Yeah, and I know it's really important. This is this is the little hangup I have right now is you read an article that says the American heart association accepted $20 million to say that this was right? Like, how do we trust anything? How do we trust information that's out there that says I should make all of these modifications because they said so? Like, who's to say they didn't just take a bunch of money?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, I don't trust the American Heart Association. To be honest, that is what I would not trust. You know there's a great website called PubMed. It might be a little sciencey for most but it is the published research for medical journals and everything and that's where I do a lot of my research from. So and again, it's very sciencey, so some of it's difficult to interpret.

Speaker 2:

But I do say to people that you know nutrition. It can be very confusing when you listen to all the noise, but really it is fairly simple in terms of I always tell people don't major in the minors, like if you're not there. In terms of you know getting just the right nutrition, the right movement, the right stress. Just stick to the basics. Eat 80 to 90% real food, just food, without you know a box, a barcode or bag, because if you're just eating real food you're going to get pretty close to your goals and it's very simple. So, as far as like protein and everything goes, I mean I would say there's definitely experts that I've always felt, I trusted, that. I usually go to them, as you know the resources, and I'm a huge believer in what's called an N of one experiment. So everyone is different, right? So you and I may thrive on very different things. So, yes, start with the basics eating real food, trying and getting all your food groups and, you know, prioritizing vegetables. But you might not need as much protein as I do or you might not need as much fiber as I do, but I definitely for. In terms of where I'm at right now, with lifting weights, you know, several times a week and being active to try and keep muscle mass on me, I need to hit that, probably 100, 110 grams a day to do that. And then I also have a fiber goal every day of 35 grams. I find it relatively simple because I eat the similar things every single day. I know you're supposed to get more varied, but I still get close to 30 plants in a week.

Speaker 2:

But you know, every morning my morning consists of some kind of green smoothie. I would say six, six or almost seven days a week. Some days, you know, I'll go out to brunch with family and I'll have like an egg dish or something, but for the most part it's a big green smoothie with and I know protein powders can be controversial, but it has 25 grams of protein in it and I've done my research to find the cleanest protein powder that I can and I use that. And then by the time I get my chia and my flax and maybe some nut butter or something in there, I'm usually, with my morning smoothie at about 35 grams of protein. Then for lunch, every day, for lunch I'm usually having today I had, and this is what I eat every Monday is a sheet pan roast, tons of different variety of vegetables. So this is how I'm getting my variety, and every couple of days it'll be different. That I'll save it for the next couple of days. But today it was cauliflower, brussels sprouts and sweet potato. So I sheet pan roast that. And then I did, you know, a tofu, cause I don't eat meat on Mondays, it's just I've done that for years. So I did tofu with some broccoli sprouts and some cilantro for to add a detox.

Speaker 2:

Tonight I am testing one of my detox soups for my upcoming program, so I'm making that. So today's going to be a little lower protein diet, because my lunch probably had about well, I had a side of Greek yogurt on it, so that, right, there is 20 grams. So 20 grams plus another for the tofu would be about eight. So 28 plus 35. And then tonight with the soup it's going to be.

Speaker 2:

My only protein source will be hemp seed, so I'll probably get to about 90 and I'm not I'm not obsessive Like that's great. Yeah, I'm never going to be dogmatic about anything, and especially I think it's good some days to kind of vary your nutrition. But most days that's kind of my pattern is I'll have a smoothie that's about 35 grams, I'll have a bowl like tomorrow will probably be eggs or some kind of other protein source, and then at dinner it's usually a protein, a fish or a veggie on the side, and by the time I'm done with a Greek yogurt. Somewhere in between it is about 100 to 110 grams of protein every day, and so that's kind of an easy way for me to know without having to do the work of tracking. But I also have done this work for eight years, so I'm pretty well aware of what things have in them.

Speaker 1:

Right, I am probably not going to go to the website and read the mid journals, because that is the benefit of having people like you to follow social.

Speaker 2:

You're doing that.

Speaker 1:

What is the protein powder that you found to be the cleanest?

