Practicing Prevention For A Deliciously Healthy Decade

Zuri:   0:00
  

Zuri:   0:00
I am Zuri and this is your invitation to be the beautiful you. Welcome to our podcast. My co-host and partner is expansion coach Mikey Star

Mikey:   0:15
And she's lifestyle coach Zuri star. And together we make the EmPOWERment Couple

Mikey:   0:00
Each week we'll bring you either a special guest or a peek behind the scenes at how we're co-creating our most beautiful life. Our goal is to energize, edify, and elevate your day.

Zuri:   0:23
Walk with us as we chart a course to living your most beautiful life. alk with us as we chart a course to living your most beautiful life. Your most beautiful. Never been to that again. 

Zuri:   0:48
What's up, Pod Fam? Good afternoon. How do you know it's afternoon? What's up, Pod Fam? We're gonna talk about practicing prevention for a deliciously healthy decade. Are you ready?

Mikey:   1:02
Of course, I'm ready. Let's do this.

Zuri:   1:04
Alright. Did you know that 100 million people in a national poll said yes to the following question? Do you feel unsatisfied with life?

Mikey:   1:16
Unsatisfied? 100 million

Zuri:   1:19
100 million. 30% of our population said they're unsatisfied with their own life. So this poses the question. Why aren't health practitioners asking their patients on intake forms? One simple question after, let's say, name, date, birth. Are you happy?

Mikey:   1:42
That's a simple question.

Zuri:   1:43
Yeah, and a follow-up question. If you answer, no should be. "Why are you choosing to be unhappy?"

Mikey:   1:49
Happiness is a choice,

Zuri:   1:51
Right? So it makes me think of this 80-year study from Harvard that had really surprising findings that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships have a powerful influence on our health. This is what Robert Waldinger, director of the study, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said He went on to say, Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships is a form of self-care too, and that, I think, is the revelation unquote, and I would agree. So I bring this up because I went to the hospital recently, Um, without going into too many details. I visited the hospital and had some interesting experiences, but when I got home there were three things that became very apparent to me. One- our country needs to improve its health. Health care system. Um, we live in the US, So just for clarity, if you're listening across the seas and in our beautiful globe that we all inhabit, um So our health care system in the US is really just sick care. And, you know, I would like to see it be actual health care, which includes prevention. The second thing that I came to the conclusion about after visiting the hospital was- During my experience, they checked my physical vitals, but not my emotional or mental health vitals. It was very clear that they have just kind of this robotic approach to treating people. And I felt that there was a lot missing. And, of course, three is nutrition and lifestyle for preventive purposes. They were never discussed. You know, I understand that that's not necessarily part of Western medicine, but I would like to see that be more a part of what we're doing here in the States. Um, and once I was home, I reviewed my new patient portal through this hospital that I visited. And the prevention section was basically just vaccinations and a pap smear. There was I got excited. I saw prevention. I was like, Oh, yeah. Hey, what are they gonna offer like? Oh, maybe some like acupuncture or, you know, thinking this is great. They have a prevention section. How, you know, progressive

Mikey:   4:16
the flu shot, pap smear, period.

Zuri:   4:19
And I think there was also you know, breast examination of some sort, right? So mammogram. But that's what they're calling prevention. So anyway, I would like to reframe the discussion, and it made me kind of look like Okay. Well, what are the top 10 causes of death in the U. S? According to the CDC? And they are number one, heart disease number two. Cancer on the form of cancer. It would be lung, um, or bronchus. Cancer. Um, three would be chronic lower respiratory diseases. Four would be accidents. But here's the interesting thing. They're not just talking about falling off your roof or getting a car accident. Most notably, they consider drug overdoses as an accident. So that's interesting. With all we know about the opioid crisis and pain killer issue that we have here in the U. S. Um, number five was stroke number six was Alzheimer's disease number seven was diabetes. Number eight is influenza and pneumonia, and I want to make that distinction because a lot of these deaths are from elderly people who may be bedridden and in the hospital. And they've developed the flu or pneumonia from being in a static position. And they may have had an underlying issue. Let's say they're in the hospital for cancer or so on and so forth. And then they got the flu. Well, their cause of death would then be not cancer. It would be the flu. So flu and pneumonia are very common in hospitals, and, um, they are. That's why they make up, ah, a large number of deaths. And that's why there are a number eight. Number nine is kidney disease and number 10 is suicide. So that's why I really want to highlight mental health as we talk about prevention. And, um, how your mind and body connection plays such a big part. So again, we point out all of these because, aside from accidents, most of these air preventable. And yet the focus in this country tends to be about drugs for something. Once you have the ailment right that it's not a focus of, Let's look at, um, how we could prevent this. And this is because the US is one of two countries that allows direct to consumer advertising from pharmaceutical companies, which means that they're diagnosing you via the television or media that you're seeing it on. So they pose some type of questions like, Do you suffer from sleepless nights? Try Lunesta, and that is not coming from a doctor. The doctor's not suggesting these different things that you might have, and then you're coming to the determination with a doctor like, Oh, this is what I need. You're not coming to the with a doctor, you know, with a cure. This is just an ad coming from a drug company. And according to the Journal of American Medical Association, there has been a drastic increase in the direct to consumer prescription. They call it DTC um, prescription drug marketing budgets, jumping from 1.3 billion in 1997. That's when it became legal, by the way to more than six billion in 2016. So that's a 361% increase. They run these ads simply because they work So consumers see the ad they self diagnose based upon the drug ad on the happy people that, you know like took Lunesta. Let's use it as an example and they look well-rested like, Oh, that's what I need. And then they go to their doctor and they asked for that drug. So, you know, mind you that some of these name-brand drugs, they're gonna be a lot more expensive than some type of, um, you know, like a generic brand. but they run these ads because they work. So a 2000 and eight House Commerce Committee found that for every $1000 spent on prescription drug ads, 24 new patients were added for the pharma industry. So they're getting a good return on their investment. Additionally, a 2003 research report found that rates for prescription drugs with ads were almost seven times greater than those without ads. So imagine if we as preventative health advocates, Michael, had a budget, you know, $6 billion or probably up to $8 billion because the last step was from 2016. Imagine if we had $8 billion to promote our 10 ways to suggest people you know prevent dis-ease from their life. So these drug companies have these huge budgets. They have this advertising and they're making a lot of money off of people taking these drugs. So you see that this same pattern plays out over and over again, and it's basically that people are promoting awareness and thinking that that's what they need to do with the pink ribbon or they're walking for a cure. But there really isn't a focus on prevention. And the reason why is that it all comes back to money. Sick care is a profitable business model. So again, we want to focus on highlighting that you can prevent most of these most common diseases and the most common ways of the cause of death. Um, and just the lack of prevention discussion in our country's crazy. So hey, we're going to change that. Um, I had to dig just to find, like some of the government agency, the CDC suggesting things for prevention. And those things were, you know, pretty generic. I would say one was quit smoking number two was eat healthily. What the heck does that mean, right? which diet are we

Mikey:   10:46
we talking about.

Zuri:   10:46
Yeah, so that's confusion all in itself, which they benefit from. Three. Get regular physical activity. Four avoid drinking too much alcohol. Five. Get screened. Six. Get enough sleep. Seven. Know your family history. Eight. Make healthy choices in school, at work and in the community, so those are pretty generic. So we came up with our ways to practice prevention and stay in optimal health.

Mikey:   11:13
Well, there's an energetic component to staying healthy, and it's important to master how to change your state. In Eastern medicine, prevention is a regular practice. The Benjamin Franklin axiom that states an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is as today true as it was when Franklin made the quote in relation, of course, to protect oneself from a fire. Now here it. I am Zuri. We fool, hardly agree with practicing prevention, and we co-created lifestyle that follows these 10 steps.

Zuri:   11:52
So Number one is to eat good food and supplement your self-care. About 80% of the food on shelves minus the fresh produce section didn't even exist 100 years ago, which means that our bodies don't know how to process this food, which means that they will look at this food and treat it like it is foreign. Therefore, it causes all kinds of problems, and it means your body has to detox those foreign ingredients. So the best way to avoid those foreign ingredients is to reduce consumption of processed foods. Um, I want to make a side note. The reason why there are so many foreign ingredients in our food system is that over 70% of processed foods contain GMO ingredients. Now. G. M O's, if you aren't familiar, are genetically modified organisms or genetically engineered. You also see it be called G E. Those ingredients were created in a lab to withstand pesticides or to contain pesticides. The very few independent studies that we have that we're not actually performed by the chemical industry to show, um, that they're safe to eat actually show cause for concern. And the concerns that we're seeing are in the form of various cancers. Also about 80% of the G. M. O's in the marketplace. Right now, our reliance on the use of roundup, which if you've been watching the news at all, you'll see that of course, the World Health Organization classified it as a probable carcinogen. And at the time of this recording, there were over 40,000 lawsuits that claimed roundup caused the plaintiff's cancer. In the 1st 3 cases, we've seen so far, jurors found Monsanto maker of roundup unanimously guilty. So all of that is to say that there are a bunch of preservatives, additives, things that are allowed in the U. S. That are not allowed in other countries. So you really want to be a food investigator. And here's the thing. If that isn't your gig and you don't have the time, we've got it all figured out for you. Um and I don't want these beautiful factoids to scare you. We have solutions. We're here to give you the solutions off course. We suggest that you eat the rainbow and again go back to that produce section and eat as much fruit and veggies as your heart desires. The gold standard is always local, organic, non-GMO verified, seasonal, if you can. At all times. Um, we also recommend that you eat superfoods. The least expensive way to get superfoods is through a company called Thrive Market. I will give you a link, and if you aren't familiar with thriving there kind of like a combination of whole foods meats. Costco meets Amazon and your order on their app, they deliver it. Uh, everything is organic and natural. They cater to food. Um, allergies, etcetera. And it's delivered right to your door. Um, so we do have a discount, will give you guys that so they would be a good company to use, too stuck up your pantry. And then, of course, you know, a friend of Farmer, find a C SA. That's how you want to get your produce or a farmers market. We also have a food academy that we call the organic belly, which is a course eating guide. A membership program to help you take all the guesswork out of your food buying purchases. So if this is something that's new to you, this is a good option. Um, we're also offering a free guide on how eating seasonally will keep you out of the doctor's office as just another offer to make sure that you feel well supported in the Food department because that tends to be a very confusing section for people. Um Additionally, we have a flu shot recipe, but it's not the type of shot you would get from CVS. It's a tonic you can take. So lastly, on food, I just wanna point out that we're conditioned to choose quantity over quality like, for example, the 99 cents menu, which should be called the 99 Problems Menu because it gives you 99 problems. But nutrition ain't one. So you might be asking, Why should I take a supplement? I want you to take in consideration that most Americans Onley 8 30 foods per day, so you likely aren't getting the daily recommended amount of vitamin C or vitamin D. And that's why you want to supplement also take into account that our soil health has been extremely compromised due to poor ag practices, and lastly, not all supplements are created equal. So if you are going to supplement, I want you to really understand what you're taking, because there is a $46 billion industry that profits off of people taking supplements that their body can't even absorb. And keep in mind that when you buy an over the counter supplement Onley 10% of that supplement is filled with the active ingredient, and 90% is filler. And most often the fillers are detrimental to your health. So I can't emphasize that enough. We have a pod, and we go into it more on the blogged about supplements. And we have experts. They're gonna walk you through this process of product selection. All right? You want to play a game with me, Michael,

Mikey:   17:40
I love games.

Zuri:   17:41
Time for a game. We're gonna play really one of my fair games called Mystery Smoothie. Okay, You ready?

Mikey:   17:53
So how does this game work

Zuri:   17:54
in this game? Works that. Basically, I made a smoothie. It's got some ingredients in it that he doesn't know about and all of its good. I didn't poison you. That's the only promise I make. But you have to guess what's in the mysteries movie. So of course, No dairy, right? No dairy. Okay, good. All right. I didn't poison you.

Mikey:   18:18
Here goes mystery smoothie. I do love you.

Zuri:   18:24
Do you? Yeah. I

Mikey:   18:26
really, really love you. Okay. Well, I love you after this. Yes, OK, we go. It's

Zuri:   18:31
delicious. Go on, try it. Now. If you're watching us, you two notes Mike's face. Okay? you've got some guesses. Got some guilt. Don't keep me waiting. Taste pineapple? Yes. Meaning I'm

Mikey:   18:58
seeing bits of green speckles, which I'm assuming is yes. Maybe Kale.

Zuri:   19:10
No, no, Kale. Honey kissed again, but to a but joy. Okay, Okay. You get

Mikey:   19:30
revenge is gonna be sweet. You know I hate bok choy.

Zuri:   19:33
No, it's good for you. Yes, but it's gross. Tastes

Mikey:   19:36
okay, So, bok choy, pineapple. Um,

Zuri:   19:39
you look like you're enjoying it, though, so keep going, Um, getting it on your face. This is good. Don't spill it on your white shirt.

Mikey:   19:53
Is that, um, coconut? No. His co Canetti.

Zuri:   19:59
No coconut. Guess the liquid. That's easy.

Mikey:   20:04
That's what's gonna say. Coconut cooking water.

Zuri:   20:06
No, no, it's You're not really guessing you're just drinking a lot. Well, it must be hunkering trying to put together the taste profiles appear in partner.

Mikey:   20:16
Okay, It's not very sweet. If you take out the pineapple and the bok choy, I would assume that it is What, Almond milk?

Zuri:   20:26
Yep. I'm in milk thing. Ding, ding, ding, ding. We got two things right now. You're guessing, right? So may get snapping and happy. What?

Mikey:   20:35
Are there any supplements? Yeah, some

Zuri:   20:37
of course. Okay, You know I do.

Mikey:   20:42
So if it's a protein powder, I would suggest I would state was probably like a vanilla. Nope. It's not chocolate. No. Is it a plane?

Zuri:   20:53
It's your favorite kind. So just Oh, him? Yep. Okay. New TVA, him protein is the protein source. So it's good for you.

Mikey:   21:02
It was good for make

Zuri:   21:03
you drinking.

Mikey:   21:04
It's not bad. I would have liked it more if you had said it was. It was Kale

Zuri:   21:10
toy? Sure. At scale.

Mikey:   21:11
Scale. Perfect. I love kill.

Zuri:   21:14
Okay, What else? Ah, you're crunching us something with

Mikey:   21:21
you. What is that? Is that is that tea seeds? So, what else? What are the other ingredients? Is that one more

Zuri:   21:28
time? Just gonna tell you guys were taking way too long. This isn't like a whole podcast worth of content here, so I put spirulina. Um okay, taste it. Yes. So, no, I do. I put marina powder and I put Chia and it has pineapple, banana and almond milk.

Mikey:   21:53
What's the big deal with Moringa Powder

Zuri:   21:55
and bok choy and choy. The

Mikey:   21:58
mystery box Choi I What's the big deal with with marina powder?

Zuri:   22:02
You mean what's the big deal.

Mikey:   22:04
Why is it

Zuri:   22:04
it's high nutrient density. That's why people put it in their smoothies. Okay? Yep. And you want to get organic, Marina, And you want, Um actually, Marine Khalid's on. Do you want to look for specific brands Will link you to some brands, but, um, not all marina powders are created equally. Okay. Same with spirulina.

Mikey:   22:28
Um, yeah, we have a good spur lead. Um, I don't usually put more in your pattern, but it's good. Thank you so much.

Zuri:   22:33
You're welcome. Delicious. Concludes this game.

Mikey:   22:41
Well, um, next on the line is sleep. Um, what is the importance of sleep? Sorry. Well, we spend and wanted.

Zuri:   22:52
Thank you. Tell me. Right.

Mikey:   22:53
1/3 of our lives asleep, right. That's a That's a significant number. And, um so for not getting good sleep, that's, you know, 1/3 of our our existence here on this planet. That's compromised now. How much sleep that we get? How much sleep do we need? It really depends on the person. Your body type your stress levels. For some people, it might be six hours, some seven. Some ate some more.

Zuri:   23:21
What's your magic number?

Mikey:   23:22
My magic number. ISS six yours

Zuri:   23:25
eight AM I ate.

Mikey:   23:26
Well, um, it's important to know what it is. Um, now your body has a natural timekeeping clock known as your circadian rhythm. Um, so one of the things that you want to do is to make sure that you are, um, living as closely to your circadian rhythm is possible. And there are things that allow you to kind of help keep that circadian rhythm going, One of which is to expose yourself toe light in the morning. Um, also, uh, just before you go to bed or slight before you go to bed, you want to reduce the amount of blue light, but you are exposed to, and Blue Light has the tendency to trick the body into thinking that you're still awake. Right? Um, we have a great link, um, to a pair of, um, what they call their

Zuri:   24:24
they are blue light blocking glasses.

Mikey:   24:28
I was going to say that I knew I was going to, uh, you know, get tongue-tied. So I'm glad you did like, um and you know, these these junk lights. They tend to mess with the mitochondria and, you know, I don't want to go too deep. A. We'll focus more on the effects of blue lights in another podcast that's coming up. It's specific to sleep, however, just know that you're eyes are extremely sensitive to light. So when it's dark out, your brain actually starts producing melatonin, which actually allows you to sleep. When it's bright out, your body starts producing serotonin, which wakes you up. So if you're just about going to be ready to go to bed and you're looking at your computer screen on your devices, um, what you're doing is you're waking your body up so you would reduce the blue light. Um, also, you want to reduce the caffeine, right? So you want to cut off at least eight hours before bed because it can stay in your body that long? Right? And I hate saying this, but reducing naps also allows you to keep your circadian rhythms. But the

Zuri:   25:40
king of like the 10-minute power nap

Mikey:   25:42
now, thank you for saying that. Okay, so there is. There is, um, there's some magic in these small naps, right? So a 10 minute, 5 10 minute nap, it gives you nice little boost anything longer than that. It actually tricks your body into thinking that it's going down for the count, and then it has to re wake itself up and knocks it out of its circadian rhythm. Um, also want to create a good sleep schedule. Your body is a machine, right? And regular maintenance, which also includes sleep, keeps it healthy and happy. Um, we talked a little bit about melatonin. It is the key to sleep. So you, if you're having some difficulty sleeping, get your levels checked. Um, you know, melatonin is the key sleep hormone that tells your brain when it is time to sleep in the wake. So if you're having some hard time sleeping, it would be nice to know if you're your brain is actually producing enough melatonin for you. Um, you also want to avoid regular alcohol because drinks at night can negatively affect your sleep. And hormones. Typically, beer, wine, um, and spirits have high volumes here. Its spirits have high volumes of sugar, and they also suppress your brain's natural ability to produce the right amounts of melatonin. Right? So, um, you know, the old school thought of, you know, let me have a glass of wine before I go to bed so I can fall asleep. Sure. It'll allow you to fall asleep. However, the quality of sleep will be, um, diminished. Diminish, most certainly. Um, And also, and I'm very guilty this avoid late-night eating. Why is this? Because, um, when you put something in your belly, your body has to process it, right? So if you're putting something in your belly just before you go to bed as you're laying down as your body is trying to rest, it's actually revving up and starting to process that energy that you just ate. And then all of a sudden, you get these little energy bursts.

Zuri:   27:52
Yeah, it starts the digestion process, which not good. If you're trying to go to sleep,

Mikey:   27:58
yes. So I'll have to take that medicine also, um, in order to get good sleep, a tip would be to make your bedroom an optimal sleep cave. Right. So, you know, if you living in, um, the suburban city areas where you have lots of external light coming in, invest in some blackout curtains. We did talk a little bit about melatonin, the darker the room. The easier it is for your body to produce that hormone. Um, and quite frankly, um, your eyes don't necessarily just have to be closed. You couldn't actually absorb light for your skin, which is very interesting. Um, if you can afford one, I would suggest getting an organic mattress and bedding. Um, that's a nice key to a healthy night's rest. Your body does absorb whatever it touches. So if you were, um, sleeping on some nice, healthy organic sheets and mattresses, you are really pampering your body

Zuri:   29:01
and you're investing in that 1/3 of your life that you're gonna be in that bed. 

Mikey:   29:06
Yes. Exactly. A little gross thing here. You want to make sure you clean your bedroom and you're betting. Okay, so they're nearly 100,000 dust mites, um, that can live in one square yard of carpet, and a 10% of the weight of a two-year-old fellow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings. Now, keep in mind that mites alive are detrimental to your health. However, the carcasses and their droppings, or even more so so clean your room, clean your room, clean your room. Make sure that, um, you know, you were your recycling your pillows. Let's keep those desk mites out of your lungs and off your skin. Um, also, you want to turn off all of your WiFi and all of your devices? Um, you know, you have that nice setting, Thea airplane setting. Just turn off your WiFi. If you want to take it the next step, turn off your router. You know, give your brain a break from those extra WiFi radio waves coming in.

Zuri:   30:22
E m f, sir. No, Joe.

Mikey:   30:24
No, no. Notaro. Um, Also, um, if you do want a light, I would suggest getting like a nice salt lamp. Um, I like to use sleep sounds now. When we lived in the suburbs, we heard traffic. We heard people talking. We heard coyotes. We heard all kinds of dog dogs, all kinds of things. And what we did is we invested in a new app on her phone that basically just mimicked being out in the country. So we, you know, had nice water trickling and some crickets and all that stuff, like frogs, we still use even though we are in the country now, all we have to do is open the window. So during the summer months, well, the window. No problem. But in the winter months, of course, windows are closed because it's super cold. So sleep sounds are a great way to, um, kind of balance out the ah ah, the external noise. It's kind of like wearing like noise counseling headphones or having white light or white noise the background. Another way of good and good sleep is to create a nighttime ritual. Um, my number one ritual is restorative yoga. I love doing yoga. Um, and then for me, it's a 12 punch. I do some restored of yoga, and then I do some meditation. Um, one study found that a hot bath 90 minutes before bed improved sleep quality and help people get deeper sleep quickly. So, um, you know you you know, for any parents that are out there, you have sleep. Oh, our night. 10 rituals for your kids. You know you can a bath. You tell him a story, you get him all nice and tucked in and they fall asleep or they'd

Zuri:   32:12
get up about 25 times after that. But yeah, the point is to try to get them to sleep, right?

Mikey:   32:18
Yeah, but you know, your sleep rituals or great. You know, it's training. The mind is training the body. It's time for bed. Let's get rid of all the stressors. Close your eyes and boom. You can have some wonderful dreams. Um,

Zuri:   32:34
we are gonna be doing a podcast for optimal sleep in going a little deeper. Um, so be sure, Toe, Look out for that.

