all right hi priscilla welcome to the show i hope

you're doing well what's going on i'm in mexico

everything's really well thank you we just had a

chat before about how i'm in a cozy sweater

because it's two degrees outside and you're in

mexico and the weather is a little bit different

it's like 21 celsius right now it's so nice yeah

okay we'll leave the weather talk then for now

that's great yeah um just before we kind of get

into the the hot topics of our discussion today

i'd love to get a little bit of a background on

you so why don't you tell us a little bit about

your health health journey into holistic nutrition

and natural

Healing,

and I do it come from a personal experience where

you're where you're at now,

yeah.

So everything started around when I was 17 years

old.

I had different um eating disorders so after

struggling with that for a bit,

I i got super um obsessed with nutrition basically.

But I went to business school first and when I

was in business school,

I realized that I didn't want to study that I was

really passionate about health.

So that's when I decided to uh change uh change

paths and I went to holistic nutrition school in

Victoria.

And I also suffered from a lot of hormonal

imbalances so when I was studying nutrition,

I knew that i wanted to focus mostly in hormones

and women's health because i was struggling with

that and i saw how by changing my diet and

changing my lifestyle many things just got fixed

basically cool tell us about the so there's

obviously so many nutrition schools um health coach

schools all around all around the world you know

you can do a you know you can do six month

nutrition classes online now and become like you

know like a health coach or a natural practitioner

or something but why did you you know you went to

a school in victoria and you went to a school in

victoria and you went to a school in victoria and

tell us about why did

You chose that school,

okay.

So that was a three-year program.

I was really looking for the closest to a normal

university education because actually,

like before that,

I was in like university for business school,

so I was always like really into going to school.

Like,

I've always liked that.

But the idea of going to school to study

nutrition,

that I didn't want to recommend like eating um,

um ham and cheese and bread,

like just didn't resonate with me.

And so I came back to Mexico and I had the

opportunity to apply to a few good universities in

Mexico,

but when I was here,

I was like,

'I don't like their programs.' It's just not what

i want to learn uh it's so opposite of what i'm

looking to promote so i found this uh school

online and i i'm actually half canadian so it was

very easy to move back to canada and i applied to

pacific green college it was a three-year program

i do think it's very complete for a holistic

nutrition program and um yeah so that's why i

chose that one because i think it was like the

closest to um a comprehensive uh dietitian program

that i didn't want to follow because i didn't want

to promote that lifestyle um and after i finished

the holistic nutrition course for three years i

moved back to mexico and i applied to pacific

Green college and I've been studying with Dr.

Aviva Rom,

she has great courses online um for nutritionists

and doctors and just anyone who's in the health

field,

and I did a one-year program on functional medicine

for women and one-year program on herbal medicine

for women,

so that's when I started like bringing all the

holistic nutrition into hormones.

Great schools you were looking at in Mexico,

I'm sure there's yeah,

there's obviously great universities there and great

great professors and great courses.

So what were the the bigger differences between

that type of a that type of a university because

i think that would be quite typical around the

world in bigger cities and bigger universities they

all have nutrition courses they all have dietitian

programs so what's the difference between that and

then doing a three-year holistic nutrition program

in you know in victoria where you went well the

schools that i was up the schools that i was up

the schools that i was up the schools that i was

up applying to in mexico was just uh you like a

normal bachelor's degree on nutrition that you would

expect from most universities or universities

universities so biochemistry chemistry um just

science just like all the um the

Basics that you need,

I'm not saying that you don't need them,

but also they had a lot of uh uh classes that I

was just like I don't want to focus my energy on

that because I feel like if you're in a

university,

you're not going to have to do a lot of classes.

It takes,

for example,

the program that I went to,

that we went to was three years.

And I think that everything we were taught was

exactly what you needed for a consultation.

Like it was just some points on times,

like,

well,

my favorite teacher was Carrie.

She's amazing in everything that she was teaching

because it's just understanding the body from a

very functional perspective.

And that's what I understood after I finished

school and I started doing functional medicine

courses,

because I also went to the IFM,

which is the Institute for Functional Medicine.

I took like three courses from them.

And I was like,

I learned this in school.

Like I didn't know that we were actually being

taught functional medicine in holistic nutrition.

And so that's the biggest difference that I saw.

Like everything that we learned was seen from a

difference.

A different perspective.

Like you had the science,

you had biology,

biochemistry,

you know,

all of that.

But we also had herbal medicine and we had

Ayurveda.

So it was,

it was like teaching you how to see the world

from,

I mean,

the body from different perspectives so that you

would understand,

understand it better.