Speaker 2:

Well, I, right now I'm using I do use, I rotate a ton of them Um, but right now I'm using what's called paleo pro for um most days and then when I lift weights, I want to do a. I do a clean way protein, which you have to be very careful Cause, like if you go to a GNC and pick a whey protein, you know, like a jocks whey protein off the shelf they're going to be full of fillers and just from crap sources. So I use the brand Levels. Right now it's grass fed, grass, finished whey protein. There's really nothing else in it except for, I think, maybe a little bit of monk fruit or one of the two that I'm not concerned with sweeteners, but it's very simple ingredients and that's what you should be looking for. You really don't need any fillers in a protein powder. You want just the source of protein and most of them, except if they're unflavored, have a little bit of sweetener in them.

Speaker 2:

The concern where protein powders have gotten a bad rap, the last they get, um, and this rightfully so is a lot of the plant-based, especially protein powders, because they're such highly concentrated forms of protein, like usually pea protein or rice protein, that they can contain a ton of heavy metals.

Speaker 2:

Because what happens is plants soak things up from the ground right, and our ground is not how it used to be.

Speaker 2:

It's full of metals and so they'll soak that up the plant and then you concentrate it so it's an extra amount of toxicity in that protein powder. So that's why I do, for the most part, I tell people I do avoid plant protein powders and go with either like a paleo version or a bone broth version, or I just started doing whey protein again because before, when I first started this journey, I looked at whey protein parties and they were made with such crap. But now there's a lot of really better versions and if you are not dairy sensitive, most people can tolerate a whey. Sometimes, if you're dairy sensitive because casein and whey are the two proteins in dairy you need to be careful. Most people are dairy sensitive because they can't handle the lactose, but sometimes it is the protein. So I would say just buy a really good source and then be cautious if you are dairy sensitive. But that's why protein powders have been getting such a bad rap, especially the chocolate, because chocolate you're also adding, unfortunately, the cacao plant concentrate, which sometimes has metals in it as well.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I had to use a Zetox dropper for a little while. I was getting headaches and it was from the heavy metals, but I do know, like, leading up to Peru, you know the ayahuasca diet, whatever they told me to do, I made it for the whole month of January, like even if it's cut it out. For the last week it was like, except for caffeine, which I cut out maybe a week and a half in advance and haven't gone back, but it was the best I've felt in so long, where you're just eating whole foods, you're not eating added sugar, you're not having caffeine. I didn't drink before, but just not having all of those things in my body just felt amazing. So I understand how they all work together. Then I have more energy and then I, you know, you do more and you sleep better and it all just works together so nicely. And when I came home, I think Mark thought that it would be, like, you know, back to whatever I was doing before. But why would I want to compromise this? Like? It feels really good.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, it's usually how people come out of my detox saying as well, I always tell them I'd probably, you know, I think for that five days of really cleansing and rejuvenating is fantastic. And I think for some people, cause they ask, can I do this the next week? I say absolutely do it the next week. I said eventually you're going to want to. If you resume like normal, intense, like weightlifting or anything, you're going to want to up your protein a little bit.

Speaker 2:

But I think you know, in general, it's such a great way and we all feel so, so much better when we're doing that, that you're right. Like that's what I usually hear back from people is I am sleeping so much better and then they have more energy and it's such a you know, such a cycle that they don't want to stop because they're feeling so, so good. And once you've made that mind body connection, that's what makes the difference is, like you said, you don't want to go back. Um, you know there's some people that just never get there in terms of like they'll do it and then they'll, they'll go back to their old ways and like I'm feeling crap, but they still haven't connected. Like the dots, you know.

Speaker 1:

But when you start focusing on what you're gaining, not what you're giving up. Absolutely it is. It is so much easier. So when is the detox happening? When is that program I?

Speaker 2:

do that the week. It always starts the day after Mother's Day, so it is that May 12th somewhere around there. I do it twice a year. It's a five day whole food, whole food detox program and you know it's all real food. It's soups, smoothies, juices, elixirs, um. I do recommend some supplements. Nothing is required at all, but it's all real food, um.

