The Catalyst: Sparking Creative Transformation in Healthcare

Stress Less at Work: Neutralize Your Inner Judge and Saboteurs

“Part of that trauma is the fact that I am no longer playing my violin. I am no longer writing. I am no longer doing all these things that made me me before I was told that I had to be this. I had to put the glasses and the stethoscope on and I had no other identity,” explains Dr. Catherine Woodhouse, MD, BCC. Catherine is a triple board certified physician in internal medicine, pediatrics and obesity medicine. She’s also an author and co-inventor of a device that improves mobility for manual wheelchair users. Catherine began to experience burnout after realizing that she had lost parts of her identity when she put on the white coat. As she began to reintegrate those parts of herself back into her life, she realized that she was actually a better physician for it than she was when trying to be somebody else. 
 
We all have internal judges and saboteurs inside our minds that try to tell us we are not good enough. These voices develop in response to fear of failure and criticism and cause us to create personas that are a reaction to those judgements. In order to neutralize the judges, we need to get into what Catherine refers to as “sage mode”. This requires letting go of fear and showing acceptance and compassion for the judges and saboteurs. One method for this that Catherine recommends to her clients is the SOAP note technique. A SOAP note is something that is already very familiar to anyone working in healthcare, but her technique switches it up so that you are observing your own behavior verbally. Take a look in the mirror and observe yourself objectively and subjectively. What are you feeling when you look in the mirror? What do you see? Make an assessment and a plan based on these observations. Even a simple plan like taking a day off can be a fantastic first step toward regaining agency over your life. 
 
People are typically their own worst judges, but that can be countered if you know what to watch out for. We all have inner judges that are negative in our minds, sabotaging our lives out of fear of failing or being criticized by others. In order to reduce stress, it is vital to neutralize those inner judges and saboteurs and reach a place of understanding and acceptance for your true self. Learn to get beyond that fear and become comfortable with being your true self, so that you can reclaim your identity and be a better physician for it. 
Quotes
• “I found out that I was a better doctor when I integrated all of those other parts of who I am.” (10:07-10:12 | Catherine)
• “In response to fear of poverty, fear of criticism, fear of failure, we develop these personas to answer the attacks of the judge that we're not good enough.” (15:17-15:32 | Catherine)
• “I have people look in the mirror, and I have people do a SOAP note on themselves. A verbal SOAP note. So you know, subjective. What are you feeling right now? Objective. If you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see? You see the slumped shoulders? You see the bags under your eyes? What's your assessment and then what's your plan? The plan can just be one nugget like, you know what? I need to take tomorrow off.” (22:08-22:40 | Catherine)
• “We have to create different standards of sufficiency and worth. What do I need to do to do my job well, the way that I want to do it and the way that I know I need to do it for me?” (38:32-38:46 | Catherine)
 
Links
 
Connect with Catherine Woodhouse:
Website: https://evolvedphysician.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinewoodhousemd
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Hormone Guru Reveals All

“First, understand that an OBGYN gets zero training in menopause,” explains Tara Scott, MD. Tara uses her 25 years of experience and board certifications in gynecology, functional medicine, and integrative medicine to help patients dealing with hormone issues like weight gain, infertility, and breast cancer. Tara first began learning about hormones due to her own difficulties with infertility from endometriosis. She attended a conference in 2003 about what was then referred to as the “root cause approach” and ultimately managed to cure her endometriosis. A few years after the conference, Tara’s brother died unexpectedly of a heart attack at only 38 years old. The loss of her brother from completely preventable means combined with Tara’s personal health journey led her to shift her focus to preventative care and women’s health, particularly in regards to the role of hormones in menopause. 
 
The majority of gynecologists do not approve of hormone therapy or understand it well enough to feel comfortable enough prescribing it. Traditional medicine does not provide any real training on how to treat menopause symptoms, and it can be difficult to separate out the facts from fiction due to there being no standard of care for hormone therapy within the industry. Hormones like estrogen play a huge role in women’s health impacting everything from acne to breast cancer risk, but most practitioners are not testing hormone levels in their patients. There are many ways to assess hormone levels including blood tests, serum tests, saliva tests, and urine tests. Each of these different testing avenues has their own benefits and there is no one right way to test. 
 