So it's like,

it doesn't,

it's like if you go to diet to like a normal

bachelor's degree,

they tell you that you have to follow,

these like guidelines that apply for everybody.

And it doesn't work like that.

It doesn't work like,

like that.

Everybody is like a whole universe.

So I think that something that is always more

individualized is the best.

And that's why I'm here.

Yeah.

I think the majority of the courses or the

curriculums that I've seen anyway,

from some of the bigger like universities where you

would think they would have,

you know,

the best programs,

but they're kind of following the guidelines that

the government gives people in regards to,

you know,

nutrition plans and dietary,

dietary requirements,

which we know are,

are not super accurate.

And I've said this many times on blogs and on

shows and different,

different talks that I've done that,

you know,

the most,

the most educated and qualified practitioners don't

go and work for the government.

You know,

so the people who are making these choices and

making me,

making these recommendations,

it's very difficult because they're trying to make

recommendations for a whole population.

It would probably be smarter to have different

recommendations for,

um,

you know,

spreading it out for people who might have a,

some sort of pathology,

age,

gender,

you know,

all these things come into,

come into play here.

But when you go to a,

you know,

a functional program or,

you know,

a holistic nutrition diploma program,

like the one at Pacific Rim College in Victoria,

it's,

it's so comprehensive.

And it's so,

as you say,

like we're using the word 'functional' there,

because you can,

everything that you're going to be learning can

easily be used in a,

in a practical setting.

Rather than just being taught,

okay,

like this is how much fat or protein or

carbohydrates everyone needs in a population.

And these are the best ways to get it like that.

So it's just quite pure reductionist science rather

than,

you know,

everybody's individual,

you're never going to have the same client twice,

never because all their circumstances are so wildly

different.

So being able to apply your like functional,

um,

practical training and your education to that,

that's,

that's,

that's,

that's,

that's,

that's,

that's,

that's,

that's,

that's,

your life.

So not just trying to become so subtle at the

same time,

it's just going to make such a,

such a,

such a,

such a much more impact on those individuals that

you're going to be supporting on a one-on-one

basis.

Dr.

Maria Marchand eighth on that quote,

Yeah,

absolutely.

Cause they,

they don't teach you to treat that problem.

They teach you to treat the body.

So if someone comes in tells you,

I have PCOS,

you don't read PCOS you treat Everything.

Insulin resistance,

You treated like the person,

the way to diet,

sleep,

and credit.

James Lehenbogen eighth on that quote.

Like everything that could develop from,

you know,

from imbalances,

and that,

I don't know,

create a condition like PCOS or hypothyroidism,

like you don't treat the thyroid,

you treat many things that will help you heal the

thyroid.

So I think that's more of like,

the focus of a functional medicine approach.

Yeah,

it's a bit like conventional medicine,

where,

you know,

you go in with a bunch of symptoms,

hopefully,

you can get a diagnosis.

And then there's like a protocol for everyone to

follow for that particular disease,

rather than,

you know,

taking the time to recognize that there are much

bigger things at play.

And you know,

every single system in our body is connected.

And we can't ignore one part,

while just focusing on one,

you know,

it doesn't really work like that.

That's like,

you know,

I've had so many clients who have gone to like

medical practitioners to talk to them about their

gut problems.

And they're never really given; they might be given

a sheet of paper with like a SIBO diet or

something,

or FODMAPs or something,

and it's just awful,

never works.

And unfortunately,

it's not the doctor's fault,

they're just not trained in it,

they should be,

they should be referring to a local qualified

nutritionist that can,

you know,

take the individual circumstance and give the give

that patient the time they need,

because you know,

you can't,

you can't give your whole health history of your,

of your issues in,

you know,

10 minutes to a doctor,

that's just impossible.

Yeah,

I think that those type of things,

especially when it comes to digestion,

those things should be referred out every time.

And it would actually create more time and space

for the doctors to be able to treat the more,

the things that they're actually trained,

trained in for a longer period of time.

So just like the dietary programs that we see kind

of all over the world,

that they're not taking the individual and the

real,

the real human person that you're going to be

speaking to,

all of their,

all of their stuff that they deal with on a daily

basis has to be taken into consideration when

you're going to recommend anything.

Yeah,

absolutely.

You have to,

like in my first consultation,

it's normally long,

because you have to ask the questions,

like everything,

you know,

how's,

how's your life?

How,

how are your relationships?

Like,

what are your stressors?

There are so many outside things influencing,

influencing our inside world that if you don't ask

those questions,

because you only have 10 minutes,

then it's very hard to understand the person and

what they're going through.

And that's why also like people are starting to go

more for like holistic nutritionists or naturopaths,

like something where they feel like they're listened

to,

or there are many more functional doctors.

So I always recommend my patients,

like if they can find a functional doctor,

like a functional gynecologist in their area,

go find a functional gynecologist.

And if they can find a functional gynecologist in

their area,

go find a functional gynecologist in their area,

go find a functional gynecologist in their area,

because their,

their thought process when they meet them is going

to be different.

And I think that people want to be listened to.

Yeah,

absolutely.

No,

you're spot on there.

And I think that comes in nicely to kind of what

I want to talk about here is kind of like

long-term stress.

And I think most people know that,

you know,

experiencing long-term stress is going to have

serious health problems.

So I wondered if you could tell us a little bit

more about kind of like how that works,

what that does to the hormones of your body

individually,

and what you kind of see in your practice when it

comes to like the highest stresses people have,

and how and what it does to their body.

Okay,

so stress is not necessarily bad.

The problem is when we have chronic stress,

our body as a response to stress starts producing

cortisol.

So cortisol is a stress hormone.

And cortisol is very necessary for our daily life,

like for many functions in our body,

like we need cortisol.

The problem is when we start having chronic

cortisol,

like high levels.

And that's when a lot of things,

like HBA,

start getting affected.

And it can also affect our periods,

you can start missing periods,

you can start having like,

like hair falling or lack of sleep,

like stress looks different from it for everybody.

So why you consider stress?

For example,

you have two kids,

and I'm single,

right?

So maybe your stressors are like,

'I'm a parent now.' And for me,

it's like,

'I don't know,

something different.' So our stressors are different,

but the body will respond to it.

So if someone comes and tells you,

'I'm stressed because of this,' maybe you wouldn't,

you won't understand that stress,

but you have to make sure that you because a lot

of doctors dismiss people because they're like,

'oh,

you're,

you know,

like,

you're fine.' Like,

'you can just deal with it.' And it's not like,

if someone's telling you they're stressed,

you have to listen to that.

There are many herbs and many supplements and many

therapies that we can do on a daily basis to get

our stress levels better to respond to stress

better.

But the thing is that we're always going to have

stress,

like stress is part of our life.

The moment you wake up,

you have your phone,

you have your computer,

you have a kid crying,

like there's stress the moment you wake up.

But the problem is when it becomes something that

you cannot handle.

So the problem is when it becomes something that

you cannot handle.

So the that's when you have to,

to,

to like,

take yourself out of your body and see like,

what can I do in my everyday life to change some

something.

So go to like,

for a walk in nature,

for example,

if you have 30 minutes every day to just

disconnect to it,

if you can have someone to help you with things

with,

I don't know,

in your house,

like ask for help,

if you have a very demanding job,

like make sure that once you finish your job,

you disconnect.

And you don't answer emails,

and you're not available.

Like,

you have to start putting yourself first,

because stress is just part of our lives.

And the problem that I see is that stress is

always behind most chronic diseases.

One that I see the most is hypothyroidism.

It's so common,

especially for women,

we're so sensitive to stress,

and our thyroid is very sensitive to stress.

So when you have a long period of stress,

normally,

you're not going to have a lot of stress.

So you're not going to have a lot of HIV,

and your thyroid is going to go like your TSH

will go high.

I see it so often,

for example,

these years,

only these years,

I probably have like 40 examples of that of,

like,

a chronic stress fear that developed made the

person develop hypothyroidism that happened to a

girl who was kidnapped with her husband,

and they were kidnapped; she was perfect before

that.

And she started feeling better.

Once everything just got figured out,

and they were rescued,

and she just felt bad,

and she went to the doctor,

and her thyroid wasn't like 11,

so I'm like,

that's a response to the stress she was leaving of

course.

Or um,

I see it a lot in people on like bad

relationships like that stresses you and that can

make you develop problems later on or just a lack

of sleep is a hormone balancing therapy; it's like

the most important thing that you can do if you

cannot even take care of your diet.

Like,

just make sure you have a good sleeping schedule

and with sleep comes circadian rhythm,

which is how your body just is in sync to me

with the sun kind of like that.

We can simplify it to be like that.

And so when you have good sleep,

like good quality sleep,

your body repairs a lot of things during that

sleep,

that's why a lot of people started also doing uh

intermittent fasting and they want just like this

rest but honestly if you just sleep well,

like if you have a good schedule where you go to

bed at the same time and wake up at the same

time,

that's super referring for your hormones,

for your cortisol,

for your weight like so many benefits come from

from sleeping.

And so,

the stress is just part of us; we just have to

know that there are many Therapies and many things

that we can use to to help you to go through

that stress,

yeah I mean,

you explain it perfectly in regards to everybody's

got stress,

it's an inevitability.

But you see those individuals who seemingly have

like they should have more stress because they've

got so much going on,

but they,

they aren't or they deal with in a different way,

but they,

you know,

they it's how we deal with it and how we support

ourselves,

how we prepare and you know are we actually giving

our body the nourishment it needs to deal with the

biochemical changes that come with dealing with

stress for the events and that comes down to you.

Know whether we're eating the right foods,

are we breaking down those foods,

are we assimilating them around our body,

are we actually able to create the chemicals inside

of our body to deal with these type of type of

changes?

And again you're recognizing the fact that suffering

long-term chronic stress is going to cause health

problems.

But like when is it that we actually become aware

that this thing is causing us stress,

it's making us internally feel discomfort,

pain,

whatever that might be.

It's that awareness which is really important as

you say,

like,

you know it's important to disconnect from our

phones but it's so important To like reconnect with

our body,

and we have to disconnect from all the crazy

things that happen around us,

all these this hyper novelty,

and all these stimulants that come from around us.

We have to be able to like reconnect inside and

actually have a chat with our body and check in

with different parts of our body and be able to

recognize,

okay there is an issue here,

and we're here what's causing it?

And it's a big step back,

and kind of looking at your own circumstances and

assessing them.

Sometimes it's really difficult to do with

everything that's going around you,

but when you're able to sit with someone like

yourself and Have those questions asked to you and

I know a lot about many of the clients that I've,

I've experienced in my nutrition practices because

we've got that 90-minute first session to have a

conversation.

They already know the answers; they know what their

problems are; they know what they need to do.

But like me,

they need someone to sit with them,

ask some questions,

hold them accountable for them,

and usually a lot of people come up with their

own answers but they need a coach,

they need someone on the sidelines to support them,

to let them know that they feel listened to,

to give them comfort when they need it.

But also,

you know,

give them A kick up the butt if they need that

as well,

that motivation to go forward.

Like it's so valuable to be able to have someone

to um,

go to for that type of that type of support.

Yeah,

I mean,

I think that everybody knows what's going on in

their life sometimes.

I,

I have a long intake form that I give people

before the first consultation and it's so funny how

many times I've heard like,

'I was like writing and I was like,

like seeing everything that I knew but like writing

it down like just made it so real.' And that's

why it's such a long intake form because I asked

so many things and it's like,

it's not for me,

it's for them.

It's for them to really

Know what's going on in their life,

and it's like it's like it's like it's like it's

like it's like what they want to work on and like

to see the patterns that they have because like I

ask things like how often do you eat X Y and Z

and they know like oh I I eat it every day,

you know or like I drink four cups of coffee

every day,

like that's probably not okay,

you know,

like these little things um that they know but

maybe they need someone to like make sure that

it's it's out there,

you know,

that you cannot keep lying to yourself um yeah,

but when you put when you put you're being

conscious and aware because you have to think about

what you're Writing and you have to think about

yourself,

and when you when you see that question,

you go inside and you create that story,

and you recall that's becoming aware.

But if we're just like continuously going through a

day stressed out and just like no subconsciously

going through our day,

we're not really bringing awareness to the fact

that yeah I do go and get four cups of coffee a

day,

and I wonder why I can't sleep and I don't digest

my food exactly.

Yeah,

that's that's really yeah it's really helpful being

able to go to a functional medicine practitioner

that's going to actually take that initial time to

help people um kind.

Of see where they need to support themselves and

where to kind of narrow their focus on,

because it can be it can be really overwhelming to

just like try and change everything,

but a bit working with somebody that can give you

like maybe three to four um recommendations at a

time that can be really really beneficial as well

to make sure that they're slowly introducing these

new habits to create kind of different outcomes um

and you know what sorry one more thing I do work

hand in hand with like gynecologists and

endocrinologists in Mexico,

like I think that it's not one thing or the

other,

like I love looking to them because It just gives

me a different approach because there are things

that I don't know,

and I need to refer them.

And I'm just gonna help you with your nutrition

and maybe supplementations and herbs,

but you gotta have like a good doctor next to you

who can like complement everything.

We're complementing each other basically.

You just like,

I would i will say like,

you need a trainer,

you know,

you need to go to the gym because I'm not gonna

teach you how to like go do workouts,

you need a trainer and you need a nutritionist,

you need your doctor,

like everyone has to play their area and um

support the person in their different areas.

i think that that's super important to for people

not to be like against one thing or the other i

think it just complements each other but you have

to find practitioners that resonate with you yeah

you've got to have a team around you for sure and

if you can get that functional practitioner you're

going to be able to get the you know the right

lab results and the right lab tests because there

are really you know you can you can go to a

conventional doctor and get one set of labs for

the same thing yeah for the you know for the same

thing with a with a functional practitioner you're

going to get the right set of labs to get the

kind

Of,

like,

right um,

right numbers that you're kind of like looking for

um,

so yeah,

I think that's a that's a good thing,

I think that's a good thing for to to look at

those things especially when you're dealing with

hormones right,

yeah.

I actually don't uh,

don't accept clients unless they can give me um

blood tests because how can I change your diet if

I don't know what you need so I remember in

school like they taught you taught us to read um

lab tests and it's so important to understand what

you're looking for and especially with all the

symptoms like you can if someone comes and she

tells you she's overweight and tired and has cold,

Hands and feet and hair falling all the time,

she's anxious and depressed.

Then you want to check the thyroid like it's so

obvious like there's something going on,

yeah.

So I think that definitely having blood tests is

always good for um,

for giving the proper treatment absolutely.

Um,

I want to talk about fertility because that

obviously that comes into hormones so much and I

believe that you,

you work with a lot of people when it comes to

fertility and you know more and more and more and

more and more and more and more and more and more

and more and more people are having fertility

issues on both sides of the fence,

men and women why Why is fertility so fragile,

and why is it such a common issue?

Because it's a common issue around the world,

so it's not just like one population is dealing

with it; it's a global problem.

I do think it's related to um hormone disruptors.

Unfortunately,

unfortunately we're living in a time where we're

exposed to chemicals from air,

water,

food,

beauty,

and cleaning products like it's just everywhere!

And these chemicals are called endocrine disruptors.

What they do is that they come into your endocrine

system,

especially the thyroid or your ovaries,

and they start acting like your hormones but in a

negative way.

So we have

Like,

for example,

estrogen receptors.

Right,

so the estrogen knows where to go in the receptor

and sticks to it and does its function.

But if you have xenoestrogens,

which is a type of hormone disruptor,

the xenoestrogen takes its place at the um...

of the estrogen receptor and starts doing all this

like bad estrogen things like that.

So we're exposed to a lot of chemicals right now,

so I think that's a huge factor; it's not the

only one because we also have stress,

we also have more refined diets; we don't have

schedules for meals,

you know...

um...

women are working.

same as men so the demand is just the same as a

guy who maybe like 50 years ago like women will

be at home so it's just like different like i

feel like the the women women's body is just on

their like high demand all the time and you also

have your liver processing all these chemicals all

the time you know or you have the other side of

like crazy diets and like you have you know and

value and vegan and this and and so you know it's

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Enjoy the second half of the show,

okay.

So I was saying that you have like the two

spectrums now,

like very overweight women who probably have PCOS,

and you have um very thin women following like

straight crazy diets and having amenorrhea or

infertility,

like what you want is like Not to be here or not

to be here,

you want to be in the middle.

You want to be healthy and it doesn't mean that

you know you in a specific way.

I'm so against like saying 'telling someone how

much they have to wait'

because I think that it's just creating more

stress.

So you just need to teach them how to eat and

like promote healthy habits,

and your body will respond to that honestly.

And like fertility responds so well to um dietary

changes.

There are so many there's so much research that um

shows how diet influences fertility from your egg

quality um uh sperm quality to like so many

things.

And there are also certain nutrients that are

Very important for women who are looking to get

pregnant or during pregnancy or during lactation,

like there's so much you can do with nutrition for

fertility.

Amazing,

are there any like specific things that you can do

quite quickly to start improving it,

like any type of therapies or any like supplements

or herbal products that someone might introduce?

Okay,

so my favorite for PCOS is myoinositol with folic

acid - that's a combination that has been shown to

improve um regularity,

regularity of cycles,

uh the quality of eggs,

uh it helps to promote ovulation,

it improves sensibility to insulin,

like it has so many benefits.

so that that's a supplement that i would recommend

to everyone.

Would I recommend to someone who has PCOS?

If you have thyroid problems,

probably you could benefit from adaptogens depending

on what you need it's not like adaptogens are for

everybody,

but you can definitely have benefits from that.

People with Hashimoto's,

which can actually have higher rates of um,

miscarriage,

can benefit from myoinositol and selenium,

selenium for example,

um,

zinc is very good for for egg quality in general,

um,

we know that folic acid is very important in in

pregnancy so those are like little things that you

can take.

But honestly,

just starting on a fertility diet that's like the

base of anything that you're gonna do a fertility

diet will look different for each woman,

you know.

If you're on their weight,

you don't have the regular cycles,

you are full like a low-carb or low-fat diet,

I probably would get you into a high-carb and

high-fat diet but it's not like high-carb,

it's just like nourishing foods,

you know,

like maybe more sweet potatoes and quinoa,

and um,

just like even low-glycemic foods - it's just like

nourishing your body,

like good-quality meats,

um,

that are grass-fed eggs are great for fertility so

I would recommend definitely eating eggs,

and maybe if you're Someone who's overweight,

I will tell you to start um having like an

exercise routine that is not very high intensity

because that that also creates stress in the body,

but just like walking,

jogging,

biking,

going on hikes,

like just having more activity in your daily

routine,

like that's very good.

Um,

having a low glycemic diet that would be good,

like not necessarily super low carb,

but just moderate carbs.

We need carbs for fertility; like carbs and fats

are essential.

We just need the right amount for your body,

that's it.

So,

that's when you go with someone and they tell you

how much you need of everything,

but in general we just want To remove processed

foods,

um,

processed meats,

vegetables,

vegetable oils that are horrible,

um,

just yeah I would just focus on nourishing your

body and,

and they can also find good books on for example

Chinese medicine for fertility.

They,

I like Chinese medicine for fertility; they have

some good points,

amazing.

Are there are there like,

um,

within your practice are there like common stressors

that you see with,

with your clients because you work do you work

specifically with like PCOS and hormone issues so

do you see common stressors within the majority of

people that,

that you work with?

Well,

I work with all kind of hormonal imbalances like

endometriosis,

thyroid problems,

PCOS,

infertility,

um,

enorrhea,

like so many different things.

Um,

like I said,

for every woman,

like stress looks different.

But I think actually the stress of being sick is

like the biggest thing.

I think that from everything I've seen,

because you have work and relationships and maybe

monetary problems,

like all these little things.

But I think that the stress of not being healthy

and not feeling your best is a huge problem.

And I think that's what I'm trying to reason why

people come,

it's that stress of like I don't have my period

or I've been trying to get pregnant for a year.

and i can't or my hair is falling or i have acne

like all these things stress people you know it's

not feeling good so i i would say that that's

probably the biggest one yeah i think that

something when it comes when it's when it comes to

hormones and within within female health because

hormones within females is significantly more

complicated than with with guys i think that there

are so many different hormone disorders that can

kind of come from the same root problems so like

you're not sleeping enough having you know drinking

too much alcohol drinking too much coffee drinking

too many stimulants not exercising not

Eating nourishing foods and you're not having a

stress management tool,

all of these things could end up you know like a

thyroid issue for somebody or endometriosis or PCOS

like it's not that like it's not like one root

thing is causing that particular thing or that

particular thing or that particular thing no it's

never one thing it's always like little things that

when you add it up,

it's like for example your diet is influencing your

hormonal imbalance but maybe also your lack of

sleep or maybe that you're drinking too much coffee

and alcohol during the week or that you're eating

cake every day,

you know I'm not against Eating cake once a week,

but like probably every day is not the healthiest,

you know.

It's just like these little things,

like when you start like putting all the pieces

together,

it's like,

'Oh,

I see why you have this,' you know.

Or like normally,

things that are autoimmune,

like hashimoto's and endometriosis,

like it has a whole different root,

and it's very related to good health,

that's why the whole the diet and good health is

so important.

But also for example,

in endometriosis,

balancing estrogens is women who have endometriosis,

it's been found that um eliminating dairy and

limiting your uh meat consumption can help you.

much so for every person is going to be different

and you have to like ask those questions so that

you have the entire puzzle and you know and you

can see what's missing or what you can do and

also something to say that is very important is

that these protocols take time you don't take a

pill you know if you want a quick go and take a

pill but if you want to work from the roots you

have to like take like you know be patient and

just it's just a one day at a time thing to be

honest yeah i think that's a big problem in our

culture especially with the younger generations is

that we are so used to consuming a drug to deal

with deal with a problem

Or,

a symptom.

But it doesn't really work like that when it comes

to if you actually want to heal and cure

something,

and you know people might think,

oh,

it's dairy I'm consuming that's the problem,

so I'll just stop that then do everything else or

just stop gluten and then do everything else or

start exercising like crazy and not do anything

else but that's the that's the unfortunate like

reductionist single-minded process that we have

rather than taking a sit back and assessing all

the things that we're doing the things that are

coming in and things that are going out,

you know like I think it's difficult for a lot.

Of people to sit there and self-assess quite

brutally in regards to all of those aspects because

a lot of people like to have dinner at 10 p.m.

and then watch TV till one yeah,

and not think that that's an issue because they

sleep till like you know 9 or 10 a.m.,

and they get their eight hours but you know we

know that the hours before midnight are where the

majority of the healing is going to take place so

it's um it takes a lot of experience with your

own problems to recognize that there isn't going to

be like a one solution thing here,

it just doesn't work,

like,

and I've had so many clients that are in their

like 50s and 60s who have experienced The

conventional model for so long they've tried every

possible drug that they that they could they've

seen their doctor hundreds of times and they just

get to a place where things just aren't working,

and also they've got 10 minutes every time with

this session,

so they don't really feel listened to or connected

to; they might they feel kind of rushed through,

and then that leads them to go to like an

alternative complementary therapy like sitting down

with like a nutritionist who's going to take in so

many different things into consideration.

So definitely a big mindset switch that we need to

have is to think of ourselves

As a whole,

and everything contributes and is connected to

everything.

I think that's an important um mindset and approach

that us as practitioners that we can help

individuals kind of understand that that's a really

important approach to take if you actually want to

do some deep rooted healing absolutely.

And you know,

I always make sure that I also mention that you

know,

you can have the best diet and buy supplements and

work out but if you're mining your spirit,

I'm not okay,

none of that is gonna work like you have to think

of the whole you know,

like if you're not meditating or praying or

spending time with people you love.

Like,

what's the point of having like the perfect salad

and,

sure,

like it's it's just just as valuable for you to

take care of your spirit and your mind,

like I think it's just that,

that's why just thinking of like that reductionist

approach of like just taking dairy out and gluten

is going to heal my bones,

it's like no,

you need like so many things because we're complex

human beings,

like we have different needs,

like you need love,

you need care,

you need good food,

you need sunlight,

you need sleep,

you need fun,

like it's those little things that really make a

healthy person thrive,

yeah,

I find um like self-forgiveness is also like One

of the biggest key things that people need attempt

to get over,

you're not going to do that in Session one,

but like bringing it up as an idea - you know,

so many people have got such a connection to their

past and what that means to them.

And like,

there's a lot of like blame and a lot of um,

a lot of guilt that comes with a lot of these

things; a lot of just blaming yourself,

whereas you know we know that's that's just going

to stress you even further and that's going to

hold you down to a past habitual self that is not

going to create anything new into the future.

Um,

sorry - I remember you recommended this book from

Joe Dispenza - what was This book,

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself,

yeah,

that one,

yeah,

I wrote it,

I,

yeah,

it was like four years ago,

that I read it,

um,

it's so good.

Can you he speaks just about that,

you know,

the patterns that we have and how to break free

from them,

basically,

yeah,

absolutely!

I think that habitual transformation is without

question the biggest part of,

you know,

somebody because they'll be picky,

they'll,

you know,

you'll see 100 people and not every single one of

them is going to really commit to their own

healing,

yet.

Yeah,

oh,

yeah,

yeah,

they're not going to be there,

but you know I've had a couple of just golden

clients that have actually Just helped them repent

so much,

you know,

and it's all well and good.

Premieres and stuff I love; just,

I do love them,

Ridley!

Got to such a bad place with their health where

they can't afford to not like follow the protocols

and be super committed,

and in a quite positive way.

Um,

but again,

yeah,

everyone's got their their own attachments to to

their past selves,

and change is very difficult for humans,

so I think that's an interesting part as well,

just to finish up.

You mentioned about like sleep; I'd love to get

some like some of your specific more like sleep

tips you touched on having like a routine and a

schedule,

you know,

like a bit or you know,

a bit having you know some consistency,

yeah,

what what other kind of sleep tips have you got

for us?

Well,

there's a whole thing called sleep hygiene,

and like you can actually find practitioners who

focus just on that,

but like if you just want some basics,

just having a sleep routine is key for your body

to just like kind of like de-stress and you know,

forget a bit about the day,

whether it was good or bad,

just like to start like getting into rest mode.

Um,

so I would recommend that people don't sleep after

11 p.m; that's like the latest you should be

sleeping ideally,

like between 9:30 and 10:30,

that's like perfect.

But no later than 11 um,

and waking up with the sun which is the circadian

rhythm will be six to eight a.m depending on your

sleeping um why you need you know you're sleeping

yeah um but there are many things that you can do

before trying to go to bed because some people

have insomnia and they cannot go to sleep so you

can read books I would recommend like not reading

or like using any uh computers phones tablets like

just forget technology like at least one hour

before trying to sleep um preferably like read

something or listen to a podcast or listen to a

meditation try to go on prayer or just meditate

like things that calm your nervous system because

if you had like a rough day and you're still like

processing everything in your mind like i should

have said that and i didn't and like you know

these things then you're you're not gonna sleep or

you're gonna fall asleep like having nightmares yeah

um so what you want is your brain to stop being

so active and um you can take a bath with like

salts or um you know many people use essential

oils too like there are these little things that

you can do to create a routine and for everybody

it's going to look different but if you find that

you have a uh a diffuser for essential oils and

you like to do that every night

Before bed,

and you like to take a bath or,

um,

you know it's just like a book that you want to

read,

like things like that.

And also,

I would recommend that you don't have heavy meals

before sleeping,

like if you go with a really uh,

heavy like stomach and intestines,

your sleep quality is not gonna be good,

and also you don't really digest food properly.

So maybe like eating like three hours before before

falling asleep,

that would be good,

and having like,

complex carbs is always good because it helps you

to like calm your nervous system with a healthy

fat and some protein,

like that's that's perfect,

great,

great tips yeah I always Want it always to blaze

my mind when most people's largest meal of the day

it is an hour before they go to bed,

and you know a plate of food is a plate of

energy,

like it's just the last time that last,

last,

last time of the day where you're going to need a

huge bunch of energy before you go to bed right?

And usually we overeat that meal because our

breakfast was minimal,

and our lunch was a desk exactly.

And then you the next day,

and you're full,

so you don't want to have breakfast,

and you have coffee,

and then you wait for lunch,

and then you again binge at night,

so it's kind of like changing that schedule again,

so there's your calorie rhythm.

It's also like when you're eating your largest

meal,

that should be like at lunchtime.

That's when you are going to really need that

energy,

and at night,

you can really have like a small plate; you don't

really need that much,

like you said it's energy.

Yeah,

I think that um having deliberate trends,

deliberate things you can do in a transitional

setting between ending your day and then going to

bed,

you know like we do kind of the same thing when

we wake up and we like have breakfast and coffee;

they're transitions to get into our day,

you know,

we're doing something to get you know to get ready

for the next part,

and then like coming home from Like,

work and then going into like,

relax mode; we should again like,

have some transitional stuff,

whether that's to change your clothes,

have a shower,

do some stretching,

whatever that might be,

or get into cooking; you know,

like that's a transitional process just like that

taking a bath,

listen to some music,

reading a book these are all things that are going

to help your mind and your body and your body and

your body and your body and your body connect to

the fact that okay,

we're going to be going from like fast beta brain

waves to like delta and theta to get ready to go

to sleep; I think that it's absolutely essential

when it comes to getting the best out of sleep

which is like one of the most important things

that we do as humans you know to to uh to start

healing and to um reprocess the day like it's such

an important thing absolutely and at night i think

it's when you can disconnect from the world and

spend time with like if you have family like spend

quality time with them or if you want to have a

chat with your with a family member that you

haven't spoke with like you know just things that

just make you feel like okay it's time to enjoy

life a little after a rough day or just like yeah

they're bringing that bringing that energy back to

you because all day

Every day,

we're just giving it out here,

giving it out there,

like just doing something,

even if it's for 10 minutes,

to bring it back; it's literally re-energizing and

you know,

focusing that energy back on yourself.

And how can people connect with you if they want

to work with an awesome hormone specialist?

Okay,

so you should spell it because I'm not gonna say

it; they're not gonna understand gastronomica.

It's my social media everywhere on Instagram,

YouTube,

um,

Facebook; um,

you can find me as gastronomica and um,

you can book consultations on my website which is

gastronomica.mx; um,

yeah,

and that's it!

Yeah,

I'll make sure.

Those links are available for people to check out,

don't worry about that.

Don't worry about the spelling,

it's all good,

yeah,

beautiful.

Well,

thank you so much for taking the time with me,

Priscilla,

I really appreciate it.

Thank you so much for inviting me; I'm so happy

we were able to do this.

Absolutely of course,

and as I say,

I'll make sure that all the show notes are

available for people so they can get connected with

you,

and I might put up that book as well,

that you spoke about,

'Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself',

because it is an incredible read that's applicable

to everybody.

So yeah,

thank you very much,

Priscilla,

thank You everybody for cheers.

Yeah,

thank you,

everybody,

for listening!

This is True Hope Cast,

the official podcast of True Hope Canada.

We're going to see you next week.