Speaker 2:

And then I provide after that because, as you said, like when you come off with something like that, you usually feel so good you want to continue it. I provide a month long meal plan that goes with it. So it's meant to like your. You do it for five days of the detox and then you transition to a clean, whole food, nutrient-dense diet. And then I do have people that you know, especially my, and I can't say you know I'm treat, cure or heal anything. But I do recommend people that have been through things like chemotherapy or whatever to do it three months in a row.

Speaker 2:

So to do the detox five days, month one, five days, month two, five days, month three at a minimum, if you're good, to do it every month for 12 months, fantastic, there is definitely not any harm and it's all just real food and with very specific, like every ingredient, I try and have a purpose for it being there. You know what I mean. It's not just filler ingredients. Everything has its reason, whether it's a bitter food for digestion or an anti-inflammatory food like turmeric or ginger for inflammation. I mean every food kind of plays a role in that program, and then I do daily education alongside it. So I have daily videos, daily tutorials on things that can aid in detoxification.

Speaker 2:

And, as you said, like metals, my first experience with detoxing was when I was back in nutrition school in Canada in probably 2014. I went into a holistic practitioner and had my metals tested and I was super high in mercury because I had had amalgam fillings and those mercury fillings that we got when we were little kids, and I was so high in mercury and she gave me a powder to detox and I was so toxic that I took one drink of it. I went out shopping, I threw up all over the grocery store. It was horrific. That was my first detox experience.

Speaker 2:

So, I've learned quickly that detoxification you need first of all to have your channels of elimination open. So you need to make sure that you're eliminating every day, that you're doing things to eliminate, like sauna, walking, yoga. Your bowels need to be regular, all to aid in detoxification, and sometimes, when it's too much, too soon, that's called a Herxaminer reaction. That's exactly what I had. I was too toxic and I took this strong formula which I didn't know it wasn't a whole foods, it was a concentrated powder, and I took it and it was way too much for my body and my body just was like nope, not ready for that, I'm just going to push it all out. And it was right in the middle of a grocery store, so it was horrific. So that's how I learned the hard way and ever since then I got really kind of into the science of detoxification and that's when I put my. That was actually my first perfect, that's perfect.

Speaker 1:

Coming out of holidays too, I feel like now we're getting to the point where people's January momentum wanes. Oh, absolutely, you know, and we're still in the thick of winter in some places and it's like hard to get the activity and the motivation, but you don't have that January like I'm, new year, new me mentality. So how do you, how do you create, first of all, how do you create the self-love to know you deserve good food and good activity? But how do you, how do you inspire people to be disciplined, to make these daily choices?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think you nailed it it's it's a mindset. So it isn't about you know, like I never I love the food I eat. It is an abundance mindset. It is not deprivation at all. Like for me to choose like what I had for lunch over a burger and fries, I wouldn't even be, and maybe because I've been doing it so long, but I know how one meal one's gonna make me feel the tofu roasted veggie with broccoli spouts and cilantro and hot sauce. Like I know I'm going to come out of there being ready to talk to you, clear minded, feeling energized. I wouldn't even like I don't miss that burger and fries. Like do I, do I? Like I know that would make me feel like I had this just bomb in my gut and feel so heavy. So I always tell people it is a matter of shifting your thinking and your mindset into abundance versus deprivation.

Speaker 2:

This this way of living is. You know, it is something like I get to go for a walk outside, I, you know, I I really don't love living in, where I do a couple months of the year because it is really hard for me to stay inside. I get so excited when the sun's out and it's actually 40 degrees Now I'm like woohoo, let's go, you know, and so. And then when I go to sleep I mean, my friends do tease me. I said there's a joke in my family that anytime I get an invitation like past 830, I'm like are those people on cocaine? What are they doing? Why are they leaving? I know. So my kids like because my kids are older so I can make jokes like that. They're like anytime. I'm like oh, so-and-so. Invited me out to dinner at 8 pm. They're like it's okay, mom, they're on Coke. I'm like all right.

Speaker 1:

Right, right.

Speaker 2:

I texted Mark that the ayahuasca ceremony started at 8 p 930. So you know, it's just because I know that I love, I love a quiet morning, I love ritual, I love journaling in the morning, I love staring out at the you know sky and again. So for me it is 100% a mindset way of being and it doesn't feel hard to me. Yeah, I like being able to move my body, I like being able to. To me, I like being able to move my body, I like being able to, whereas in the past, when I started meditating, it was kind of torturous for a couple minutes at a time because my mind was so busy. I have now embraced that some days my mind is just going to be all over the board and and I you know what. That's okay because it's still, I still watch it and I'll be like, wow, my mind is just insane today and it's not a failure.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's not a failure and I still crave it now every day if I can get my. You know I always try and get at least 20, but some days if I'm like, oh man, if I can get an hour in, I will be so happy. So yeah, I mean, I think that's what it comes down to is just making that mind body connection and just realizing how grateful you are when you feel good in your body because I felt otherwise right, I still have some symptoms from Sjogren's syndrome and you know I try and kind of detach from them and but also like, oh, what did I maybe do that kind of maybe exacerbate? It? Was my stress levels today just a little bit too much? Or, you know, did I not sleep as well the night before?

Speaker 1:

But you know it's, it is just an entire mindset. Yeah, and like everything you said was bringing awareness to it, we have got to get off autopilot because if you start having those conversations with yourself and not just like going to the pantry and grabbing something but saying what does my body need or how does this make me feel, and then circling back like I just had this, how am I feeling, what are my energy levels like, and bringing awareness to it, so that we are using food to fuel the life we want and not just you know this autopilot grabbing stuff, having you know the same thing all the time, or well, nothing wrong with that if it's a good choice, right, but where we just eat dinner because we have to eat dinner and not because we are trying to nourish ourselves.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, food is information to ourselves, and those cells either live or die with the choices we're making with our fork a lot of the time. So it's really simple and I'm not saying I'm perfect, I got you know. Actually, my daughter was so funny last week when the book came out and it hit that Amazon number one, like in a couple of categories. She's like let's go have a gluten-free pizza, and I you know, and so we went to her favorite place and she's 17.

Speaker 2:

I never say anything. She gets what she wants. She orders a pizza and I got a salmon salad. She's like don't you want to celebrate with a pizza? I'm like, no, I really am craving a salmon salad. So this is what my body wants right now, I said, but occasionally we'll choose a gluten-free pizza. I'm not saying never and I don't think that's wrong. So I always have healthy alternative sweets in my refrigerator that I've made, usually like a peanut, healthy peanut butter cup, something like that I've seen your reels and I know I'm going back and I'm going to give a couple of those a try.

Speaker 1:

I'm not a baker, I'm not really a cook, but I sometimes can follow. The reason I don't cook desserts most of the time is because you have to be more diligent with your order. I am not.

Speaker 2:

I always tease people because they're like you're such a because I, you know, do this also. This 30 day program, that's tons of recipes. I'm like I'm a messy chef. If you look at the recipes, they're all simple. For a reason I don't do complicated and for baking I do things that have leeway and give so and usually and usually simple ingredients, because that's how I roll and also I just yeah, I love I'm a sweet tooth. So when I do get that craving, I love that I can just go and have something that I will satisfy the craving without making me feel terrible in the end.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I have one thing to tell you that you posted one video before I left on my trip and I started watching it and it triggered the hell out of me, so I had to. I had to turn it off, okay yeah. And then I was like I'll deal with that later, I'm going to deal with that later, so we're going to deal with it right now. Good. Good, I started watching and you told me on Instagram that I should not be grazing.

Speaker 1:

No, I am a grazer, and so I turned it off and I was like I I'm sure she has great information right now, but I can't. I can't receive this. And I went on my trip and it's really interesting because we sat down for breakfast and had like a proper spread of a breakfast, and then we sat down for lunch and had a proper lunch and then a lot of times we didn't have dinner because we were having ayahuasca.

Speaker 1:

And I was like, oh, it turns out I actually can go from meal to meal if I had something that was more substantial than I've been having. So maybe I saw it right before I proved that I could do it. But since I haven't found that video again, tell me why. Why can't I please you know?

Speaker 2:

and I think you're obviously not alone. That is huge. I think I forget what the status of the average American eat has like 14 different eating events a day, I mean. So it's like you are not alone, it is the norm.

Speaker 2:

We have been so indoctrinated into thinking snacking all the time is right to keep our. You know, like it used to be. Oh, we got to keep our energy up, so we need a snack Keeping the metabolism going. That was the thought for such a long time. And nutrition is nebulous and changing and all of that. But you nailed it when you said when you eat properly you don't need it.

Speaker 2:

Now I'm not to say like there's certain times while I usually eat just three meals, but during the second half of my cycle I am extra hungry. So I usually do need like a 3, 4 pm snack. I usually make it like a bulletproof latte is what my way of handling that is. But for the most part, when you're having enough protein and fiber at each meal and enough calories, you're satiated. And when you're not spiking your blood sugar like the average American so say, you even have just like that bowl of oatmeal that everyone you know might think is healthy, well, you're going to spike your blood sugar so much if you're not adding a ton of protein and fat to it, that when your blood sugar spikes it comes down even harder and that's going to make you even hungrier for that 10 am snack. So if you had breakfast at like seven, you're going to be starving by 10. And then the whole cycle is an up and a down because you're having that, you know, maybe like grabbing an extra coffee and a bagel for lunch, and you know it's this whole cycle, whereas if you're eating, you know like you sit down and have, you know, for breakfast, some you know this my green smoothies are very dense. I mean, they're probably about typically about 400, 500 calories, so they're pretty dense. I usually make it into a smoothie bowl. So I usually make it into a smoothie bowl, so I eat, or also I'm eating, eggs and veggies with avocado. You know you, you can go like four or five hours without even really thinking of food if you eat that way. Um, and so it is about building the nutritious meals and not thinking of them as snacks. And I think a lot of women tend to under eat, you know, thinking like, oh, I'm going to not eat so much at lunch and then they're starving like two hours later, so they just end up grazing, right.

Speaker 2:

But there's also science behind why you want to leave time in between meals is because your body does its repair work. When there's no food, it's working on digesting. So you have something called autophagy happening, where your cells that are maybe not the healthiest are dying off and your body is clearing them up. Our cells are born and die every day, and when we're not eating for that period of time is when that can happen. That's one of the processes that happen.

Speaker 2:

And also I referenced the other main reason why you don't wanna be eating all the time is because every time you eat, if there's even a little bit of carbohydrate, your insulin is going to spike. So you have this little blood sugar kind of bump every single time you eat for the most part and you're creating this kind of process where you know insulin goes up, then it comes down and you're hungry again and you're going on this blood sugar rollercoaster. And that's why we have the issue of so many people in the US having prediabetes or diabetes, and only now they're saying only like 92% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy, so only about 8% are metabolically healthy. It's because of this insulin rollercoaster most of us are living on. The statistics are pretty alarming as far as that's concerned. So we want to make sure that we're eating satiating meals, eating in a calm atmosphere, Like for my lunch.

Speaker 2:

I always make sure to put my phone away. I'm not going to sit and look at my phone and, you know, screen Instagram or something while I'm eating, because I'm bound to, as you said, find something that's going to trigger me and release a stress hormone which is going to raise my blood sugar even more. But you know defined meal times and not saying you can never have a snack, especially like if you've done an intense workout and you're or it's for a woman you're in the second half of your cycle, you probably are going to be a little bit hungrier and you actually need about 300 more calories during that time, like in a late luteal cycle. So you know, honor, that don't ignore it and don't starve yourself. But also, you just will find you're not thinking of food that often if you're eating the right way.

Speaker 1:

Let's see. Okay, one other personal question, since I have you here. I could practically be a fruititarian. Yeah, and I know from watching your like talking about a sweet potato spiking your blood sugar. I'm like, oh my God, if she could see the amount of fruit I'm eating, I'm sure it's a problem. I do try to grab like a handful or some nuts or something with it.

Speaker 2:

Yep, but is that okay to be eating. You know. This is where I think the N of 1 experiment could come into play for you. So I would recommend that at any point in your life at one point, you get a continuous glucose monitor, no matter if you're diabetic or not. You can buy them non-diabetic and we're not taking them for the diabetics. That's why I got that comment. There's plenty to go around there, plenty to go around. There's actually companies that are, you know, targeting them for people that are not diabetic, just to understand blood sugar, because we should. We're all different.

Speaker 2:

Like, sweet potato spikes my blood sugar. It's one of my favorite foods, um, so I always like now when I do it, I just do a few sweet potatoes and more roasted vegetables, like I do. You know, I you still eat it, but I eat it in a different way than I used to. Um, and everyone is different. Like some people, banana might spike their blood sugar horribly. It doesn't really spike mine at all. So it is that knowing of how you interact, and there's also ways to mitigate that. So what I typically say is, if you know you eat a food, and watch how you feel afterwards, if your heart kind of races and you don't feel so good, it's probably because you had a blood sugar spike. Okay, you know. So if you're feeling good and it's not making you hungry all the time, you're probably fine. Test it to make sure is what I would recommend. But berries are usually a very safe bet, like any kind of berry is typically not going to spike your blood sugar. People have a little bit more problems with bananas or tropical fruits spiking your blood sugar, but then I have weird ones like chickpeas spike my blood sugar like crazy too, and they're not really supposed to because they have a ton of fiber in them. But again, every one is different. No-transcript ease your mind.

Speaker 2:

And this is only also if maybe you've had a blood panel and you've seen that your fasting glucose. So there's some key markers in terms of metabolic health. The five that they actually test for metabolic health is your hip to weight ratio, right, if you have a lot of visceral fat, belly fat, your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol and your fasting glucose. So those are the five measures to test metabolic health. The ones I think they're neglecting in terms of the actual numbers are what's called your A1C, your blood sugar over three months and your fasting insulin. So if you have any kind of problems with those numbers and that's where you might want to see a nutritionist or somebody to help you out is to help kind of address that scenario and try and get those numbers in check.

Speaker 2:

So you know, that's one of my goals, because I know that the state of prediabetes and diabetes is not just relating to diabetes. It's relating to a lot of chronic illness. You know they call Alzheimer's now the type three diabetes because it's so related to blood sugar. So that's what I want people to think of. When you're eating something and maybe you're noticing that you don't, you're fatigued afterwards you're needing a nap. You're kind of really going up and then it gives you a ton of energy. So maybe you're like, oh God, I feel great, but then a half hour later you're like I need a nap. So that's just a consideration is to make sure you're looking at your blood work, reviewing the metrics for what's called metabolic health, um, and, if you have any issues, to test it with maybe a continuous glucose monitor for a few weeks. Again, there's a lot of private companies out there now doing that kind of work, that um. I think it's worthwhile for almost everyone to do once or twice to kind of understand how their own physiology works. Okay, Awesome.

Speaker 1:

And what is your comment on intermittent fasting Like? Should we be cutting it off at seven and giving ourselves 12 hours? Is that the break we need?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think everyone can pretty much go 12 hours. I think that's a basic starting point. Is you know again, the not not eating like and I would say 12 hours, with trying to leave at least two to three hours at night before you go to bed, because you're going to get a much better night's sleep if you don't go to sleep with after having just eaten. So I'm not dogmatic about intermittent fasting at all. I do feel that when you're hormonally very stable, like postmenopausal women, can usually rock a metabolic fast or I mean an intermittent fast. Quite well, Men can definitely typically intermittent fast like the best of them. I know my husband is one of those people. When you're a hormonally kind of up and down perimenopausal women, I would say listen to your body.

Speaker 2:

For years I was intermittent fasting from. I would eat between 10 and six generally, and then my exception is usually the two weeks again before my cycle because I get hungrier. I might eat breakfast a little bit sooner. Now I would say I usually go about 14 hours instead of 16 hours. So I usually am eating between 9 and 6. You know like I'll have breakfast around 9 o'clock and I try and have dinner around 6 pm and then I say get out of the kitchen, turn the kitchen is closed for the night, like I'll turn off the lights, I'll go far out of the kitchen. Turn the kitchen is closed for the night, like I'll turn off the lights, I'll go far away from the kitchen.

Speaker 2:

I, you know, I don't have never really fallen into the pattern of late night eating which I know so many people struggle with, and I know that's just a set setting issue for most people, like you're so used to habitually getting the ice cream out of their fridge at, you know, when you're sitting and watching TV. Try and change up your environment. Maybe first of all get rid of the ice cream. If you just can't say no, but you know, maybe go, you know somewhere else in your house or do something different to kind of change up that routine. Replace it with I know it's not quite the same to have a hot cup of tea, but something like that you know, yeah, not quite the same, and I totally get that, totally get that.

Speaker 2:

But I always do what I do and this is where everybody again has something different that works for them. Because I'm a sweet tooth, I always eat dinner and then, right immediately after dinner, I have some super dark chocolate. So I feel like I love chocolate. It's 85% 88% is the brand I use right now and I feel like it satiates my sweet tooth enough. That is the end of my meal and I either have tea or nothing and I turn off the lights, close the kitchen. That's it.

Speaker 1:

I'm in a tricky spot in that I I'm not a late night snacker. I don't go back after dinner, but I have kids in sports and so our dinner is not at six o'clock.

Speaker 2:

And I had those days too. I had those days too.

Speaker 1:

So then I'm having dinner at maybe seven, 30. Um, and then I get up and I like to eat before I work out. I might just have a smoothie or something, but I go to 7am gym so I'm not even getting 12 hours. If we're just lifting, then I don't need a smoothie beforehand, but if we're doing something, that is, you know, with cardio and lifting, I eat before I go, and so I'm like you won't even make it 10 hours.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, and that might work for you. I'm not saying that, you know, everyone, again, is different. I found I cannot. I usually go to a 7am class every morning, which is my routine right now, and I can't eat usually before. But I'm only working out for 45 minutes typically. So, but like tomorrow I actually have, I'll go to my 7am and then I actually go to play tennis. So I will eat earlier tomorrow because I don't want to go like three hours without eating something.

Speaker 2:

So again, I'm not dogmatic about it, I'm listening to my body and I know that I need fuel for certain things. But you know, I do think that hormonally it kind of depends where you're at. Also, if you struggle with any kind of cortisol thyroid you know imbalances, which many women do sometimes you should not be fasting too much because it's a stressor for your body. Your body can perceive it as a stress and your cortisol levels can go up a little bit higher too. So again, the answer is probably clear as mud right there for some people. But my advice would be to try and go at least 12 hours and if you can I mean, I know the kids in sports things that's a time in your life right and you just, it is what it is. It is what it is.

Speaker 2:

And I went through that and now I'm the other side. You know, I have one kid, she drives one kid at home, the other two are out of the house, um, and I can kind of do whatever I want when I want, for the most part. So I set my days up where I'm eating at six and you know, then I eat after my workout. So it works for me. But again, like certain days, I'll be hungrier and I'll change that and that's okay, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Great, I feel like I cheated a little bit by having you on and asking all my personal that's what it's all about.

Speaker 2:

That's what it's all about. You do work with individuals too, right? I no longer do, actually. So I did for the first six years of my practice and I worked one-on-one and I love that. During COVID it kind of killed me because I was on Zoom way too many hours and so now I just do group corporate and presentations and retreats for companies and things like that.

Speaker 1:

Perfect. Well, I will look forward to the detox in May. That sounds fun and like a perfect, you know, pre-summer reset.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, Exactly. That's what it's about and I do. You know, even though I'm not seeing one-on-one, I try and post all the time of health tips, those kinds of things. I have a website where I got to get better about putting recipes up. I haven't recently, but I do post a lot of recipes and just health tips and blogs on health.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and I will link all of those things in your Instagram in the show notes, as well as a link to the new book, and I thank you so much for your time and sharing all of your knowledge so that I don't have to go and read. Yes, yes, it is tricky to read some of those things for sure. So thank you Susan, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for joining me this week. Be sure to not miss any upcoming episodes by subscribing to the podcast. That way, it's available automatically in your RSS feed. This is a crazy journey. Let's do it together.

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Susan Sutherland

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