Mikey:   32:45
Yeah, we're gonna talk a bit more about, like, uh, uh, traditional Chinese medicine, A vet IQ system on different supplements. But those things were coming, but, you know, in short, if you want to feel well, you have to sleep well.

Zuri:   33:02
Yeah, I do agree. I love that number two. So number three is Ah, drink water. Our bodies are made up of 60% of water, 60% crazy. Right. So we need a drink half our body weight in water per day and more. If we're drinking caffeine and alcohol because they're dairy ticks, they will dehydrate you. I have found that if you start the day with 16 to 32 ounces of water. I really like warm lemon water with cayenne.  I've found that that is the best way. Just toe kick start my organs. Make sure they know I'm awake and ready for the day. Helps. May stay regular and helps me just get things going and detoxify in the morning. Um, so I'm ready for my day. Um, toe, activate water. You can put it on the window seal. You can add lemon. You can charge it with a crystal. You can add a pinch of Himalayan salt. Um, and it's absolutely one of the most important parts of your day. So don't skip the water. Um, you want obviously quality water because 21 million Americans drink water that violates U. S health standards. So Well, make sure that you are drinking clean water. It's unfortunate we live in a country where you can't just turn on the tap unless you have a well, like us. But you can't just turn on the tap, you know, in most places. So in almost 20 years, the EPA has not added any new contaminants to the toxic chemicals covered by the Safe Drinking water act. So What that means is that all of these new contaminants that have been introduced, um, by agriculture and by, um, manufacturers those air not even they're not even being regulated at all. So we don't recommend drinking bottled water because plastic leeches, harmful chemicals plus ads to the plastic crisis that we have because only 30% of that plastic it's recycled. Um, but we suggest you use a stainless steel or glass reusable bottle. We have some recommendations for the cleanest ones. You want them to be produced properly, Um, and to withstand, um, using them on a daily basis and washing them properly and all that. Um, but if we're traveling in the US, we will buy glass bottled water. Um, the brand that we like is Mountain Valley spring water. Um, it's pretty much the cleanest that you can get in a bottle. Um, but you can filter your water at home with activated carbon reverse osmosis or ion exchange. Um, or you can purchase a large glass bottle of spring water from certain companies and, you know, have that delivered. Um, but our filter of choice, if you're gonna just by a filter, is Berky Ah, because it removes over 200 dangerous chemicals and contaminants. Um, And so as like, Leonardo Da Vinci says, water is the driving force of all nature. And I would add that it includes us.

Mikey:   36:18
That is correct. Yes. Well, um, water. Yes. And what comes after water breathing? Here's the beautiful truth. Breathing makes the body alkaline. Alkaline is the optimal condition of your body. They were the opposite of, um, acidic. Right? Acidic bodies are, um, are kind of gateways for all kinds of diseases, many of which were listed on the CDC that

Zuri:   36:52
we just Can we just pause and like, collectively with our listeners, take a deep breath.

Mikey:   36:57
Okay. I'm three, inhale. 123 and exhale. You just made your body a little bit more alkaline. So after we took that deep breath, what happened is that we decreased the level of stress. We relieved pain we stimulated are lymphatic system. The system that detoxify the body. We improved our immunity. We increased energy, we lowered blood pressure. We improved our digestion. And we help support our a correct posture. Now, that's us with one breath. Imagine if you were deliberate and making sure that you took, say, 10 to 15. Nice. Deep breaths. Ah. Couple times during the course, the day you're driving, you're waiting in line at the bank. You're in a, um you know way. Ah, I don't know. An elevator something, you know, Take that opportunity. Get that. Get those. Ah, nice deep breath coming in. It could also be more deliberate about how you breathe. As a yoga and meditation coach, I teach my students several breathing techniques, one of which is called box breathing. I offer this technique free at the beginning of a body scan, a technique listed in the show notes. As far as breathing is concerned, I like this quote from the Huffer yoga. For typical states, the mind is the king of the senses. But the breath is the king of the mind.

Zuri:   38:38
Mm, so good. Let's go to number five, which is to clean up your personal care. So your skin is your largest organ and women use 12 personal care products per day. That's the estimate. Ladies. You know what's probably more like 30 or 40 that we use, um, menus? Six is what they estimate. Um and so you know that's everything from, like shampoo and toothpaste. Ah, that's what they're considering. Personal care. It's a $70 billion industry, and the laws governing this industry haven't been changed since the Great Depression. Well, to be exact, it was 1938 when the last laws that regulate our self-care products were enacted. So that kind of sounds similar to like what we were talking about with the water. So there's just not a lot of regulation on some of these things that are harming our health. Um, there's nobody regulating endocrine disrupters and carcinogens that you put on your body or in your body or in your hair on your head, your scalp. This is what I refer to the cosmetic I'll as the cause, Dash medics. Because this is really where we see so much of our, um, health care system dealing with these crazy cosmetics that they've allowed into our lives. Right? So they're on our shelves, and people have this assumption that they're safe, but they're not being regulated at all. Um, there tons of healthy personal care products now, though in the marketplace, and we list a ton of them on our side, It's one of my passions, is focusing on clean and healthy beauty, and you can use our free glamour doesn't have to be toxic guide. If this is new to you, we offer that also on our website for free and in our show notes.

Mikey:   40:39
And this brings us to number six mental and emotional health. So how you feel is emotional and how you think is mental. So mental health is how well your mind processes and understands information experiences. And, in contrast, emotional health involved your ability to manage and express the emotions that arise from what you have learned and experienced

Zuri:   41:03
my like that.

Mikey:   41:05
So some healthy mining suggestions Ask yourself when you feel a negative emotions such a stress, anger, frustration or are thinking negative thoughts such as lack loss limitation is your first response to medicate or meditate? Mm. Most people it is to medicate. They'll switch to a pill, a glass, some junk TV, maybe some food. Um, whereas meditation will actually allow you to change your body chemistry so that you can not feel stressed.

Zuri:   41:43
That mindset is so crazy, right? Because that's why we have so much depression in this country and we will be talking about depression and how depression is not necessarily a chemical imbalance with an expert that's gonna be on the show. Um, and she talks all about the science behind depression, and that will be very interesting, but continue. Continue.

Mikey:   42:09
So the importance here is to choose healthy thoughts. As you know, thoughts become things. There's a quote from William James that I like, which states The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. Yes, so sounds easy. Right. Well, um, so hard. It is. It's not as easy as you think, but there are things that can make it nice and easy, one of which is a mantra, Right? You've heard the name that the term mantra. It doesn't have to be really confusing. You can make up your own mantra. You know, one of my favorites is I am dot, dot dot Say I am strong. I am beautiful. I am.

Zuri:   42:57
Gosh, where do you get that from? There's

Mikey:   42:59
a There's a really wise woman who, uh, who came up with that. Monsters are great. They really allow you to set reset your mind and your body. Um, when I was younger, I used a practice called the Magic Mirror where I would write down a mantra and I would put it on a mirror, you know, the bathroom mirror or, you know, any mirror that you see several times during the course of the day. So you look in the mirror, you see the mantra, and you remind yourself I am strong. Um, now, ways of, um, dealing with emotional health is you kind of want to focus more on heart healing practices. Right? So one way to do that is to keep a journal night. Everyone keeps a journal. But, um, a great way to keep a journal, which I have found is just using kind of documents on your phone, right? You don't have 3/2. They carry around little bound journal. You can actually have it in your phone, and you open it up and you type in something. The process of writing down your emotions is journaling. There's also creative expressions by means of playing music, painting going out into the garden again. I've just talked about mantra as there's therapy, there's group support groups. Support could also be in the form of hanging out with friends doing things in common mountain biking buddies since things to that nature. Um, And then there's, ah system called emotional freedom technique, also known as E f T, which is called tapping, which will go into in greater detail in a block that is gonna be coming very shortly. Um, so the heart and mind union is very significant in reducing stress and being happy. So what happens when what you think and how you feel or out of alignment is the same thing that happens when you say you are pushing the brake and the gas pedal on your car at the same time, right when they're out of alignment? Um, you can feel like you're burning out. Um, you're going to get some more wear and tear on your emotion, your emotional body and your physical body. You're gonna feel like you're going nowhere. So you're wasting a lot of fuel and, um, you know,

Zuri:   45:26
analogy. I like that analogy.

Mikey:   45:28
Yeah, you know, it's you. That's why the gas pedal and the brake pedal are used by the same foot. So you don't use them at the same time, but still, here we are. You know wanting something and doing something different at the same time. A great way to get heart and mind Union is to practice gratitude. Um, practice happiness. I love to practice happiness. Why? Because we don't need an excuse to be happy. What you give is what you receive. It's the equivalent of standing in front of a mirror, right? If you frown what you received from the mirrors of frown you'll never get a smile unless you show that mirror smile. So what you give out the world is what you receive. So if you're practicing happiness, happiness will find you

Zuri:   46:23
right And we're all reflections of each other. So exactly love that,

Mikey:   46:28
um, another way of getting heart-mind union is toe laugh. Um, And ask yourself, Are you addicted to drama or you addicted to comedy? Laughter is the cheapest form of therapy. It really resets all kinds of levels throughout your body.

Zuri:   46:48
I love it and we have a great podcast about laughter coming up.

Mikey:   46:53
Um, there's also immersion experiences, retreats for healing that combined heart and head Union. There were thousands of them out there. Choose one and, you know, invest in happiness and your health. And this gets me back to one of my favorite teachers, Wayne Dyer. And he states that there is no stress in the world. There's only people thinking stressful thoughts and then acting on

Zuri:   47:24
them. But this Segways perfectly into Number seven, which is de-stress stress triggers a particular biological response. When you perceive a threat, or, like a major challenge chemicals and hormone surge through your body, that's what stress is. So this isn't something to be excited about being, Oh, I'm so stressed, or how stressed are you. This is not a celebratory act that your body is experiencing. Um, so we want to talk about preventative stress. How can you de-stress And some of those therapies and one that we really like to recommend is to get into nature because negative ions, they enhance your mood, and they enhance your immune function and their abundant in nature, especially around waterfalls or the beech forests. Um, in mountains, you know, we like to forest, bathe or sit by the creek or go to the lake. Um, and pretty much year round. You can get into nature in some way, and you know, you sometimes have to be a little bit more creative. Um, but we also like to hike, Um, and it's ideal if you do some of this barefoot to get the benefits of grounding. And what grounding is is that or some people call it Earth Thing? It's simply getting barefoot on the earth and negative ions from the surface. Make your their way into your body, and they released free radicals and all the things that we've been accumulating that are negatively affecting us. These free radicals have been linked to all kinds of things, like premature aging, inflammation and disease, and we want to de stress by getting into nature. Another one that I really like to recommend is hugs, hugging releases, oxytocin in the brain and dopamine in the brain, which is known as the pleasure hormone. Hey Ah, A study of 404 healthy adults, conducted in 2014 by researcher researchers at Carnegie, found that frequent hugs reduced people's susceptibility to stress. So now so we can have a hug. Yes, you know it's like that that nursery rhyme that you hear, like, four homes a day. That's some of whom. There is a reason. Like you got a hug it out. Um, so touch is another way to de-stress hands on therapy. Like massage or private yoga adjustment. Um, which I highly recommend love cranial sacral facials. Gua sha Chittagong. Ah, chiropractic care, acupuncture, acupressure. Um, you can do a lot of this, um, this type of manual touch on yourself. So, like Assad and super kinky. But I was talking about, like, wash a or face facial massage or lymphatic drainage massage. Um, so pampered care is another way you can do stress. So, you know, if you have in your budget to a spa day, it's a great investment in your health and your well being. Um, but you can create a spot in your own house. You can take a cinsault bath, mineral baths, um, and, ah, if you do have it in your budget to go to do spa spa days, I really like salt rooms or place that have hot springs or red light therapy. Cryotherapy. Um, there's lots of pampered care now offered in spots. Um, and of course, sex researchers found that men who had sex two times more each week we're less likely to die from a heart attack than men who had sex less often. Six. So a steady published in the Journal of Biological Perspective as participants to take part in a stressful activities such as giving a speech or taking ah, complicated math quiz.

Mikey:   51:28
That's my nightmare,

Zuri:   51:29
right? The participants who had vaginal intercourse before a stressful test had lower levels of stress and lower blood pressures when compared to people who had no sex, those who masturbated or those who had sexual contact without intercourse. So, yeah, again, nature has it all figured out. You have to have sex. So have sex in the last one is how much fun are you having? You ask yourself that question. Um, and it's lasts analyst, but certainly not least. You've gotta have fun. Make a fun list, figure out what you like to do what makes you feel alive. And since we're all quot on this podcast, um, I like the quote from Randy Posh, and it's how I am going to keep having fun every day. I have left because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or in your and I think that leads perfectly to talk about one of my favorite de stressing activities. Mike, you want to tell us about number eight?

Mikey:   52:39
Number eight is exercise and movement. You have to emphasize and detox. So as Faras Tigger is concerned, he headed correctly. Bounce, bounce, don't

Zuri:   52:52
Yeah, lymph aside.

Mikey:   52:53
Now, one thing that Yes, yes. One thing that I always tell my clients is that your body takes the shape. You put it in the most so exercise exercise exercise of the exercises that I like. Um, I practice yoga. I liked Aichi at Lake H I t TEM Bata Running, dancing, walking. Pallotti's research has found 30 minutes a day is sufficient and just moving in between bouts of sitting is also extremely helpful. So for those of you who are stuck at the desk, get up in the bathroom, get a glass of water, maybe do a couple jumping decks on the side. You're gonna be just fine.

Zuri:   53:39
This is why I have a standing desk.

Mikey:   53:41
That is correct. Standing desks are great.

Zuri:   53:43
Yes. Thank you for building me one

Mikey:   53:46
and no problem. Next is lymphocyte izing. Now the process of lymphocyte izing could definitely help boost your immune system. One thing about your lymphatic system is that relies on the effects of gravity in order to keep it running smoothly. I think of tapping the bottom side of ah brand new ketchup bottle in order to get it to poor smoothly over your organic french fries, Right? To properly cleanse exactly the proper that properly cleanse the lymphatic system. You want to control the effects of gravity. We have a whole episode on emphasizing during which we suggest rebounding, which is jumping up and down on a mini trampoline. Now, every time you jump and land, you were essentially tapping the bottom of the ketchup bottle. So, um, running, jump roping, hiking, even walking also helps to move lymph around. Yoga is an excellent practice to move your limp. Um, this is also where the term runner's high comes from. You know, you go for a nice run at the end of the run, you feel like you can kind of walk on water. Very elated. That is because you successfully moved your limp. We invested in what is called a vibe plate, which vibrates the body both horizontally and vertically. I find it super effective to move the limp.

Zuri:   55:13
Yeah, and you only have to do it for, like, five minutes. Pretty cool.

Mikey:   55:17
Yeah, it's very

Zuri:   55:17
cool when we have us from bulletproof.

Mikey:   55:20
Um, I'm not sure if NASA uses bulletproof, but they do use five plates for the astronauts so that they could their limp while in zero gravity you can also manually drain your lymph, um, practices like dry brushing, a nice lymphatic massage. Gua sha cold showers or cold therapy as well as using inversion tables, will help your body boost your immune system, retain its beauty, give you an extra boost of energy and improve your mood. Um, And then there's detoxing. Ah, the old saying, Do not forget to take out the trash while your body accumulates toxins based on the food that you're eating the air you're breathing so on and so forth. So sorry. Give me some of your daily detox rituals.

Zuri:   56:15
I like toe add herbs to my daily detox. I like a dandelion tea. I also detox with lemon water, which I talked about. Um but I also dio add pumpkin seeds to my salad. I'll ADC Lorella and spirulina to my smoothie. Um, and of course, I love rebounding. I love the by plate. I love inversions. I do dry brushing. Ah, Sana baiting is one of my absolute favorites, and we have infrared sauna in our home gym. And thus thing that I think we've purchased this for,

Mikey:   56:53
well, sauna bathing most certainly is associated with significant reductions in all kinds of cardiovascular diseases. Um, there's a Finnish study of, ah, 2315 healthy middle aged men and women, which concluded that 4 to 7 sauna bathing sessions per week was associated with 66% lower risk of dementia and 65% lower risk of Alzheimer's was a big numbers.

Zuri:   57:24
Yeah, and way have family members who have had to mention Alzheimer's and no those diseases very well. So, um, it's good incentive to get into the sauna. We should sound after this.

Mikey:   57:36
Yeah, most certainly. Well, they're also great for detoxing and the great for detoxing heavy metals as well. Which is also ah, kind of Ah, big deal. Um, you also do cupping, right?

Zuri:   57:50
Yeah. No, I cup my face and cup any place that is inflamed. But I do it for lymphatic drainage. Specifically that I definitely cup. Um, often,

Mikey:   58:04
Yeah, I've heard that, um, it definitely reduces inflammation, muscle tension and can also improve circulation. Detoxification on also increased range of movement.

Zuri:   58:18
Yeah, it's very, very common for professional athletes to use cupping.

Mikey:   58:24
Well, um, just know that your body is a slick local machine, right? And detoxification. Um, and Lemper sizing is part of that cycle, so if you break the cycle, essentially you are breaking the machine. So get that movement in.

Zuri:   58:43
So that brings us to number nine. And number nine is to reduce environmental toxins. And here's what we mean when we say that, um, you want to remove toxic cleaners on specifically what I want to focus on on the pod is removing antibacterial and harsh chemicals from your home to include products with bleach and ammonia. And if you're wanting to kill or sanitize with something that has antibacterial or it's an antibacterial formula, So it will say that on the front of the package, um, that product must contain a registered E p a pesticide. So do you really want a pesticide. Let's say on your hands all day while you eat food on your countertops. Um, you know, just think about it. You're putting a pesticide that hasn't been tested for human consumption on your hands. Of course, like you, you don't want to be light with the things that say antibacterial the And like I said, they're not tested on humans. And instead we become the guinea pigs. So this antibacterial craze has led to a mounting problem of antibiotic resistance. So and that becomes a problem. If you do get some type of ailment, you won't be able to use antibiotics that actually work because we're all just drugging ourselves with these, um, antibacterial products. Secondly, if you kill all bacteria, you're killing good bacteria to which plays a role in our microbiome a very significant role. And 70% of the immune system is located in the intestine. So you need good bacteria, like what you'd find in a high quality probiotic to fight off the bad stuff. So we're killing way too much, and you know, nature did not intend for us to be doing that for cleaning our home. We use branch basics. I will give you a code for that. But we also just use essential oils to clear the air like we talked about. Um, white vinegar and baking soda is great. I would suggest getting organic because vinegar can be made from GMO and you don't want that in your house. So we use yeah, a lot of white vinegar and baking soda in It works fine. And then we'll put essential oils in it so it doesn't smell like vinegar everywhere, um, but going back to number four, which was breathing. And we emphasized the importance of breathing clean air, which means that you'll need an air filter. And we told you what our favorite is. But according to the World Health Organization, they estimate around seven million people die every year from exposure to polluted air. Ambient air pollution alone caused some 4.2 million deaths in 2016 while household air pollution from cooking with polluted fuels and technologies cause an estimated 3.8 million deaths in the same period. This is crazy, right? And this is why big numbers air purifier is so important and we list in our block why everyone needs an air purifier But I mention this again here because we are talking about detoxing from environmental toxins and reducing them. And obviously, if you're putting a lot of things that have, um, ammonia and that have that off gas, that's going to cause a lot of problems with the quality of the air that you breathe. Um, you want to replace all plastic bags for cloth? You know, of course, when you go shopping, we have reusable mesh bags for produce that we can recommend. Ah, we have some other hacks and tips on how you can just get rid of plastic plastic utensils, plastic bags, plastic containers, Tupperware. That kind of stuff is super easy, Teoh replace, and we have some hacks on how to do that. You could do that progressively, um, and then replace your non stick pans with cast iron, stainless steel, glass or stone where we can give you a link for all of that. But really, really important. We have a whole big section on our Web site about, um, why you don't want to be using non stick pans. And the last tip, I would say is just make sure you take off your shoes when you enter the house, it's important to take up your shoes because scientists have found that shoes pick up harmful bacteria like C diff and E. Coli as well as add chemicals so definitely set up in area to remove your shoes when you enter the house. Basically, what scientists found is that the soles of your shoes are dirtier than toilet seats, and the bacteria survives on shoes much longer. So I'm like, kind of crazy about hey, take off your shoes. Um um, that's why I read that study and I was like, Oh, um, but as a consumer, we need to remember we're part of nature, not against it. So there's a nature kind already has it figured out. And I really like that quote from Rachel Carson, who is one of my favorite authors. Um, she says, but man is a part of nature, and his war against nature isn't inevitably, ah, war against himself. Indeed, Number 10 way made it 10.

Mikey:   1:4:12
Who? OK, simply put, this is your check engine light right for those of us who have cars when we drive them to the point of there needing some attention, the little light will come on and say please see or please service me So a lot of times we unthinking service me while our bodies also have check engine lights. So we have to pay attention to our bodies. Signs it'll most likely be sending Ah, check engine light in the form of maybe headache, stomachaches, skin issues like rashes or acne changes in your energy. Um, and a lot of times, because Because a lot of people will have these symptoms, um, they will be normalized. So they're the importance of also of getting preventive. Testing plays a role here amongst all the tests that are out there. I would suggest a nutrient panel. Um, studies show that 92% a 2% of Americans have a vitamin deficiency. And if you know what vitamins you are deficient in, it's helpful for you to determine how to supplement those deficiencies. And then what you should are actual what foods you should and should not be eating, cause there's some foods that will help um, balance out your your supplement or your your vitamins. And sometimes it will deplete you. So know what those are? I would highly recommend you working with a dietitian or nutritionists or a functional medicine doctor prior to making some significant changes to your diet? Um, you know, you stated, um, you know, recent hospital visits a lot of times, you know, when your doctor will give you, um, some medications. Um, they're not really the ones who can break down your nutritional components primarily because Western medicine doctors really have only about six hours of required nutrition in their studies. Not a whole lot. So you need someone that understands the biochemistry involved in balancing out. You need you nutritional levels. There's other preventative tests that I would recommend You can focus on, um, that help with your gut health. