December 11, 2025 • 53 mins
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This episode is featured in USA News. Blood sugar shouldn’t feel like a roller coaster. We sat down with functional medicine expert Dr. Kevin Smith to unpack how metabolism really works —across hormones, immune function, gut health, and brain — and why so many people feel hungry, foggy, and exhausted even while “doing everything right.” Dr. Smith explains insulin resistance in plain language, how to achieve hormone balance, nutrition tips, how cells make ATP, and the hidden ways stress and sleep shape glucose levels. He also challenges old grazing advice and shows how intermittent fasting and smart macronutrients can re-sensitize insulin, stabilize energy, and support autophagy for cellular cleanup.
Chapters
- 0:00 Setting The Stage: Metabolism Defined
- 3:35 The 13 Body Systems Overview
- 20:53 Signs Your Metabolic System Is Off
- 23:05 Diets Compared: Keto, AIP, And More
- 26:06 Glucose 101: Insulin And ATP
- 29:02 The Blood Sugar Roller Coaster
- 31:05 TBI, Hormones, And Type 3 Diabetes
- 34:03 Intermittent Fasting Versus Grazing
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Um the metabolic system loosely defines a bunch
of different systems of thebody.
So, like the endocrine system uhthat regulates your blood sugar
levels.
Um if you have a problem with umwith with your GI, if you're
having any kind of uh foodallergies or chemical
(00:20):
sensitivities or problems withyour immune system.
That's generally speaking, aboutthat, that's that's where what I
refer to as the metabolic.
SPEAKER_02 (00:30):
Imagine your body losing control of its blood
sugar, spiraling into dangeroushighs or lows that could change
your life forever.
This is glucose dysregulation, ahidden struggle where insulin,
the key to balancing your sugarlevel, fails due to damage to
your metabolic system or even abrain injury, disrupting vital
hormones.
(00:51):
Today, our new normal big lifefunctional medicine expert, Dr.
Kevin Smith, founder of ChronicConditions Center, reveals his
groundbreaking approach tofixing your metabolic system.
With over 20 years transforminglives battling chronic
conditions, Dr.
Smith will unlock the secrets ofyour metabolism, warning you
about the risk of neglect andempowering you with the
(01:12):
knowledge to take care of yourhealth like never before.
Hi friends, welcome to the NewNormal Big Life Podcast.
We bring you natural news andstories about nature that we
hope will inspire you to getoutside an adventure, along with
a step-by-step plan to help youpractice what you've learned and
create your own new normal andlive the biggest life you can
dream.
I'm your host, Antoinette Lee,the wellness warrior.
(01:33):
So let's talk about the body ingeneral before we get more
specific.
There are 13 major systemsworking together to keep your
body healthy and active.
Today in this two-part series,first we're talking about the
metabolic system.
Part two, we'll talk about themusculatal system.
We're talking with functionalmedicine expert Dr.
(01:55):
Kevin Smith about the metabolicsystem, what it does, what air
of the body it impacts, and whatit looks like when it's not
working properly and how to healit.
So whether you're recoveringfrom an illness or injury, or
just want to feel your best,understanding how to naturally
enhance your body's function isimportant to your good health.
(02:15):
So let's look at how the systemsof the body work together by
briefly discussing the 13 majorsystems of the body.
First up is the nervous system,it controls and coordinates all
body activities throughelectrical and chemical signals.
It's composed of the brain,spinal cord, and nerves.
The circulatory systemtransports nutrients, oxygen,
(02:36):
and waste products around thebody.
It includes the heart, bloodvessels, and blood.
The respiratory systemfacilitates gas exchange.
Oxygen enters the body, andcarbon dioxide leaves the body.
Key components are the lungs,trachea, bronchi, and diaphragm.
The digestive system breaks downfood into nutrients that the
(02:58):
body can absorb and eliminateswaste.
The components of the digestivesystem include the mouth,
esophagus, stomach, intestines,liver, pancreas, and
gallbladder.
The skeletal system providessupport and structure.
It protects organs and aids inmovement along with the muscles.
The skeletal system is made upof bones, cartilage, ligaments,
(03:20):
and tendons.
The muscular system enablesmovement, it maintains posture
and generates heat.
The muscular system includes allmuscles of the body.
And recent longevity researchshows the amount of muscle and
muscle strength, especially gripstrength, is a good predictor of
your health and longevity.
That means how long you mightlive.
(03:41):
But it's not just about livinglonger.
The goal is to live longer,healthier, active, independent
lives.
The endocrine system regulatesbody functions through hormones.
Key glands include thepituitary, thyroid, adrenals,
pancreas, and gonads, ovaries inwomen, testicles in men.
The immune system defends thebody against disease by
(04:02):
identifying and neutralizingpathogens and other harmful
agents.
The immune system is made up ofwhite blood cells, the lymphatic
system, the spleen, the thymus,and bone marrow.
The urinary system filters bloodto remove waste and excess
substances leading to urineproduction.
The urinary system includeskidneys, ureters, bladder, and
(04:24):
urethra.
The interguminatory systemprovides external protection,
regulates body temperature, andsynthesizes or makes vitamin D
from natural sunlight.
It consists of skin, hair,nails, and associated glands.
If you want to learn more aboutnatural ways to improve these
systems, subscribe to ournewsletter at nnbl.blog.
(04:46):
Only subscribers get access tofree downloadable content like
natural ways to improve yourbody's major systems that you
can use to shop from anddownload so that you can plan to
implement what you've learned inyour daily life.
The reproductive system isresponsible for sexual
reproduction.
In males, it includes testicles,penis, and accessory glands.
(05:08):
In females, it contains ovaries,fallopian tubes, uterus, and
vagina.
The lymphatic system returnsfluid from tissues to the blood,
absorbs fat from the digestivesystem, and aids in immune
response.
The lymphatic system includeslymph nodes, vessels, thymus,
and spleen.
A poorly functioning lymphaticsystem can cause fluid to back
(05:31):
up in your body and increaseweight gain and chronic
widespread inflammation.
And inflammation is one of thoseterrible building blocks to
future illness and of your majororgans, like your heart and
brain, for example.
Finally, there's a metabolicsystem.
The human body's metabolicsystem encompasses all
biochemical processes thatsustain life, involving the
(05:53):
conversion of food into energy,building blocks for tissues, and
waste elimination.
Today, our guest, functionalmedicine expert, Dr.
Kevin Smith, will help youunderstand how your metabolic
system works, what it looks likewhen it's not working properly,
how to diagnose problems withyour metabolic system, like
metabolic syndrome, for example,and what you can do to improve
(06:14):
your metabolic health.
Dr.
Kevin Smith is a functionalmedicine practitioner from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He's the founder and clinicdirector of metabolic solutions,
and he specializes in thediagnosis and treatment of
chronic health problems thathave failed with traditional
medical approaches.
Dr.
Smith has been in practice since2001.
And in that time, he's seenthousands of people regain their
(06:38):
function, restore their health,overcome imbalances, preserve
their independence, and decreasetheir reliance on medications.
Many people have commented thathe has a gift of being able to
distill complicated medicalinformation and communicate it
in a way that the average personcan understand.
He prides himself on being thedoctor who will actively listen
(07:00):
and tailors treatmentspecifically to people's needs.
He takes the time to educatepeople about their condition and
their treatment plan.
Dr.
Smith's philosophy is aboutdeveloping a trusting long-term
relationship and genuinelycaring about people's
well-being.
And that's why he's a friend ofthis show.
So let's dive into today's topicwith Dr.
(07:21):
Kevin Smith.
Welcome, friend of the show, Dr.
Kevin Smith.
Good morning, Dr.
Smith.
SPEAKER_00 (07:26):
Good morning, Antoinette.
Thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure to be here back.
SPEAKER_02 (07:29):
Always excited to have you here.
Let's talk about the metabolicsystem.
Tell us what it is and what itcontrols.
SPEAKER_00 (07:38):
So the metabolic system loosely defines a bunch
of different systems of thebody.
So, like the endocrine systemthat regulates your blood sugar
levels, your and if you have aproblem with your GI, if you're
having any kind of foodallergies or chemical
sensitivities or problems withyour immune system, that's
(08:01):
generally speaking about that.
That's what's where what I referto as the metabolic.
People have the right to havemore than one problem.
So, you know, people can havelow blood sugar, they can have
autoimmunity issues, they canhave chronic inflammation.
And so my job as a functionalmedicine doctor is to kind of
(08:22):
peel back layers of the onion tofind out what part of their pro
of their physiology is beingaffected.
SPEAKER_02 (08:29):
And how do you do that?
Because I know when you whenI've gone to the doctor with a
metabolic problem, and we cantalk about that in a moment,
they run some blood tests, andthen they say, You have this
problem, and here's this pill.
And we never get to the why.
Why do I have that problem?
(08:49):
We just sort of mask thesymptoms.
How is it diagnosed by afunctional medicine doctor?
SPEAKER_00 (08:55):
Well, the workup, first of all, that's a great
question.
So the the workup of problemswhen it's done by a functional
medicine practitioner is verysimilar to what goes on in
traditional medicine.
The difference is in how deepthat the doctor digs into the
problem.
So, for example, an allopathicmedical doctor, which is what
(09:19):
most MDs are, what they do isyou go in their office, you fill
out a little bit of paperwork,you do a little consultation,
you speak with the medicalassistant for a while, then the
doctor comes in and hediscusses, you know, what's
going on with you.
The doctor is going to spendabout seven minutes of
face-to-face time with you, andthen he's gone.
(09:40):
Whereas the meta uh functionalmedicine practitioner is gonna
spend upwards of an hour or twowith you.
So it's a much more deepexperience.
We we have to dig in a lot tofigure out what's going on,
what's the what's the issuehere?
And I have my own theories ofwhy that occurs.
SPEAKER_02 (09:59):
I'm interested in knowing that.
I think our listeners would betoo.
SPEAKER_00 (10:02):
So I think that a lot of this has a lot to do with
what's going on with theinsurance companies.
So that's the reason why whenyou go to the medical doctor and
he orders a very small amount oflab tests, and then he follows
up with a consultation and thengives you a pill.
In other words, he's gonna doexactly whatever the insurance
(10:24):
company dictates that they'llpay for and nothing else.
And you know, for some peoplethat works great, they they're
very satisfied.
For other people, they're notsatisfied, they feel like it's
like a superficial, glossyoverview of the problem without
really digging in deep andfiguring out what could be
contributing to my problem andwhat's going on with my diet and
(10:48):
what's going on with my myoverall wellness.
When people today are takingseven, eight, nine medications
every day, we have we it's causefor concern.
And we live in a drug-fueledsociety, we live in a drug
culture.
And I think that the biggestpart of that is because of the
insurance companies.
(11:09):
And the medical doctors that I'mfriends with that I've talked
to, they're very frustrated bythis.
They want to dig in, they wantto do a better job, but they
can't because of limitations ofwhat the insurance will pay.
SPEAKER_02 (11:22):
So, in the spirit of helping people become better
healthcare consumers, if you'reone of those people who can take
what happened to me, which was20 medications at one time, if
you're one of those people whosebody can handle that without
breaking down and you like thesimple, simple in air quotes
(11:43):
lifestyle of just give me a pillso that I can forget about this
issue and I don't have to do thehard work of lifestyle changes
or exercise, better nutrition,whatever.
Some people do fine with that.
There are other people who, likemyself, the more chemicals I put
(12:04):
in my body, the sicker I becometill I almost died.
So, what can people like me whojust can't handle all of those
chemicals in our system do to bebetter equipped as healthcare
consumers to find the answers?
SPEAKER_00 (12:18):
Well, I think that the first thing that has to
occur is that the you have to behonest with yourself.
And people need to get a reallyclose understanding about what
is going on, how manymedications that they're taking,
and what are the possible sideeffects of the medications that
they're taking, and then linkthe side effects, the possible
(12:43):
side effects to potential futureproblems.
When you take one drug, ifyou're taking one single drug,
that drug has been researchedand it's been analyzed, and
they've done 13 years of intensescrutiny.
They've published the data inpeer-reviewed medical journals
(13:03):
and had other authors take alook at this and experiment and
see what's going on.
Then it has to go through threedifferent levels of FDA approval
in order to release that drug tothe market.
So it's very robust.
But what happens when you takedrug one and drug two?
When you take drug one and drugtwo together, you're in the now
(13:27):
in the world of polypharmia,which means that you're taking
multiple drugs.
And how much data exists to showside effects when with with two
different drugs?
The answer is none.
Zero.
There's no data out there thatshows the side effects that
happens.
They theorize that this mayhappen, but there's no actual
(13:49):
experimentation done.
Now, what happens when you takedrug one, drug two, drug three,
drug four, drug five, drug six,and drug seven?
So that's very common.
When people come to see me, theybring their drug list.
And so they want to show me whattheir medication is that they're
taking.
So it's very common for peopleto take like a cholesterol pill
(14:12):
and they take like a statin andthey'll take a high blood
pressure medication, and there'sanother drug for their to to
thin their blood, and there'sanother drug out there for
migraines, and there's anotherdrug out there for their
colitis, and it goes on and on.
The most I've ever seen in mypractice, a guy came in with his
(14:35):
drug list, it was a page and ahalf single space typed, and it
blew my mind that he was stillable to stand upright.
And all of these medicationswere have been prescribed by
well-meaning medical doctorsthat are just trying to help,
but clearly they're not talkingto each other to find out all
the different things that aregoing on, or they're just
(14:58):
dismissing it as no big deal.
I want to I want your listenersto understand that I'm not
anti-drug, I'm notanti-physician.
I believe that there's a timeand a place for all healing.
So, medical doctors that aretrained in the United States are
the best in the entire world atfixing acute problems or new
(15:21):
problems or problems thatrequire a heroic measure to save
a life, like a heart attack or astroke, or a gunshot wound, or a
broken bone, or some majorissue.
They're phenomenal.
But they are they do not have agood track record at at curing
(15:42):
chronic problems.
And chronic problems are definedas problems that have been
around for about six months ormore.
So that would be that wouldinclude things like low thyroid
disease, reactive hypoglycemia,migraine headaches, high blood
pressure, things like that.
They're just they don't have agood track record at all.
(16:04):
And so really what it comes downto is what can you do to try to
help with this problem withoutresorting to medications?
And that's where the thelifestyle thing that we talked
about comes in.
SPEAKER_02 (16:18):
Yeah, when you talk about drug interactions and
doctors being well-meaning, Ihave a background in
pharmacology.
So when I go to a doctor, Ialways ask about the drugs, I
ask about potential sideeffects, and I read the label,
the insert labels online beforeI agree to using a medication.
(16:41):
And when I talk with fivedoctors about the different
drugs that they wererecommending that all are known
to cause kidney damage, they alltold me, young lady, basically,
it's actually use those words.
I've been doing this a longtime.
I can tell you that you areperfectly safe taking all of
these five drugs.
I'm aware that you're on theother medications, and they are
(17:04):
all at very low dose.
You don't have anything to worryabout until I went into kidney
failure.
SPEAKER_00 (17:09):
Unfortunately, that kind of a story is very, very
common.
A lot of a lot of medicaldoctors, unfortunate, but they
can berate their patients fordaring to ask a question.
And one of the things that Ithink that is a very, very good
idea that I do all the time isto rely on pharmacists because
(17:29):
the pharmacists don't have a dogin that fight.
They're not a paid consultant bythe pharmaceutical companies.
And they'll give you the honestopinion.
That's all they deal with allday long.
And so they are a great sourceof information for people to
pick their brain and find outwhat is the mechanism of action
of this drug and are the whatare the known side effects?
(17:52):
What does the medical literaturesay about that?
And when you say that, they'relike, holy cow, this guy knows
what he's talking about.
So it's it's they they like itbecause you know you're kind of
like in appealing to theirintellectual vanity a little
bit.
But I I know what you're sayingabout being being scolded by
medical doctors.
That's that's unfortunate.
SPEAKER_02 (18:11):
Before we cover the next topic in this episode, I
want to introduce you to theadventure sports lifestyle with
what I call a micro story aboutan adventure that I've had.
The adventure sports lifestyleand my deep connection to nature
is essential to my good health.
So here's the story.
One day I was having the bestwhitewater kayaking paddling
experience of my life.
(18:32):
I had practiced so hard in aheated pool all winter in
Colorado to be able towhitewater kayak the filter
plant run, the Cache-LapudaRiver near Fort Collins,
Colorado, northern Colorado, atflood conditions or near flood
conditions.
That was my goal.
I was reading and running theriver with expertise that day.
(18:55):
I was using great paddlestrokes.
I was having the time of mylife.
You could hear people on theriver cheering me as I made it
through rapids that had beenflipping one boat after another
after another.
I was in the zone.
And then suddenly I could nottake another paddle stroke.
Coming into a very dangerousrapid.
(19:17):
I saw an Eddie calm water.
I signaled to Matt, who waswatching my back as always.
I signaled to him that I neededto catch the next Eddie.
He could already tell that I wasin trouble by the way that I was
not paddling and not reacting tothe water.
I was essentially totallycontrolling the boat with just
hip movements, kind of like huladancing inside my boat, because
(19:39):
I didn't have the energy to takeanother paddle stroke.
I mustered up the energy.
I got a couple of paddle strokesin, but I thought that day I was
just nervous about going to thefinal rapid, but it turned out
that I was having a lifethreatening medical emergency
and I didn't know it.
Later, I was diagnosed withchronic.
(20:00):
Chronically low blood sugar.
And on that day, I was likelyexperiencing a chronic low blood
sugar event as a result of mytraumatic brain injury.
So I want to say this to you,all of you athletes and weekend
warriors out there.
It's important to listen to yourbody.
I know that sometimes you canthink that it's just jitters or
(20:22):
you didn't eat enough, butinvestigate whether or not those
jitters, the anxiety or thatconstant hunger feeling is more
than just some simple fix likewhat I just described.
It could be a chronic orlife-threatening medical
condition.
I hope this inspires you to getoutside an adventure alone with
(20:43):
friends or the people you lovemost.
But more importantly, I hopethat it causes you to take your
medical symptoms very seriously.
So let's talk about what themetabolic system looks like when
it's not working properly.
How might we feel?
What might we notice?
What kind of symptoms could weexperience?
SPEAKER_00 (21:03):
So one of the things that people can can notice is
that they can have weight gain.
They can have low energy.
Maybe they have adrenal fatigue.
Maybe they have too muchcortisol.
(21:24):
That's a that's a stress hormonethat's produced by the adrenal
glands.
Maybe they have an allergicreaction to some kind of a food,
or I would say a immune reactionto certain foods that you're
eating that could be zappingyour energy.
Or it could be due to a chemicalcleaner, like a chemical cleaner
(21:46):
that you use to clean your housethat you think is perfectly
fine, but your body has a highamount of reactivity to it.
So your energy levels need to bemonitored.
And if you feel that you're notexperiencing enough energy, or
if you're experiencing weightgain, even with a diet and
(22:07):
exercise, those are two signalsthat something's not right.
And you really do need to payclose attention to what's going
on.
People are different.
Some person can eat a donut andnot gain a pound, whereas the
another person will eat freshproduce and not be able to lose
(22:28):
weight whatsoever.
So the one thing that I want tomake mention is that when it
comes to diet, we talked aboutthis before a little bit.
When it comes to diet andnutrition, there is no one size
fits all.
One type of an approach thatworks for one guy may not work
for a different person.
(22:48):
So let's say, for example, thatthis one patient tries a
Mediterranean diet and they nored meat and lots of fish and
lots of vegetables and lots ofolive oil and that's that kind
of thing works great for thatperson.
But another person may be betteroff by using a ketogenic diet.
(23:09):
Maybe if they have reactivehypoglycemia, they need to
monitor their glucose levels andmake sure that it's in with
within normal ranges so it's nottoo high and it's not too low.
It's just an even keel.
SPEAKER_02 (23:23):
I don't know how familiar people are with the
phrase ketogenic diet.
Could you explain what that is alittle?
SPEAKER_00 (23:30):
So a lot of diets out there, they they try to
modulate how many macronutrientsthat you're getting in each
category.
So macronutrients would includecarbohydrates, proteins, and
fats.
They're not all created equal,and we have to be very careful
about how much of an intakewe're we're consuming.
(23:54):
So a ketogenic diet would have ahigh amount of healthy fats, a
moderate amount of healthyproteins, and a very small
amount of carbohydrates.
And the purpose of that is touse fats as the primary fuel
source for the body, for yourbody and your brain also.
(24:14):
It does extremely well in that.
That is a preferred diet fordiabetics because it's very,
very you're you're you're usingfats as the primary constituent
to fuel your body.
An autoimmune paleo diet, whichis what I will start a lot of
people off on, uses moderatelevels of quality, healthy fats,
(24:37):
a high amount of quality,healthy proteins, and a low
amount of fat carbohydrates.
So again, it's it's using lowlow carbs, and but it's instead
of high fats, it's moderatefats.
Instead of low moderate protein,it's higher proteins.
And most people do very well onthat.
There's there's all kinds ofdifferent diets.
(24:58):
There's a there's the DASH diet,there's the rainbow diet,
there's all kinds of differentthings.
And so unfortunately, there's noshortcuts.
We got to figure out which oneworks best for your body.
And it's very, very challengingbecause a lot of people will go
to their medical doctors thatdon't have any training at all
in nutrition.
(25:18):
And because of that, theyoftentimes will give really
incorrect advice for people.
And so the the purpose is justto get in front of the right
type of doctor that can give youthe right type of advice and
help you as an individual.
SPEAKER_02 (25:35):
If you need help listeners, finding the right
doctor and with advocating foryourself without being labeled a
patient that's hysterical orcombative, then you want to
check out the episode of How toSurvive Your Hospital Stay with
Dr.
Julie Seymours on New Normal BigLife Podcast.
(25:56):
She gives you some greatinsights on managing even being
gaslit by your doctor.
So, Dr.
Smith, let's talk about theumbrella title of glucose
dysregulation.
Because I think a lot of peopledon't really understand that.
Even though they may have beendiagnosed with hyperglycemia,
(26:16):
high blood sugar, orhypoglycemia, low blood sugar,
they may not have had a thoroughexplanation from their doctors.
So, can you tell us about thethese two types of dysregulation
and what they might be doing toaggravate their problem rather
than help themselves?
SPEAKER_00 (26:37):
So, first of all, glucose or sugar is the primary
fuel that most people will use.
They when you eat any type offood, so you eat proteins or you
eat fats, the body tries toconvert that into glucose or
glycogen.
And then the glucose mixes withoxygen and in your cells, in the
(26:59):
mitochondria of your cells, andthat produces energy, the energy
that it produces because it'scalled ATP or adenosine
triphosphate.
So you have to have a properamount of fuel in your cells to
make uh enough energy for workand for play.
So if you have a problem withshuttling glucose into the cell,
(27:24):
that is called insulinresistance.
Insulin is a hormone produced bythe pancreas, and its job is to
take glucose molecules in out ofthe bloodstream and push them
into the cells where it can makethat ATP energy.
If the if the cell does not wantto allow the insulin to do its
(27:45):
job, that's called insulinresistance.
And that's the that's thestarting point of glucose
dysregulation.
If if the glucose can't get intothe cell, then what happens is
that the glucose lingers in thebloodstream for a long time and
starts to build and build andbuild and build, and then it
develops type 2 diabetes.
(28:07):
And people that have unsteadyglucose levels, there instead of
the glucose being on a steadystream throughout the day, it
goes up, it goes down, it goesup, it goes down, it goes up, it
goes down.
And along with that, it causes aproblem with your cortisol
levels.
That is a hormone but thatcontrols your fight or flight
(28:30):
response or your autonomicnervous system.
Cortisol has an inverserelationship with glucose.
So when glucose is going up, acortisol is going down.
When cortisol is going or wheninsulin is going down, cortisol
is going up.
So when you're when you have aroller coaster ride of insulin,
it's going up and down, yourcortisol is also going up and
(28:53):
down.
I'll give you an example.
A person wakes up in themorning, they feel hungry, so
they eat something sweet.
And what happens is that theirglucose levels or their insulin
levels starts to rise becausethe insulin is secreted to take
that sugar out of thebloodstream and push it into the
cells to make energy.
So it goes up.
(29:13):
And then after a while, it comesback down again.
Then it goes below the baseline,starts to dip a bit.
Then you have a hypoglycemia.
And then what happens is thatyou feel hungry again.
So you eat another thing, maybesomething more sweet.
So then it comes back up again,and then it goes back down
again, then it goes up again,then it goes down again.
(29:35):
So these people are alwayshungry, they're always they they
could be, they could just eat ina meal and they're they're just
always always hungry becausethey're eating the wrong types
of foods and it's causing thisroller coaster ride.
And with people that havechronic hypoglycemia
(29:56):
hyperglycemia or diabetes,they're also going to have it
dip below the normal level andhave low blood sugar.
And what the strategy would beto try to get it back to an even
keel throughout the day.
And that is that the the key tothat is managing your your
intake of certain types of foodsand also exercise.
(30:20):
Exercise is known to resensitizeinsulin on the cellular levels.
And if you do both, you have thebest shot of correcting this.
SPEAKER_02 (30:30):
So, what about people who are traumatic brain
injury survivors who often candevelop glucose dysregulation
and a condition calledpost-traumatic hyperpituitarism?
Let's talk about that because Iknow a lot of our listeners are
veterans, and many veterans havetraumatic brain injuries that
(30:51):
they're managing.
And this is yet another problemthat they can experience.
How does a brain injury causeglucose dysregulation?
SPEAKER_00 (31:01):
Well, the mechanism of action of that is unclear for
most doctors.
I think that the bigger issue isjust trying to manage the
glucose levels as best you canbecause when you have high
levels of blood sugar and youhave unregulated type 2
diabetes, eventually it's goingto turn into type 3 diabetes.
(31:24):
Type 3 diabetes is also known asAlzheimer's disease.
And that's in the medicalliterature.
They they found that people thathave high levels of blood sugar
have high levels of inflammationin the brain.
And the inflammation, the immunesystem, everything is
interrelated.
So the best way of correctingthis problem is at its source to
(31:48):
try to put healthy foods in yourbody, stay away from processed
foods, stay away from friedfoods or fast foods or
convenience foods, just byfocusing on green leafy
vegetables, healthy animalproteins.
And also one thing that thatthey that's different now than
(32:10):
was 25 years ago.
Do you remember 25 years agothey used to tell people to eat
all the all day long to grazeinstead of gorge?
And to constantly keep yourblood sugar levels at a high
level.
Remember that?
I do remember that.
That's the fastest way todevelop insulin resistance.
Every time that you eat food, itdoesn't matter what it is.
(32:31):
It doesn't matter if it'sglucose, I'm sorry, if it's
carbohydrates, proteins, orfats.
Every time that you eat, yourbody is going to secrete insulin
every single time.
So you eat something, yousecrete insulin.
You eat something, you secreteinsulin.
And after a while, you'resecreting so much insulin that
it develops insulin resistanceat the cell level.
(32:53):
One of the ways to combat thisis by doing intermittent
fasting.
Intermittent fasting is when youeat a healthy lunch, you eat a
healthy dinner, and then youdon't eat again until the next
lunch, the next day.
So you skip breakfast.
So they found that when peopledo intermittent fasting and they
(33:15):
go down to maybe two meals a dayor one meal a day, or do like a
longer fast, your body starts toresensitize that insulin
signaling at the cell levels.
And that's the best way, that'snot the best way, it's one of
the ways, one of the tools thatthey have of helping people that
suffer with this problem.
SPEAKER_02 (33:36):
That's pretty incredible because not only have
doctors and dietitians told meas a person who has a TBI and
developed glucose dysregulationthat I should start eating like
every two to three hours andhave lots of small meals
throughout the day.
And now hearing you say that'snot a good thing to do, I'm a
(34:03):
little concerned that I've beengetting really bad advice from
multiple doctors and multipledietitians.
SPEAKER_00 (34:09):
Well, they're giving you information that was popular
about 25 years ago.
I'm giving you the currentinformation.
So if you want to you want toexplore this on your own and do
some research and look atintermittent fasting and also
look for books written by Dr.
Jason Fung, MD.
And he's one of the world'sleaders on of diabetes.
(34:32):
And he talks about intermittentfasting and how that like a com
a combination of intermittentfasting and also a ketogenic
diet may be the solution thatyou're looking for.
SPEAKER_02 (34:44):
And I find I already feel there's a level of
credibility to what you said inmy own body, because my normal
sort of way of eating, just aninnate ability, is that when I
do intermittent fasting, andI've been a competitive athlete,
a runner, a bodybuilder, a powerlifter, lots of people will eat
(35:06):
big meals, especially when I wasa long distance runner.
They'll eat a huge meal and theywill compete full on a full
stomach.
If I compete on a full stomach,I never did well.
I always competed moresuccessfully when I had an empty
stomach.
And I've never been one of thosepeople who feels good.
(35:30):
My stomach doesn't feel goodwhen I eat too often.
So, like right now, following mydietitian's recommendations,
eating more frequently, I feelhorrible.
My physical performance is poor.
My brain seems like it is notfunctioning as well, and I just
don't feel good.
(35:50):
But when I was doingintermittent fasting, that's
when I felt my best and itperformed better.
SPEAKER_00 (35:56):
You know, one of the things that happens with when
you intermittent fast, you goabout 14 hours or so, is that
the body starts to develop orstarts to do autophagy.
And autophagy is where your bodystarts to clean up cells that
are that are no longer needed inyour body.
Maybe they're dying off, ormaybe they just need to be
cleaned up.
(36:16):
So the body starts to do thisthing where it it goes through
autophagy.
And you want to research that alittle bit more about how that
you can be at your best.
Sports nutrition is a scienceall by itself.
They those guys know a lot aboutlike when do you eat before an
event, when do you carb loadwhen with like endurance
(36:38):
training, things like that.
But for everyday people, I thinkthat they want to learn a little
bit more about intermittentfasting and also about how
regulating your macronutrients,carbohydrates, proteins, and
fats.
And just remember, not allmacronutrients are created
(36:58):
equal.
Like a Twinkie is a carb, right?
And a broccoli is a carb, butthey're not the same, right?
One of them is better for youthan the other.
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SPEAKER_02 (38:06):
So, Dr.
Smith, what else should theconsumer be aware of?
And I'm talking healthcareconsumer.
What else should they be awareof in terms of advice and
practices with their doctor thatare not working for them?
For example, I am verycomfortable advocating for
myself, seeing this doesn'twork, or I don't want to try
(38:28):
this until I've had time toresearch it.
I do get a lot of pushback, andI and I think that I have been
called in my medical records,because I've seen it once or
twice, a combative patient.
And the way that I'm talking toyou now is the way that I talk
to my healthcare provider.
There is nothing combative aboutme.
(38:49):
I'm just pushing back to say,let's pump the brakes because I
want to do some research, orwhat you have recommended for me
is not working.
And one of the ways, and Irecommend this to everyone
listening, one of the ways thatI know something is not rec is
not working is because I keep ajournal of what I eat, how I
(39:10):
exercise, how I feel, heartrate, blood pressure.
I even have an at-home EKG.
I do all of the things.
So when I go in blood uh oxygenlevel, when I go into my doctor,
I will tell them this is what Idid, this is how I felt, and
this is what my body wascommunicating to me.
And sometimes they still pushback and say, You're wrong,
(39:34):
right?
So can you empower us with moretools to calmly advocate for
ourselves without you knowticking off our doctors too
much?
But what advice can you give us?
SPEAKER_00 (39:46):
Well, first of all, you work the the the doctor
works for you.
You don't work for the doctor,you're the boss.
So you have the opportunity tofire your doctor anytime you
that you're dissatisfied withthem.
If you feel that not listeningto you if you feel that they're
just brushing you for they'rejust writing notes like a
(40:06):
combative patient whatever thenyou can say look i don't feel
you don't even have to sayanything you just leave you just
find a different doctor there'sthere's a there they're a dime a
dozen i think that uh peopleshould be very very picky with
who they go to and who theytrust their health to and i say
(40:28):
to people if you've already donethis if you've already tried the
drug approach and it's notworked to your satisfaction
maybe we ought to take things ina different direction maybe what
could it hurt you've alreadytried the drugs let's try
something different now what itell people like i have people
that come to see me for sayperipheral neuropathy and they
(40:51):
say you know that my doctor hasme on gabapentin or he has me on
lyrica or he has me on cymbaltaor some other drug and what I
would whoever put the person onthe drug has to be the person to
take them off the drug that'sjust common courtesy so I tell
people to have a the next timethey're having a discussion with
(41:14):
their doctor to say doctor I'mworking with a natural
healthcare practitioner fromPittsburgh he's working with me
with my neuropathy and I'm doingmuch much better I have less
symptoms my balance is betterthan the the pain is gone and I
think that it's time that we hada discussion about either
(41:35):
decreasing my dosage or gettingme completely off this
gabapentin.
What are your thoughts sir?
And you know if you my mythought is that if you approach
people in a very polite way likethat they're gonna be like yeah
let me let's get you off thisdrug the doctor should not have
a vested interest in keeping youon these drugs unless there's
(41:56):
absolute medical necessity forthis for the medications but if
you tell the doctor look i'm I'mfeeling better I I don't I don't
feel that you know I really needthis anymore or I think it's
time that we have thisconversation about decreasing
the dosage or getting me offthis drug entirely what are your
thoughts and if there's stillhard charging about the drug get
(42:20):
rid of the doctor find findanother doctor that will listen
to you you have the you have theright to to advocate on your
behalf or on a family member'sbehalf especially if it's you
have like an older parent andyou need to advocate on their
behalf trust me those doctorsknow all about that and they
(42:40):
they have to be very carefulwith how they how they phrase
things but I think that if youif you approach them in that not
combative but like a cooperativemanner they should be perfectly
fine with you.
SPEAKER_02 (42:53):
I I wish I live in that world but I have not met a
doctor with one exception whoever wanted to take you yes you
but I have not met a doctor thathas been my doctor who has ever
wanted to take me offmedications that they put me on.
(43:18):
So for example and when I wasout of the military and having a
really difficult time withanxiety depression and
agoraphobia when I was betterand felt I did not need the
medication and my therapist feltI no longer needed medication
and when I talked to thepsychiatrist about it very
(43:39):
calmly hey I'm feeling betterhere are all the different ways
that I'm doing better.
I'd really like to come off thismedication can you help me step
down off of it her response wasI'm going to put you on a 72
hour involuntary mental healthhold in the hospital that was
her reaction so unfortunately Ithink in the feedback that I get
(44:06):
from more than 7,000 people whofollow me on social media is
that that is not a commonexperience.
What you're suggesting is justhaving a calm rational
discussion with your doctor andthey would be cooperative with
what you're asking that's notthe experience that we're
having.
SPEAKER_00 (44:26):
It patient care is very adversarial if I if I was
working with a psychiatrist andthe site and I I expressed my
concern or that I I want todecrease my reliance on these
medications and the the doctor'sresponse to that was I want to
put you on an involuntarypsychiatric hold for 72 hours
(44:48):
they would be fired.
And then after that I wouldfollow up by calling the medical
board and you know report theactions because you know if it's
happening to you I'm sure it'shappening to other people and
you're doing them a favor by youknow having regulatory people
(45:11):
investigate them.
That's just not right.
But the doctors should be ableto explain to you this is what I
feel this drug is going to dofor you and this is what it's
going to do for you there.
And I really think that you needthis level I mean when it comes
to psychiatric medications a lotof those types of things cannot
be based on lab testing they'rebased on symptoms they're based
(45:34):
on uh subjective complaints butif you also say that I'm feeling
better I don't feel that I needthis as much anymore they should
be cooperative with you.
SPEAKER_02 (45:45):
Right.
I I feel like a person who wasagoraphobic, unable to leave
their home for 18 months who'snow a whitewater kayaker and
leading other veterans onadventures is not someone who
needs psychiatric medication.
But that's where we foundourselves in and I did take
appropriate actions to make surethat she did not do that to
(46:08):
someone else.
So as we're talking aboutadvocacy I want to talk more
about what it's like to workwith someone like you who will
listen and who will be what Icall a teammate of your
patients.
And for those of you who arelistening and if you don't live
(46:29):
in the Pennsylvania area whereDr.
Kevin Smith works, don't worryyou could work with him over
Zoom.
So Dr.
Smith tell us how you wouldapproach someone who's
experiencing glucosedysregulation or any other
challenge.
SPEAKER_00 (46:45):
Okay so the first thing I want to do is I want to
gather information I want togather like their medical
history and look at all themedications that they've been
taking all their all thedifferent symptoms that they've
been suffering with.
And then we would have aconsultation where I just ask
them what are your goals?
What would you like to try toachieve and what would make you
(47:06):
happy and then from there then Iwant to get go into the world of
objective data.
If you're in the office we woulddo an exam if you're not in the
office we could still do somelab testing maybe check your
serum glucose levels or yourhemoglobin A1c levels and find
out where you are with that.
And then also maybe take a looktake a look at the a at a diet
(47:28):
diary and see what you've beeneating and maybe I can make some
some observations from that andthen from there I would just
continue down the pathway ofdoing some objective testing to
find out what's going on isthere an is there an autoimmune
issue at play is there chronicinflammation going on how are
(47:49):
you making energy how are youmetabolizing these carbohydrates
proteins and fats in your bodyso that we can make sure that
you're making proper ATP energyand also we want to take a look
at your GI issues and see if youhave any problems with
eliminating waste productsthat's very very important.
(48:11):
And if if I find any imbalancesthat are going on with any of
these different subsystems wewant to work on rebalancing
them.
We want to work on getting yourblood sugar even throughout the
day we want to work on makingsure that your sex hormones are
are proper that you're in youdon't have any anemias you don't
(48:33):
have any kind of stealthinfections that could be
contributing to this issue.
We want to look at what's goingon with you from the
musculoskeletal point.
You know do you have any kind ofnerve compression is there
anything that's going on insideyou that's causing pain that
causes a problem with your youryour midbrain things like that.
(48:54):
So we want to check you outneurologically and metabolically
it's a very very my my approachis it's a very comprehensive
approach and for people that arevery tired of like the a glossy
overview of what's going on whatthey get the the primary care
physician's office if you've ifyou've done that and you're
(49:15):
tired of it and you're notgetting anywhere let's try
something different.
SPEAKER_02 (49:19):
And how will listeners get a hold of you?
SPEAKER_00 (49:21):
They can go to metabolicsolutions.net that's my
website and you can call me youcan send me an email message
whatever whatever's on your mindabout this and that would be the
best way to get a hold of me orbest way the best first steps
you can also read about thingsthat I do and how I approach
(49:42):
certain things but you don'tdon't go to
metabolicsolutions.com go tometabolicsolutions.net that's my
website and do you have any sortof discounts for initial visits
or your initial consultation?
Is there a a cost yeah so so forpeople for people that are
(50:03):
listening to this the first thethe the first thing that I would
want to do is to do a discoverycall and that's a completely
free call you can get on thephone with me it's about a 10 to
15 minute informal phoneconversation where we can just
have a have a conversation aboutwhat you're going through what
you've already tried what areyour goals and then I'll make
(50:26):
some recommendations from there.
It's completely free.
SPEAKER_02 (50:28):
That's amazing thank you so much for joining us Dr.
Smith we'll have you back soonand next time let's talk about
the musculoskeletal system.
SPEAKER_00 (50:36):
That sounds great.
SPEAKER_02 (50:37):
Until next time friends I'm Antoinette Lee your
wellness warrior here at the NewNormal Big Life podcast.
I hope one day to see you on theriver in the backcountry or in
the horse vine living your bestlife struggling with health
problems or seeking naturalhealth solutions, we've got you
covered.
Don't miss our latest podcastepisodes, exclusive blog posts
(50:58):
and free ebooks packed withlife-changing wellness tips.
Be sure to help others find thisgreat information by leaving us
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Um the metabolic system loosely defines a bunch
of different systems of thebody.
So, like the endocrine system uhthat regulates your blood sugar
levels.
Um if you have a problem with umwith with your GI, if you're
having any kind of uh foodallergies or chemical
(00:20):
sensitivities or problems withyour immune system.
That's generally speaking, aboutthat, that's that's where what I
refer to as the metabolic.
SPEAKER_02 (00:30):
Imagine your body losing control of its blood
sugar, spiraling into dangeroushighs or lows that could change
your life forever.
This is glucose dysregulation, ahidden struggle where insulin,
the key to balancing your sugarlevel, fails due to damage to
your metabolic system or even abrain injury, disrupting vital
hormones.
(00:51):
Today, our new normal big lifefunctional medicine expert, Dr.
Kevin Smith, founder of ChronicConditions Center, reveals his
groundbreaking approach tofixing your metabolic system.
With over 20 years transforminglives battling chronic
conditions, Dr.
Smith will unlock the secrets ofyour metabolism, warning you
about the risk of neglect andempowering you with the
(01:12):
knowledge to take care of yourhealth like never before.
Hi friends, welcome to the NewNormal Big Life Podcast.
We bring you natural news andstories about nature that we
hope will inspire you to getoutside an adventure, along with
a step-by-step plan to help youpractice what you've learned and
create your own new normal andlive the biggest life you can
dream.
I'm your host, Antoinette Lee,the wellness warrior.
(01:33):
So let's talk about the body ingeneral before we get more
specific.
There are 13 major systemsworking together to keep your
body healthy and active.
Today in this two-part series,first we're talking about the
metabolic system.
Part two, we'll talk about themusculatal system.
We're talking with functionalmedicine expert Dr.
(01:55):
Kevin Smith about the metabolicsystem, what it does, what air
of the body it impacts, and whatit looks like when it's not
working properly and how to healit.
So whether you're recoveringfrom an illness or injury, or
just want to feel your best,understanding how to naturally
enhance your body's function isimportant to your good health.
(02:15):
So let's look at how the systemsof the body work together by
briefly discussing the 13 majorsystems of the body.
First up is the nervous system,it controls and coordinates all
body activities throughelectrical and chemical signals.
It's composed of the brain,spinal cord, and nerves.
The circulatory systemtransports nutrients, oxygen,
(02:36):
and waste products around thebody.
It includes the heart, bloodvessels, and blood.
The respiratory systemfacilitates gas exchange.
Oxygen enters the body, andcarbon dioxide leaves the body.
Key components are the lungs,trachea, bronchi, and diaphragm.
The digestive system breaks downfood into nutrients that the
(02:58):
body can absorb and eliminateswaste.
The components of the digestivesystem include the mouth,
esophagus, stomach, intestines,liver, pancreas, and
gallbladder.
The skeletal system providessupport and structure.
It protects organs and aids inmovement along with the muscles.
The skeletal system is made upof bones, cartilage, ligaments,
(03:20):
and tendons.
The muscular system enablesmovement, it maintains posture
and generates heat.
The muscular system includes allmuscles of the body.
And recent longevity researchshows the amount of muscle and
muscle strength, especially gripstrength, is a good predictor of
your health and longevity.
That means how long you mightlive.
(03:41):
But it's not just about livinglonger.
The goal is to live longer,healthier, active, independent
lives.
The endocrine system regulatesbody functions through hormones.
Key glands include thepituitary, thyroid, adrenals,
pancreas, and gonads, ovaries inwomen, testicles in men.
The immune system defends thebody against disease by
(04:02):
identifying and neutralizingpathogens and other harmful
agents.
The immune system is made up ofwhite blood cells, the lymphatic
system, the spleen, the thymus,and bone marrow.
The urinary system filters bloodto remove waste and excess
substances leading to urineproduction.
The urinary system includeskidneys, ureters, bladder, and
(04:24):
urethra.
The interguminatory systemprovides external protection,
regulates body temperature, andsynthesizes or makes vitamin D
from natural sunlight.
It consists of skin, hair,nails, and associated glands.
If you want to learn more aboutnatural ways to improve these
systems, subscribe to ournewsletter at nnbl.blog.
(04:46):
Only subscribers get access tofree downloadable content like
natural ways to improve yourbody's major systems that you
can use to shop from anddownload so that you can plan to
implement what you've learned inyour daily life.
The reproductive system isresponsible for sexual
reproduction.
In males, it includes testicles,penis, and accessory glands.
(05:08):
In females, it contains ovaries,fallopian tubes, uterus, and
vagina.
The lymphatic system returnsfluid from tissues to the blood,
absorbs fat from the digestivesystem, and aids in immune
response.
The lymphatic system includeslymph nodes, vessels, thymus,
and spleen.
A poorly functioning lymphaticsystem can cause fluid to back
(05:31):
up in your body and increaseweight gain and chronic
widespread inflammation.
And inflammation is one of thoseterrible building blocks to
future illness and of your majororgans, like your heart and
brain, for example.
Finally, there's a metabolicsystem.
The human body's metabolicsystem encompasses all
biochemical processes thatsustain life, involving the
(05:53):
conversion of food into energy,building blocks for tissues, and
waste elimination.
Today, our guest, functionalmedicine expert, Dr.
Kevin Smith, will help youunderstand how your metabolic
system works, what it looks likewhen it's not working properly,
how to diagnose problems withyour metabolic system, like
metabolic syndrome, for example,and what you can do to improve
(06:14):
your metabolic health.
Dr.
Kevin Smith is a functionalmedicine practitioner from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He's the founder and clinicdirector of metabolic solutions,
and he specializes in thediagnosis and treatment of
chronic health problems thathave failed with traditional
medical approaches.
Dr.
Smith has been in practice since2001.
And in that time, he's seenthousands of people regain their
(06:38):
function, restore their health,overcome imbalances, preserve
their independence, and decreasetheir reliance on medications.
Many people have commented thathe has a gift of being able to
distill complicated medicalinformation and communicate it
in a way that the average personcan understand.
He prides himself on being thedoctor who will actively listen
(07:00):
and tailors treatmentspecifically to people's needs.
He takes the time to educatepeople about their condition and
their treatment plan.
Dr.
Smith's philosophy is aboutdeveloping a trusting long-term
relationship and genuinelycaring about people's
well-being.
And that's why he's a friend ofthis show.
So let's dive into today's topicwith Dr.
(07:21):
Kevin Smith.
Welcome, friend of the show, Dr.
Kevin Smith.
Good morning, Dr.
Smith.
SPEAKER_00 (07:26):
Good morning, Antoinette.
Thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure to be here back.
SPEAKER_02 (07:29):
Always excited to have you here.
Let's talk about the metabolicsystem.
Tell us what it is and what itcontrols.
SPEAKER_00 (07:38):
So the metabolic system loosely defines a bunch
of different systems of thebody.
So, like the endocrine systemthat regulates your blood sugar
levels, your and if you have aproblem with your GI, if you're
having any kind of foodallergies or chemical
sensitivities or problems withyour immune system, that's
(08:01):
generally speaking about that.
That's what's where what I referto as the metabolic.
People have the right to havemore than one problem.
So, you know, people can havelow blood sugar, they can have
autoimmunity issues, they canhave chronic inflammation.
And so my job as a functionalmedicine doctor is to kind of
(08:22):
peel back layers of the onion tofind out what part of their pro
of their physiology is beingaffected.
SPEAKER_02 (08:29):
And how do you do that?
Because I know when you whenI've gone to the doctor with a
metabolic problem, and we cantalk about that in a moment,
they run some blood tests, andthen they say, You have this
problem, and here's this pill.
And we never get to the why.
Why do I have that problem?
(08:49):
We just sort of mask thesymptoms.
How is it diagnosed by afunctional medicine doctor?
SPEAKER_00 (08:55):
Well, the workup, first of all, that's a great
question.
So the the workup of problemswhen it's done by a functional
medicine practitioner is verysimilar to what goes on in
traditional medicine.
The difference is in how deepthat the doctor digs into the
problem.
So, for example, an allopathicmedical doctor, which is what
(09:19):
most MDs are, what they do isyou go in their office, you fill
out a little bit of paperwork,you do a little consultation,
you speak with the medicalassistant for a while, then the
doctor comes in and hediscusses, you know, what's
going on with you.
The doctor is going to spendabout seven minutes of
face-to-face time with you, andthen he's gone.
(09:40):
Whereas the meta uh functionalmedicine practitioner is gonna
spend upwards of an hour or twowith you.
So it's a much more deepexperience.
We we have to dig in a lot tofigure out what's going on,
what's the what's the issuehere?
And I have my own theories ofwhy that occurs.
SPEAKER_02 (09:59):
I'm interested in knowing that.
I think our listeners would betoo.
SPEAKER_00 (10:02):
So I think that a lot of this has a lot to do with
what's going on with theinsurance companies.
So that's the reason why whenyou go to the medical doctor and
he orders a very small amount oflab tests, and then he follows
up with a consultation and thengives you a pill.
In other words, he's gonna doexactly whatever the insurance
(10:24):
company dictates that they'llpay for and nothing else.
And you know, for some peoplethat works great, they they're
very satisfied.
For other people, they're notsatisfied, they feel like it's
like a superficial, glossyoverview of the problem without
really digging in deep andfiguring out what could be
contributing to my problem andwhat's going on with my diet and
(10:48):
what's going on with my myoverall wellness.
When people today are takingseven, eight, nine medications
every day, we have we it's causefor concern.
And we live in a drug-fueledsociety, we live in a drug
culture.
And I think that the biggestpart of that is because of the
insurance companies.
(11:09):
And the medical doctors that I'mfriends with that I've talked
to, they're very frustrated bythis.
They want to dig in, they wantto do a better job, but they
can't because of limitations ofwhat the insurance will pay.
SPEAKER_02 (11:22):
So, in the spirit of helping people become better
healthcare consumers, if you'reone of those people who can take
what happened to me, which was20 medications at one time, if
you're one of those people whosebody can handle that without
breaking down and you like thesimple, simple in air quotes
(11:43):
lifestyle of just give me a pillso that I can forget about this
issue and I don't have to do thehard work of lifestyle changes
or exercise, better nutrition,whatever.
Some people do fine with that.
There are other people who, likemyself, the more chemicals I put
(12:04):
in my body, the sicker I becometill I almost died.
So, what can people like me whojust can't handle all of those
chemicals in our system do to bebetter equipped as healthcare
consumers to find the answers?
SPEAKER_00 (12:18):
Well, I think that the first thing that has to
occur is that the you have to behonest with yourself.
And people need to get a reallyclose understanding about what
is going on, how manymedications that they're taking,
and what are the possible sideeffects of the medications that
they're taking, and then linkthe side effects, the possible
(12:43):
side effects to potential futureproblems.
When you take one drug, ifyou're taking one single drug,
that drug has been researchedand it's been analyzed, and
they've done 13 years of intensescrutiny.
They've published the data inpeer-reviewed medical journals
(13:03):
and had other authors take alook at this and experiment and
see what's going on.
Then it has to go through threedifferent levels of FDA approval
in order to release that drug tothe market.
So it's very robust.
But what happens when you takedrug one and drug two?
When you take drug one and drugtwo together, you're in the now
(13:27):
in the world of polypharmia,which means that you're taking
multiple drugs.
And how much data exists to showside effects when with with two
different drugs?
The answer is none.
Zero.
There's no data out there thatshows the side effects that
happens.
They theorize that this mayhappen, but there's no actual
(13:49):
experimentation done.
Now, what happens when you takedrug one, drug two, drug three,
drug four, drug five, drug six,and drug seven?
So that's very common.
When people come to see me, theybring their drug list.
And so they want to show me whattheir medication is that they're
taking.
So it's very common for peopleto take like a cholesterol pill
(14:12):
and they take like a statin andthey'll take a high blood
pressure medication, and there'sanother drug for their to to
thin their blood, and there'sanother drug out there for
migraines, and there's anotherdrug out there for their
colitis, and it goes on and on.
The most I've ever seen in mypractice, a guy came in with his
(14:35):
drug list, it was a page and ahalf single space typed, and it
blew my mind that he was stillable to stand upright.
And all of these medicationswere have been prescribed by
well-meaning medical doctorsthat are just trying to help,
but clearly they're not talkingto each other to find out all
the different things that aregoing on, or they're just
(14:58):
dismissing it as no big deal.
I want to I want your listenersto understand that I'm not
anti-drug, I'm notanti-physician.
I believe that there's a timeand a place for all healing.
So, medical doctors that aretrained in the United States are
the best in the entire world atfixing acute problems or new
(15:21):
problems or problems thatrequire a heroic measure to save
a life, like a heart attack or astroke, or a gunshot wound, or a
broken bone, or some majorissue.
They're phenomenal.
But they are they do not have agood track record at at curing
(15:42):
chronic problems.
And chronic problems are definedas problems that have been
around for about six months ormore.
So that would be that wouldinclude things like low thyroid
disease, reactive hypoglycemia,migraine headaches, high blood
pressure, things like that.
They're just they don't have agood track record at all.
(16:04):
And so really what it comes downto is what can you do to try to
help with this problem withoutresorting to medications?
And that's where the thelifestyle thing that we talked
about comes in.
SPEAKER_02 (16:18):
Yeah, when you talk about drug interactions and
doctors being well-meaning, Ihave a background in
pharmacology.
So when I go to a doctor, Ialways ask about the drugs, I
ask about potential sideeffects, and I read the label,
the insert labels online beforeI agree to using a medication.
(16:41):
And when I talk with fivedoctors about the different
drugs that they wererecommending that all are known
to cause kidney damage, they alltold me, young lady, basically,
it's actually use those words.
I've been doing this a longtime.
I can tell you that you areperfectly safe taking all of
these five drugs.
I'm aware that you're on theother medications, and they are
(17:04):
all at very low dose.
You don't have anything to worryabout until I went into kidney
failure.
SPEAKER_00 (17:09):
Unfortunately, that kind of a story is very, very
common.
A lot of a lot of medicaldoctors, unfortunate, but they
can berate their patients fordaring to ask a question.
And one of the things that Ithink that is a very, very good
idea that I do all the time isto rely on pharmacists because
(17:29):
the pharmacists don't have a dogin that fight.
They're not a paid consultant bythe pharmaceutical companies.
And they'll give you the honestopinion.
That's all they deal with allday long.
And so they are a great sourceof information for people to
pick their brain and find outwhat is the mechanism of action
of this drug and are the whatare the known side effects?
(17:52):
What does the medical literaturesay about that?
And when you say that, they'relike, holy cow, this guy knows
what he's talking about.
So it's it's they they like itbecause you know you're kind of
like in appealing to theirintellectual vanity a little
bit.
But I I know what you're sayingabout being being scolded by
medical doctors.
That's that's unfortunate.
SPEAKER_02 (18:11):
Before we cover the next topic in this episode, I
want to introduce you to theadventure sports lifestyle with
what I call a micro story aboutan adventure that I've had.
The adventure sports lifestyleand my deep connection to nature
is essential to my good health.
So here's the story.
One day I was having the bestwhitewater kayaking paddling
experience of my life.
(18:32):
I had practiced so hard in aheated pool all winter in
Colorado to be able towhitewater kayak the filter
plant run, the Cache-LapudaRiver near Fort Collins,
Colorado, northern Colorado, atflood conditions or near flood
conditions.
That was my goal.
I was reading and running theriver with expertise that day.
(18:55):
I was using great paddlestrokes.
I was having the time of mylife.
You could hear people on theriver cheering me as I made it
through rapids that had beenflipping one boat after another
after another.
I was in the zone.
And then suddenly I could nottake another paddle stroke.
Coming into a very dangerousrapid.
(19:17):
I saw an Eddie calm water.
I signaled to Matt, who waswatching my back as always.
I signaled to him that I neededto catch the next Eddie.
He could already tell that I wasin trouble by the way that I was
not paddling and not reacting tothe water.
I was essentially totallycontrolling the boat with just
hip movements, kind of like huladancing inside my boat, because
(19:39):
I didn't have the energy to takeanother paddle stroke.
I mustered up the energy.
I got a couple of paddle strokesin, but I thought that day I was
just nervous about going to thefinal rapid, but it turned out
that I was having a lifethreatening medical emergency
and I didn't know it.
Later, I was diagnosed withchronic.
(20:00):
Chronically low blood sugar.
And on that day, I was likelyexperiencing a chronic low blood
sugar event as a result of mytraumatic brain injury.
So I want to say this to you,all of you athletes and weekend
warriors out there.
It's important to listen to yourbody.
I know that sometimes you canthink that it's just jitters or
(20:22):
you didn't eat enough, butinvestigate whether or not those
jitters, the anxiety or thatconstant hunger feeling is more
than just some simple fix likewhat I just described.
It could be a chronic orlife-threatening medical
condition.
I hope this inspires you to getoutside an adventure alone with
(20:43):
friends or the people you lovemost.
But more importantly, I hopethat it causes you to take your
medical symptoms very seriously.
So let's talk about what themetabolic system looks like when
it's not working properly.
How might we feel?
What might we notice?
What kind of symptoms could weexperience?
SPEAKER_00 (21:03):
So one of the things that people can can notice is
that they can have weight gain.
They can have low energy.
Maybe they have adrenal fatigue.
Maybe they have too muchcortisol.
(21:24):
That's a that's a stress hormonethat's produced by the adrenal
glands.
Maybe they have an allergicreaction to some kind of a food,
or I would say a immune reactionto certain foods that you're
eating that could be zappingyour energy.
Or it could be due to a chemicalcleaner, like a chemical cleaner
(21:46):
that you use to clean your housethat you think is perfectly
fine, but your body has a highamount of reactivity to it.
So your energy levels need to bemonitored.
And if you feel that you're notexperiencing enough energy, or
if you're experiencing weightgain, even with a diet and
(22:07):
exercise, those are two signalsthat something's not right.
And you really do need to payclose attention to what's going
on.
People are different.
Some person can eat a donut andnot gain a pound, whereas the
another person will eat freshproduce and not be able to lose
(22:28):
weight whatsoever.
So the one thing that I want tomake mention is that when it
comes to diet, we talked aboutthis before a little bit.
When it comes to diet andnutrition, there is no one size
fits all.
One type of an approach thatworks for one guy may not work
for a different person.
(22:48):
So let's say, for example, thatthis one patient tries a
Mediterranean diet and they nored meat and lots of fish and
lots of vegetables and lots ofolive oil and that's that kind
of thing works great for thatperson.
But another person may be betteroff by using a ketogenic diet.
(23:09):
Maybe if they have reactivehypoglycemia, they need to
monitor their glucose levels andmake sure that it's in with
within normal ranges so it's nottoo high and it's not too low.
It's just an even keel.
SPEAKER_02 (23:23):
I don't know how familiar people are with the
phrase ketogenic diet.
Could you explain what that is alittle?
SPEAKER_00 (23:30):
So a lot of diets out there, they they try to
modulate how many macronutrientsthat you're getting in each
category.
So macronutrients would includecarbohydrates, proteins, and
fats.
They're not all created equal,and we have to be very careful
about how much of an intakewe're we're consuming.
(23:54):
So a ketogenic diet would have ahigh amount of healthy fats, a
moderate amount of healthyproteins, and a very small
amount of carbohydrates.
And the purpose of that is touse fats as the primary fuel
source for the body, for yourbody and your brain also.
(24:14):
It does extremely well in that.
That is a preferred diet fordiabetics because it's very,
very you're you're you're usingfats as the primary constituent
to fuel your body.
An autoimmune paleo diet, whichis what I will start a lot of
people off on, uses moderatelevels of quality, healthy fats,
(24:37):
a high amount of quality,healthy proteins, and a low
amount of fat carbohydrates.
So again, it's it's using lowlow carbs, and but it's instead
of high fats, it's moderatefats.
Instead of low moderate protein,it's higher proteins.
And most people do very well onthat.
There's there's all kinds ofdifferent diets.
(24:58):
There's a there's the DASH diet,there's the rainbow diet,
there's all kinds of differentthings.
And so unfortunately, there's noshortcuts.
We got to figure out which oneworks best for your body.
And it's very, very challengingbecause a lot of people will go
to their medical doctors thatdon't have any training at all
in nutrition.
(25:18):
And because of that, theyoftentimes will give really
incorrect advice for people.
And so the the purpose is justto get in front of the right
type of doctor that can give youthe right type of advice and
help you as an individual.
SPEAKER_02 (25:35):
If you need help listeners, finding the right
doctor and with advocating foryourself without being labeled a
patient that's hysterical orcombative, then you want to
check out the episode of How toSurvive Your Hospital Stay with
Dr.
Julie Seymours on New Normal BigLife Podcast.
(25:56):
She gives you some greatinsights on managing even being
gaslit by your doctor.
So, Dr.
Smith, let's talk about theumbrella title of glucose
dysregulation.
Because I think a lot of peopledon't really understand that.
Even though they may have beendiagnosed with hyperglycemia,
(26:16):
high blood sugar, orhypoglycemia, low blood sugar,
they may not have had a thoroughexplanation from their doctors.
So, can you tell us about thethese two types of dysregulation
and what they might be doing toaggravate their problem rather
than help themselves?
SPEAKER_00 (26:37):
So, first of all, glucose or sugar is the primary
fuel that most people will use.
They when you eat any type offood, so you eat proteins or you
eat fats, the body tries toconvert that into glucose or
glycogen.
And then the glucose mixes withoxygen and in your cells, in the
(26:59):
mitochondria of your cells, andthat produces energy, the energy
that it produces because it'scalled ATP or adenosine
triphosphate.
So you have to have a properamount of fuel in your cells to
make uh enough energy for workand for play.
So if you have a problem withshuttling glucose into the cell,
(27:24):
that is called insulinresistance.
Insulin is a hormone produced bythe pancreas, and its job is to
take glucose molecules in out ofthe bloodstream and push them
into the cells where it can makethat ATP energy.
If the if the cell does not wantto allow the insulin to do its
(27:45):
job, that's called insulinresistance.
And that's the that's thestarting point of glucose
dysregulation.
If if the glucose can't get intothe cell, then what happens is
that the glucose lingers in thebloodstream for a long time and
starts to build and build andbuild and build, and then it
develops type 2 diabetes.
(28:07):
And people that have unsteadyglucose levels, there instead of
the glucose being on a steadystream throughout the day, it
goes up, it goes down, it goesup, it goes down, it goes up, it
goes down.
And along with that, it causes aproblem with your cortisol
levels.
That is a hormone but thatcontrols your fight or flight
(28:30):
response or your autonomicnervous system.
Cortisol has an inverserelationship with glucose.
So when glucose is going up, acortisol is going down.
When cortisol is going or wheninsulin is going down, cortisol
is going up.
So when you're when you have aroller coaster ride of insulin,
it's going up and down, yourcortisol is also going up and
(28:53):
down.
I'll give you an example.
A person wakes up in themorning, they feel hungry, so
they eat something sweet.
And what happens is that theirglucose levels or their insulin
levels starts to rise becausethe insulin is secreted to take
that sugar out of thebloodstream and push it into the
cells to make energy.
So it goes up.
(29:13):
And then after a while, it comesback down again.
Then it goes below the baseline,starts to dip a bit.
Then you have a hypoglycemia.
And then what happens is thatyou feel hungry again.
So you eat another thing, maybesomething more sweet.
So then it comes back up again,and then it goes back down
again, then it goes up again,then it goes down again.
(29:35):
So these people are alwayshungry, they're always they they
could be, they could just eat ina meal and they're they're just
always always hungry becausethey're eating the wrong types
of foods and it's causing thisroller coaster ride.
And with people that havechronic hypoglycemia
(29:56):
hyperglycemia or diabetes,they're also going to have it
dip below the normal level andhave low blood sugar.
And what the strategy would beto try to get it back to an even
keel throughout the day.
And that is that the the key tothat is managing your your
intake of certain types of foodsand also exercise.
(30:20):
Exercise is known to resensitizeinsulin on the cellular levels.
And if you do both, you have thebest shot of correcting this.
SPEAKER_02 (30:30):
So, what about people who are traumatic brain
injury survivors who often candevelop glucose dysregulation
and a condition calledpost-traumatic hyperpituitarism?
Let's talk about that because Iknow a lot of our listeners are
veterans, and many veterans havetraumatic brain injuries that
(30:51):
they're managing.
And this is yet another problemthat they can experience.
How does a brain injury causeglucose dysregulation?
SPEAKER_00 (31:01):
Well, the mechanism of action of that is unclear for
most doctors.
I think that the bigger issue isjust trying to manage the
glucose levels as best you canbecause when you have high
levels of blood sugar and youhave unregulated type 2
diabetes, eventually it's goingto turn into type 3 diabetes.
(31:24):
Type 3 diabetes is also known asAlzheimer's disease.
And that's in the medicalliterature.
They they found that people thathave high levels of blood sugar
have high levels of inflammationin the brain.
And the inflammation, the immunesystem, everything is
interrelated.
So the best way of correctingthis problem is at its source to
(31:48):
try to put healthy foods in yourbody, stay away from processed
foods, stay away from friedfoods or fast foods or
convenience foods, just byfocusing on green leafy
vegetables, healthy animalproteins.
And also one thing that thatthey that's different now than
(32:10):
was 25 years ago.
Do you remember 25 years agothey used to tell people to eat
all the all day long to grazeinstead of gorge?
And to constantly keep yourblood sugar levels at a high
level.
Remember that?
I do remember that.
That's the fastest way todevelop insulin resistance.
Every time that you eat food, itdoesn't matter what it is.
(32:31):
It doesn't matter if it'sglucose, I'm sorry, if it's
carbohydrates, proteins, orfats.
Every time that you eat, yourbody is going to secrete insulin
every single time.
So you eat something, yousecrete insulin.
You eat something, you secreteinsulin.
And after a while, you'resecreting so much insulin that
it develops insulin resistanceat the cell level.
(32:53):
One of the ways to combat thisis by doing intermittent
fasting.
Intermittent fasting is when youeat a healthy lunch, you eat a
healthy dinner, and then youdon't eat again until the next
lunch, the next day.
So you skip breakfast.
So they found that when peopledo intermittent fasting and they
(33:15):
go down to maybe two meals a dayor one meal a day, or do like a
longer fast, your body starts toresensitize that insulin
signaling at the cell levels.
And that's the best way, that'snot the best way, it's one of
the ways, one of the tools thatthey have of helping people that
suffer with this problem.
SPEAKER_02 (33:36):
That's pretty incredible because not only have
doctors and dietitians told meas a person who has a TBI and
developed glucose dysregulationthat I should start eating like
every two to three hours andhave lots of small meals
throughout the day.
And now hearing you say that'snot a good thing to do, I'm a
(34:03):
little concerned that I've beengetting really bad advice from
multiple doctors and multipledietitians.
SPEAKER_00 (34:09):
Well, they're giving you information that was popular
about 25 years ago.
I'm giving you the currentinformation.
So if you want to you want toexplore this on your own and do
some research and look atintermittent fasting and also
look for books written by Dr.
Jason Fung, MD.
And he's one of the world'sleaders on of diabetes.
(34:32):
And he talks about intermittentfasting and how that like a com
a combination of intermittentfasting and also a ketogenic
diet may be the solution thatyou're looking for.
SPEAKER_02 (34:44):
And I find I already feel there's a level of
credibility to what you said inmy own body, because my normal
sort of way of eating, just aninnate ability, is that when I
do intermittent fasting, andI've been a competitive athlete,
a runner, a bodybuilder, a powerlifter, lots of people will eat
(35:06):
big meals, especially when I wasa long distance runner.
They'll eat a huge meal and theywill compete full on a full
stomach.
If I compete on a full stomach,I never did well.
I always competed moresuccessfully when I had an empty
stomach.
And I've never been one of thosepeople who feels good.
(35:30):
My stomach doesn't feel goodwhen I eat too often.
So, like right now, following mydietitian's recommendations,
eating more frequently, I feelhorrible.
My physical performance is poor.
My brain seems like it is notfunctioning as well, and I just
don't feel good.
(35:50):
But when I was doingintermittent fasting, that's
when I felt my best and itperformed better.
SPEAKER_00 (35:56):
You know, one of the things that happens with when
you intermittent fast, you goabout 14 hours or so, is that
the body starts to develop orstarts to do autophagy.
And autophagy is where your bodystarts to clean up cells that
are that are no longer needed inyour body.
Maybe they're dying off, ormaybe they just need to be
cleaned up.
(36:16):
So the body starts to do thisthing where it it goes through
autophagy.
And you want to research that alittle bit more about how that
you can be at your best.
Sports nutrition is a scienceall by itself.
They those guys know a lot aboutlike when do you eat before an
event, when do you carb loadwhen with like endurance
(36:38):
training, things like that.
But for everyday people, I thinkthat they want to learn a little
bit more about intermittentfasting and also about how
regulating your macronutrients,carbohydrates, proteins, and
fats.
And just remember, not allmacronutrients are created
(36:58):
equal.
Like a Twinkie is a carb, right?
And a broccoli is a carb, butthey're not the same, right?
One of them is better for youthan the other.
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SPEAKER_02 (38:06):
So, Dr.
Smith, what else should theconsumer be aware of?
And I'm talking healthcareconsumer.
What else should they be awareof in terms of advice and
practices with their doctor thatare not working for them?
For example, I am verycomfortable advocating for
myself, seeing this doesn'twork, or I don't want to try
(38:28):
this until I've had time toresearch it.
I do get a lot of pushback, andI and I think that I have been
called in my medical records,because I've seen it once or
twice, a combative patient.
And the way that I'm talking toyou now is the way that I talk
to my healthcare provider.
There is nothing combative aboutme.
(38:49):
I'm just pushing back to say,let's pump the brakes because I
want to do some research, orwhat you have recommended for me
is not working.
And one of the ways, and Irecommend this to everyone
listening, one of the ways thatI know something is not rec is
not working is because I keep ajournal of what I eat, how I
(39:10):
exercise, how I feel, heartrate, blood pressure.
I even have an at-home EKG.
I do all of the things.
So when I go in blood uh oxygenlevel, when I go into my doctor,
I will tell them this is what Idid, this is how I felt, and
this is what my body wascommunicating to me.
And sometimes they still pushback and say, You're wrong,
(39:34):
right?
So can you empower us with moretools to calmly advocate for
ourselves without you knowticking off our doctors too
much?
But what advice can you give us?
SPEAKER_00 (39:46):
Well, first of all, you work the the the doctor
works for you.
You don't work for the doctor,you're the boss.
So you have the opportunity tofire your doctor anytime you
that you're dissatisfied withthem.
If you feel that not listeningto you if you feel that they're
just brushing you for they'rejust writing notes like a
(40:06):
combative patient whatever thenyou can say look i don't feel
you don't even have to sayanything you just leave you just
find a different doctor there'sthere's a there they're a dime a
dozen i think that uh peopleshould be very very picky with
who they go to and who theytrust their health to and i say
(40:28):
to people if you've already donethis if you've already tried the
drug approach and it's notworked to your satisfaction
maybe we ought to take things ina different direction maybe what
could it hurt you've alreadytried the drugs let's try
something different now what itell people like i have people
that come to see me for sayperipheral neuropathy and they
(40:51):
say you know that my doctor hasme on gabapentin or he has me on
lyrica or he has me on cymbaltaor some other drug and what I
would whoever put the person onthe drug has to be the person to
take them off the drug that'sjust common courtesy so I tell
people to have a the next timethey're having a discussion with
(41:14):
their doctor to say doctor I'mworking with a natural
healthcare practitioner fromPittsburgh he's working with me
with my neuropathy and I'm doingmuch much better I have less
symptoms my balance is betterthan the the pain is gone and I
think that it's time that we hada discussion about either
(41:35):
decreasing my dosage or gettingme completely off this
gabapentin.
What are your thoughts sir?
And you know if you my mythought is that if you approach
people in a very polite way likethat they're gonna be like yeah
let me let's get you off thisdrug the doctor should not have
a vested interest in keeping youon these drugs unless there's
(41:56):
absolute medical necessity forthis for the medications but if
you tell the doctor look i'm I'mfeeling better I I don't I don't
feel that you know I really needthis anymore or I think it's
time that we have thisconversation about decreasing
the dosage or getting me offthis drug entirely what are your
thoughts and if there's stillhard charging about the drug get
(42:20):
rid of the doctor find findanother doctor that will listen
to you you have the you have theright to to advocate on your
behalf or on a family member'sbehalf especially if it's you
have like an older parent andyou need to advocate on their
behalf trust me those doctorsknow all about that and they
(42:40):
they have to be very carefulwith how they how they phrase
things but I think that if youif you approach them in that not
combative but like a cooperativemanner they should be perfectly
fine with you.
SPEAKER_02 (42:53):
I I wish I live in that world but I have not met a
doctor with one exception whoever wanted to take you yes you
but I have not met a doctor thathas been my doctor who has ever
wanted to take me offmedications that they put me on.
(43:18):
So for example and when I wasout of the military and having a
really difficult time withanxiety depression and
agoraphobia when I was betterand felt I did not need the
medication and my therapist feltI no longer needed medication
and when I talked to thepsychiatrist about it very
(43:39):
calmly hey I'm feeling betterhere are all the different ways
that I'm doing better.
I'd really like to come off thismedication can you help me step
down off of it her response wasI'm going to put you on a 72
hour involuntary mental healthhold in the hospital that was
her reaction so unfortunately Ithink in the feedback that I get
(44:06):
from more than 7,000 people whofollow me on social media is
that that is not a commonexperience.
What you're suggesting is justhaving a calm rational
discussion with your doctor andthey would be cooperative with
what you're asking that's notthe experience that we're
having.
SPEAKER_00 (44:26):
It patient care is very adversarial if I if I was
working with a psychiatrist andthe site and I I expressed my
concern or that I I want todecrease my reliance on these
medications and the the doctor'sresponse to that was I want to
put you on an involuntarypsychiatric hold for 72 hours
(44:48):
they would be fired.
And then after that I wouldfollow up by calling the medical
board and you know report theactions because you know if it's
happening to you I'm sure it'shappening to other people and
you're doing them a favor by youknow having regulatory people
(45:11):
investigate them.
That's just not right.
But the doctors should be ableto explain to you this is what I
feel this drug is going to dofor you and this is what it's
going to do for you there.
And I really think that you needthis level I mean when it comes
to psychiatric medications a lotof those types of things cannot
be based on lab testing they'rebased on symptoms they're based
(45:34):
on uh subjective complaints butif you also say that I'm feeling
better I don't feel that I needthis as much anymore they should
be cooperative with you.
SPEAKER_02 (45:45):
Right.
I I feel like a person who wasagoraphobic, unable to leave
their home for 18 months who'snow a whitewater kayaker and
leading other veterans onadventures is not someone who
needs psychiatric medication.
But that's where we foundourselves in and I did take
appropriate actions to make surethat she did not do that to
(46:08):
someone else.
So as we're talking aboutadvocacy I want to talk more
about what it's like to workwith someone like you who will
listen and who will be what Icall a teammate of your
patients.
And for those of you who arelistening and if you don't live
(46:29):
in the Pennsylvania area whereDr.
Kevin Smith works, don't worryyou could work with him over
Zoom.
So Dr.
Smith tell us how you wouldapproach someone who's
experiencing glucosedysregulation or any other
challenge.
SPEAKER_00 (46:45):
Okay so the first thing I want to do is I want to
gather information I want togather like their medical
history and look at all themedications that they've been
taking all their all thedifferent symptoms that they've
been suffering with.
And then we would have aconsultation where I just ask
them what are your goals?
What would you like to try toachieve and what would make you
(47:06):
happy and then from there then Iwant to get go into the world of
objective data.
If you're in the office we woulddo an exam if you're not in the
office we could still do somelab testing maybe check your
serum glucose levels or yourhemoglobin A1c levels and find
out where you are with that.
And then also maybe take a looktake a look at the a at a diet
(47:28):
diary and see what you've beeneating and maybe I can make some
some observations from that andthen from there I would just
continue down the pathway ofdoing some objective testing to
find out what's going on isthere an is there an autoimmune
issue at play is there chronicinflammation going on how are
(47:49):
you making energy how are youmetabolizing these carbohydrates
proteins and fats in your bodyso that we can make sure that
you're making proper ATP energyand also we want to take a look
at your GI issues and see if youhave any problems with
eliminating waste productsthat's very very important.
(48:11):
And if if I find any imbalancesthat are going on with any of
these different subsystems wewant to work on rebalancing
them.
We want to work on getting yourblood sugar even throughout the
day we want to work on makingsure that your sex hormones are
are proper that you're in youdon't have any anemias you don't
(48:33):
have any kind of stealthinfections that could be
contributing to this issue.
We want to look at what's goingon with you from the
musculoskeletal point.
You know do you have any kind ofnerve compression is there
anything that's going on insideyou that's causing pain that
causes a problem with your youryour midbrain things like that.
(48:54):
So we want to check you outneurologically and metabolically
it's a very very my my approachis it's a very comprehensive
approach and for people that arevery tired of like the a glossy
overview of what's going on whatthey get the the primary care
physician's office if you've ifyou've done that and you're
(49:15):
tired of it and you're notgetting anywhere let's try
something different.
SPEAKER_02 (49:19):
And how will listeners get a hold of you?
SPEAKER_00 (49:21):
They can go to metabolicsolutions.net that's my
website and you can call me youcan send me an email message
whatever whatever's on your mindabout this and that would be the
best way to get a hold of me orbest way the best first steps
you can also read about thingsthat I do and how I approach
(49:42):
certain things but you don'tdon't go to
metabolicsolutions.com go tometabolicsolutions.net that's my
website and do you have any sortof discounts for initial visits
or your initial consultation?
Is there a a cost yeah so so forpeople for people that are
(50:03):
listening to this the first thethe the first thing that I would
want to do is to do a discoverycall and that's a completely
free call you can get on thephone with me it's about a 10 to
15 minute informal phoneconversation where we can just
have a have a conversation aboutwhat you're going through what
you've already tried what areyour goals and then I'll make
(50:26):
some recommendations from there.
It's completely free.
SPEAKER_02 (50:28):
That's amazing thank you so much for joining us Dr.
Smith we'll have you back soonand next time let's talk about
the musculoskeletal system.
SPEAKER_00 (50:36):
That sounds great.
SPEAKER_02 (50:37):
Until next time friends I'm Antoinette Lee your
wellness warrior here at the NewNormal Big Life podcast.
I hope one day to see you on theriver in the backcountry or in
the horse vine living your bestlife struggling with health
problems or seeking naturalhealth solutions, we've got you
covered.
Don't miss our latest podcastepisodes, exclusive blog posts
(50:58):
and free ebooks packed withlife-changing wellness tips.
Be sure to help others find thisgreat information by leaving us
a star rating and a reviewwherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER_01 (51:09):
Magnesium an unsung hero fuels over 300 bodily
reactions from heart health tostress relief.
Magnesium expert Natalie Giradofounder of RootedI found freedom
from anxiety, insomnia and painthrough topical magnesium.
It transformed my life she saysinspiring her mission to share
(51:29):
this mineral's powercardiologist Dr.
Jack Wolfson calls magnesiumessential for heart health,
helping regulate rhythms, bloodsugar, and reduce inflammation
up to 80% of people may bedeficient facing issues like
depression, migraines, insomniaor muscle crap.
For women over 40, magnesiumeases menopause symptoms, boosts
(51:52):
energy and supports bones.
Choosing the correct type ofmagnesium matters.
Real stories Natalie's in mindhighlight its impact.
After interviewing magnesiumexpert Natalie Giraudto I became
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I was already a magnesium fanhaving been told by two
cardiologists to take magnesiumfor a minor heart arrhythmia.
(52:13):
Natalie explains it best in theMagnesium the mineral
transforming lives episode ofNew Normal Big Life, number four
in Alternative Health on ApplePodcast, listen wherever you get
your podcasts.
Fast forward after the interviewI bought the Rooted in bundle
for sleep, tranquility and painrelief.
As a spine injury survivor withseveral other health challenges,
I'm in constant pain.
(52:34):
However, I don't take any painmedication.
Rooted in is now one more sourcethat nature provided to give our
bodies what it needs when itneeds it.
You can find magnesium innatural bodies of water like
lakes and rivers and in soil.
But modern farming practiceshave stripped magnesium out of
the soil and our food.
(52:54):
That's why today Rooted in'srest, relief and tranquility are
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My guy who did two tours kickingindoors in a rock with the
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I no longer have to takemelatonin before bedtime to fall
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So after I became a customer andsaw how well these products
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I've been sharing the secrets ofRootedin with friends and family
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The information in this podcastis not medical advice and should
(53:37):
not be treated as such.
Always consult your physician orhealthcare professional before
pursuing any health relatedprocedure or activity
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