Hormones play an important role in overall health, especially in regards to women’s health. When hormones are unbalanced there can be very serious health consequences from minor inconveniences like acne and weight gain to serious medical conditions like endometriosis and breast cancer. Learn more about your options for hormone testing so that you can take an extra level of prevention.
 
Quotes
• “If you're interested, it's because you have a personal vested interest, you have hormone issues yourself, or there's a personal family member that has hormone issues, and obviously, my gynecology background kind of led me down this path of hormones anyway in my own personal journey with my hormones and infertility. So I think there are a lot of avenues to learn and it's hard to weed through because there is actually no standard of care in the industry.” (7:00-7:28 | Tara)
• “First, understand that an OBGYN gets zero training in menopause. We are not taught what to prescribe, how to prescribe, or the risks and benefits. I would say if you polled 10 gynecologists, even 100 gynecologists, 98% would say they are scared of hormone therapy, they don't prescribe it, they don't recommend it.” (8:39-8:55 | Tara) 
• “If you're getting education about hormones, and they say only do this type of testing, there is not one right test.” (13:19-13:25 | Tara)
Links
Connect with Tara Scott:
Website: drtarascott.com 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drtarascott
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hormonegurumd/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hormoneguru
LinkedIn: TaraScott/Hormoneguru
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TaraScottMD
 
Connect with Lara: 
Free Calendar Planning System: https://drlarasalyer.com/links
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Building Daily Rituals to Address Root Cause

“I never really say get rid of your stress. We have to find a way to manage our stress,” shares Rachel Martin, IFM Certified Practitioner and Family Nurse Practitioner of 6 years. Rachel was drawn to functional medicine when her third child was born with a rare genetic disorder called congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. Then, Rachel was under a massive amount of chronic stress from taking care of her older children, opening her practice, and managing her youngest child’s condition, and her gut health was getting worse and worse. The standard medical interventions for treating digestive problems were not helping because they weren’t addressing the root cause of the problems. As Rachel began to learn more about functional medicine, she realized that the way to really help people make long term health changes was to tackle the root cause and focus on the gut-brain connection. 
 
It is not possible to fix gut issues long term without taking into account the psychological component. The gut and the brain are intricately connected and in times of stress, people will often find their digestive problems getting worse. When people are stressed, they often aren’t eating properly or sleeping enough and all of these factors need to be considered. Some issues that many people face when starting functional medicine treatment are that they overdo it on the supplements or they get into a neverending elimination diet with no attempt to work any of the foods back in later on. Rachel helps her patients to go a step beyond the basic elimination diet and supplements by incorporating daily rituals that help reduce stress. She recommends walking, yoga, and meditation to her patients in place of more high intensity exercises to help them bring mindfulness into their day. She also focuses more on helping clients know what to eat, rather than only focusing on what to avoid. 
 
If you want to improve your health long-term, you need to address the root causes like stress, diet, and sleep. The gut and brain are very much connected and when you improve your mental health and take time for self-care, you will improve your physical health simultaneously. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn more about daily rituals you can add to your routine to help reduce stress and heal your gut-brain connection. 
 
Quotes
• “It's not enough to work on the gut. You have to address the gut-brain connection. And you have to address stress.” (6:08-6:14 | Rachel) 
• “I never really say get rid of your stress. We have to find a way to manage our stress.” (8:54-9:00 | Rachel)
• “You should not have a part-time job taking supplements, nor should you have to have a part-time job to afford all of your supplements because you're taking so many.” (13:56-14:04 | Rachel)
• “I've had so many people who have come to me, they're all in their 30s and they're exhausted. They're like, ‘I'm doing everything right.’ And then their quote, unquote, right is intermittent fasting, low carb diets, and high intensity interval training. And I'm like, this is just too much for you right now.” (16:46-17:06 | Rachel)
• “I want them to literally not see me for years or maybe we have the occasional maintenance. But I want my patients to stay well.” (25:00-25:09 | Rachel)
• “Stop focusing on don't eat this, don’t eat that. Tell me what to eat.” (28:34-28:38 | Rachel)
 
Links
Connect with Rachel Martin:
Website: www.rootandritualfxmed.com
Instagram: @rootandritualfxmed 
 
Functional Micropractice Checklist
 
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Colorful Tips to Take Control of Your Calendar and Stop Feeling Overwhelmed

“When you learn how to use your own cadence appropriately, you understand your best hours of operation, and you arrange your calendar so that your deepest work occurs at your optimum time,” shares host Dr. Lara Salyer. If you have been getting overwhelmed by your schedule and your to-do list, you could be headed for burnout. Time management can seem intimidating to broach, but there actually are ways to bend time to better fit your needs.
 
We all have the same amount of time each day, so why do some people seem to be able to get so much more accomplished? Getting the most out of your time comes down to having time management systems in place and understanding your own natural rhythm. When you sit and plan ahead while also considering how your body best operates, it is possible to gain control of your time. Add anything on your to-do list to your calendar rather than complaining that you do not have enough time for it. When you optimize how you use your time, there is more space available for creativity and play. 
 
You don’t have to be overwhelmed every time you look at your calendar or planner. When you learn to optimize your schedule to match the cadence of your body, you too can bend time. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn each step of Dr. Lara Salyer’s weekly planning method. 
 
Quotes
• “When you say ‘I don't have time’ that is actually a false statement. Everybody has the same amount of time. It's not that you don't have time, it's that you aren't creating a space for it. It’s no longer a priority.” (2:28-2:44 | Lara)
• “When you learn how to use your own cadence appropriately, you understand your best hours of operation, and you can arrange your calendar so that your deepest work occurs at your optimum time.” (4:09-4:22 | Lara)
• “We can bend time and become more energized and powerful if we devote snippets of daily play and creativity in our life.” (5:23-5:33 | Lara)
• “Without putting things on the calendar, it's all a wish list. Your to-do list is really a wish list until you put it down in writing that you are going to sit with that task and do your best to finish it at that time on that day.” (20:34-20:48 | Lara) 
• “It's not that we need more knowledge. It's that we need to take care of ourselves and learn how to apply our medical practices differently to  keep up with the innovation that's happening in healthcare.” (22:07-22:18 | Lara)
Links
Download the Functional Micropractice Checklist here: https://healthinnate.activehosted.com/f/47
Get the Digital Planner: https://rightbrainrescue.com/p/planner
Become a Time Wizard: https://rightbrainrescue.com/p/timewizardry
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

The Bias of Tech

“I just don't want people to be afraid of tech anymore. I think people are afraid of it, because they don't understand it,” shares Claire Cooper-Bodtke. Claire combined her more than a decade of experience in the private medical sector to co-found her company, Medi Cava. During her work with physicians, Claire realized that the demands placed on physicians to be the sole responsible party for their business were unsustainable and resulting in high rates of burnout. At Medi Cava, Claire assists physicians with putting technological systems in place that help to streamline their services, grow their business, and reduce the amount of extra jobs they have to do themselves so that they can focus on actually healing patients. 
 
When Claire first meets with a client, she runs a gap analysis which essentially is a full tech audit that shows what is currently missing that the client needs for their business to run better. It is often helpful to start with the basics like creating a website where patients can book their own appointments or revisiting what type of software the client is using for customer relationship management. In addition to securing the basics, it can be fun to add in interactive opportunities like visual courses about functional medicine to engage patients and help get them to fully buy into the concepts for themselves. Tech can also be used to help track the lifestyle and buying behaviors of your patients so that you can attract similar patients to your practice. 
 
When used properly, technology can really help to reduce your overall workload and make everything run much smoother. Many people are nervous about venturing into the tech space because they do not understand it, but with the right help it is very much doable and worthwhile in the long run. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn more about the bias of tech and how tech can help you to run your practice more effectively. 
Quotes
• “I don't know who said that practitioners have to be the judge, jury, executioner and wear all the hats and do all the things, when there's really no other business model that makes them do that.” (5:19-5:33 | Claire)
• “Think about how much less money it costs to find the same person versus an entirely new person who's never heard of you. So when I tell people about referrals, they sort of think micro, right? So mom, dad, brother, sister. I’m telling you referrals of people that are like that person. Shop where they shop, workout where they work out, live where they live, drive what they drive. These are what we call psychographics of a human and their nature and how they buy. So buying behaviors, those are all things that you all have at your fingertips. And if you're using pieces of tech correctly, you can really hone in and find that very specific subset of patient that you want to continue working with.” (12:37-13:27 | Claire) 
• “Use those visuals. Use those ways to help like you say gamify or make it more interactive. Make it something that you can actually do.” (36:28-36:37 | Claire)
• “I just don't want people to be afraid of tech anymore. I think people are afraid of it, because they don't understand it.” (16:26-16:33 | Claire)
• “You can use tech in the right way. It will not be scary, and if at any time you get scared and you don't want to do it anymore, there are people like us who can help you.” (40:01-40:10 | Claire)
 
Links
 
Connect with Claire Cooper-Bodtke:
Website: www.medicava.com
Instagram: @wearemedicava
 
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Harnessing the Power of Joy for Hormones and Health

“Joy can be so many different things. It can be very calm, it can be serene. That's what it is. It's an internal feeling. It's an internal state of being,” explains Saadia Mian, MD. Saadia works as a holistic endocrinologist, incorporating integrative and functional medicine into her practice to better serve her patients. She is an author and self-certified “joy expert”. Throughout her journey through medical school, Saadia realized that all of her time was being spent nurturing the left side of her brain and not enough time was being devoted to right brain activities like fostering creativity. During her leadership program, Saadia began to notice even more the importance of joy and listening to her heart. She started to increase joy by using mindfulness practices to slow down and appreciate the little things like enjoying a cup of tea or feeling the grass under her feet. In her books, she shares all that she has learned about the impact of joy on health and how to make joy your default state of being. 
 
Chronic stress can have very negative impacts on health outcomes, because it causes perpetually heightened cortisol levels which throw all of our hormones for a loop. When hormones are impacted, the entire body is impacted. This can lead to all sorts of medical concerns from late periods, to weight gain, to increased risk of heart attack or stroke. Embracing joy is the best way to combat stress and help bring cortisol levels back down while also increasing happiness hormones like dopamine and serotonin. It can be difficult to always find joy, depending on your personal situations, so one way to start is to begin with gratitude. It is sometimes easier to find reasons to be grateful than to be joyful. From gratitude you can begin to work toward finding reasons for joy. 
 
Joy can be a very powerful tool for combating the negative health impacts of chronic stress. By inserting more joy into our lives, we reduce cortisol levels which in turn helps even out the hormones in our bodies. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn more about how joy impacts hormones, the roles hormones play in overall health, and how to begin increasing joy in your own life. 
 
Quotes
• “Joy can be so many different things. It can be very calm, it can be serene. That's what it is. It's an internal feeling. It's an internal state of being.” (11:14-11:24 | Saadia)
• “Small changes can have a big impact on every cell in our body. And yet, we can be resilient. We can train our bodies to be more resilient in the face of stress.” (14:24-14:37 | Saadia)
• “One of the things that actually brings me the most joy is when I see somebody's life has changed because of something that I've supported them with.” (21:51-22:00 | Saadia)
• “Joy is not only things that we perceive as happy-go-lucky, like lying on a beach sipping a drink, or being on vacation. We can also find joy in things that are challenging.” (22:14-22:30 | Saadia)
• “Set a timer and just see how many things you can immediately think of that bring you joy. And maybe after practicing gratitude later on, try it again and see if it has increased.” (38:22-38:33 | Saadia)
 
Links
 
Connect with Saadia Mian:
Websites: www.saadiamianmd.com, https://linktr.ee/saadiamianmd, 
Instagram: @saadiamianmd
 
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Cortisol, Boundaries, and Menopause...Oh My!

“If you can create better boundaries to just slow down a little bit, it is crazy how everything else will feel so much more amazing,” shares Stephanie Fusnik, nutrition coach. Stephanie saw through her medical schooling and career that there were large gaps in the way the healthcare system approaches physical rehabilitation, chronic disease, and weight loss. In particular, her older female clients were struggling to lose weight or improve their health based on their doctor’s recommendations that were not taking into consideration the impact of hormones on metabolism. Stephanie soon realized that by teaching perimenopausal and menopausal women about the role of hormones like cortisol in their bodies, her clients finally saw noticeable results not only in weight loss, but also overall quality of life.
 
Once perimenopause and menopause begin, women’s bodies no longer can handle stress in the same way that they were able to before. Cortisol levels increase and stay high rather than returning to normal, because there is a lack of hormonal buffers like estrogen and progesterone that would typically help with controlling them. When cortisol levels are high, women experience increased brain fog, weight gain, digestive problems, and trouble sleeping. Learning to implement and uphold boundaries in order to reserve time and energy for yourself to not get overly stressed is pivotal for helping lower cortisol levels. With proper boundaries and an understanding of how hormones impact overall health and metabolism, it is possible to repair your relationship with your newly changed body. 
 
Perimenopause and menopause cause large changes in the way women’s bodies work. The shifts in hormones cause increased cortisol, slower metabolism, and in turn an increase in a variety of other health issues. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn more about the impact of menopause on the body, why boundaries are so important for overall health, and how nutrition plays a role in managing hormones. 
 
Quotes
• “There's not enough information on this out there because lots of studies are done on men, and the whole fasting thing, and not eating your carbs, and eating low calorie, and those things don't work anymore.” (5:04-5:13 | Stephanie)
• “To dismiss someone's health concerns is one of the most disrespectful things you could ever do.” (7:25-7:29 | Stephanie)
• “Stress is stress. And you get the same response whether it's good or bad, your body doesn't give a shit. So then we go through these hormonal changes. And typically before, we can handle it okay, because we have hormonal buffers like estrogen, progesterone, they all help us deal with that kind of stuff. As soon as we go through peri-menopause, and menopause, and those things drop, our body cannot handle that stress anymore.” (10:13-10:34 | Stephanie)
• “If you can create better boundaries to just slow down a little bit, it is crazy how everything else will feel so much more amazing.” (15:56-16:04 | Stephanie)
• “You're supposed to be selfish in certain aspects of your life. If you're not taking care of yourself, or doing things that you love, and you're not happy, that will bleed into all your relationships.” (17:15-17:24 | Stephanie) 
• “Just because you're not scheduled for something doesn't mean you're available.” (19:53-19:57 | Stephanie)
 
Links
Connect with Stephanie Fusnik:
Website: www.vitalityosteopathicandexercisetherapy.com
Tiktok: vitalityoet.stephanie
FB: Stephanie Fusnik
FB Group: Metabolism and Menopause by Vitality - Secrets for Fat Loss
Instagram: vitalityoet.stephanie
 
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

How Codependent Thinking Might Be Hurting Your Practice

“I define codependent thinking as a mindset and a somatic way of relating to the world in which we chronically, unintentionally, and habitually source our sense of wellness, worth, and value from everything in the world other than ourselves,” explains Victoria Albina, Master Certified Somatic Life Coach, Nurse Practitioner, Meditation Guide, and Host of The Feminist Wellness podcast with over 20 years of experience working in health and wellness. When working as a nurse practitioner primarily in gastroenterology, Victoria realized there was a deeper root cause beneath what she was seeing on the GI map, and that was a lack of embodiment and a need for a mindset shift. She realized that many people are living with a codependent and scarcity mindset rather than being able to uphold healthy boundaries that bring the nervous system back into a state of safety.
 
When people are born, they are inherently aware of their own needs and are not shy in the least about asking for them. However, that all changes as we grow up and the opinions of others supersede what we know is best for our own bodies. When people are socialized to be codependent in the way that causes them to find the entirety of their self worth and validation from external sources, they tend to neglect their own needs and struggle with setting boundaries. Our inner-child lives inside our nervous systems and causes our bodies to react in ways based on past experiences. If medical professionals do not shift their mindsets away from codependent thinking, their practices and patients will suffer. Having good boundaries is good for both the physicians and their patients because it helps develop respect and trust. 
 
Codependent thinking can be a root cause of many health concerns. The best solution is to start retraining your body to respect necessary boundaries and learn to find a sense of self worth internally rather than relying on external sources. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn more about how codependent thinking can cause your nervous system to get stuck in a pattern of tension that can lead to burnout, gastrointestinal problems, and more. 
 
Quotes
• “What I was really seeing as the root cause underneath the blastocysts, under the pylori, under the gut microbe, under what I saw on the GI map, was mindset and a lack of embodiment.” (4:38-4:51 | Victoria)
• “When your life is constant lions on the savanna of this time, how can the gut function? How can the thyroid function? How can we have a healthy menstrual cycle? It is not possible when you live in tension.” (8:12-8:33 | Victoria)
• “I define codependent thinking as a mindset and a somatic way of relating to the world in which we chronically, unintentionally, and habitually source our sense of wellness, worth, and value from everything in the world other than ourselves.” (17:16-17:38 | Victoria)
• “Boundaries show us where we begin and someone else ends. And where someone else ends and we begin. It's the space where I have control over my human animal and nothing else on this planet. And I get to voice what works for me and control me and only me. So I teach that we voice boundaries as, if you do X, I will do Y.” (20:31-20:58 | Victoria)
• “Our inner child can be our most loving and valiant supporters. They can really have our backs. They can encourage us to make art, and to play, and to dance, and to sing and to be loving.” (29:39-29:50 | Victoria)
 
Links
Connect with Victoria Albina:
Website: https://victoriaalbina.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriaalbinawellness/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaAlbinaWellness/ 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBLzfjuuMedG9JtZlzd_JfA
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

How Culinary Medicine is Vital to Transforming Health and Outcomes

“I really need to understand how food is impacting the Krebs cycle and methylation and all that. So that's where culinary medicine can get a little bit more scientific versus just looking at it from a macro point of view,” explains Shefaly Ravula, PA-C. Shefaly spent 20 years as a board certified physician’s assistant and then shifted over into the functional medicine world. After her father, who seemed outwardly healthy, suffered a heart attack, Shefaly realized she needed to learn a lot more about nutrition and the impact on cardiovascular health. Now, she has her own telehealth practice, Precision Metabolic Health, where she uses culinary medicine to improve her patients’ digestive and metabolic health. She also launched the Food Is Medicine Academy which is available to the public and provides educational resources about culinary medicine. 
 
Having an understanding of the way nutrition impacts the body can help influence dramatic changes in a patient’s overall health and wellness. Nutrition has a large impact on the Krebs cycle and methylation. It impacts metabolic processes, our gastrointestinal health and cardiovascular health, yet often it is neglected in Western medicine. Ancient cultures used to view food as medicine and in other parts of the world it is still viewed that way, but in the Western world we have moved away from that. However, food still can be medicine and can be integrated together with Western medicine to create better health outcomes. 
 
Culinary medicine is a scientific way of looking at how food and overall nutrition impact the processes in the body. Although culinary medicine is not a replacement for traditional medicine, it can improve health and wellness outcomes when combined with Western medicine. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn more about how nutrition plays a role in metabolic function, cardiovascular health, digestive health, and virtually every aspect of our bodies.
 
Quotes
• “I really need to understand how food is impacting the Krebs cycle and methylation and all that. So that's where culinary medicine can get a little bit more scientific versus just looking at it from a macro point of view.” (8:21-8:34 | Shefaly)
• “It's not just protein, carbs, fats, fiber that I'm looking at. It's a much deeper level. And so my Food Is Medicine Academy gets into the science piece of it a little bit more than just going to maybe a regular dietitian and saying, ‘help me lose weight’.” (8:35-8:53 | Shefaly) 
• “I love data, data drives behavior change big time.” (17:46-17:49 | Shefaly)
• “If we at least shift the mindset, I think that they start thinking that way and realizing the importance of how much time it takes to do self work.” (23:08-23:20 | Shefaly)
• “I think food is medicine, and it can heal you and be a source of vitality, and energy, and vigor and health to some degree. However, it's not going to be the end all be all. You still need western medicine in some cases.” (31:33-31:55 | Shefaly) 
 
Links
Connect with Shefaly Ravula:
Websites: https://precisionmetabolichealth.com/ and also https://course.shefskitchen.com/ 
Twitter : @precisionmetab and @shefskitchen; 
Instagram @precisionmetabolichealth and @shefskitchen  
Linked-In: Precision Metabolic Health 
FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/culinarymed and also https://www.facebook.com/precisionmetabolic/
 
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Become the SHEO of Your Health

“I ultimately feel like doctors should be judged by how we get people off medications,” explains Jennifer Roelands, MD. Jennifer is the CEO and Founder of Well Woman MD. As an OBGYN with integrative medicine training and over a decade of women’s health experience, Jennifer is a catalyst for change within the healthcare community. She believes that women’s health requires a team based, integrative approach in order to really help the patient to the fullest extent and she is working to provide this model in her clinic. 
 
When Jennifer was trying to conceive her second child, she found out that her fertility was being impacted by both PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and Hashimotos Disease. To her dismay, her trusted OBGYN had nothing to offer her aside from birth control pills and a slew of other medications to counteract the side effects of the birth control pills. She realized there had to be a better way and this encouraged her to begin taking her health into her own hands by learning more about integrative medicine and really diving into information about nutrition and thyroid function. She discovered that main drivers of symptoms for PCOS are inflammation, insulin resistance, and gut health. And through that discovery, Jennifer was able to modify her diet and habits to improve her symptoms and heal her body all without the pill. Now, she uses what she has learned to help women get off of that endless carousel of medications and regain control over their own health. 
 
Just because healthcare has been handled one way for a long time does not mean it is necessarily the best way of doing things. Tune into this week’s episode of The Catalyst to learn more about how to take control of your own health. Learn about the importance of nutrition, hormones, gut health, and how having an integrative team approach can make a huge difference in your health outcomes. 
 
Quotes
• “I ultimately feel like doctors should be judged by how we get people off medications. We should be judged by that, not judged by how many people we can see in 10 minutes.” (7:40-7:52 | Jennifer) 
• “I think with PCOS, for me, it's a matter of trying to teach someone how to understand their body much better and understand their health and how my PCOS is different than your PCOS. So therefore, you need to focus on these particular aspects.” (11:43-11:56 | Jennifer)
• “If I can revamp or reimagine women's health, I would basically want it to be an integrative team. So I think that health care for women needs to be a team approach. We need to be able to take care of a patient. Here's your doctor, here's your nutritionist, here's your acupuncturist. Here's your health coach, here's your trainer, it needs to be this approach where we're basically a team to help someone.” (21:28-21:56 | Jennifer)
• “The patients want this kind of approach, we just need to learn to deliver it in a better model.” (23:25-23:32 | Jennifer) 
Links
Connect with Jennifer Roelands:
Website: https://www.wellwomanmd.com 
Instagram: @wellwomanmd (https://www.instagram.com/wellwomanmd/)
 
Connect with Lara: 
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm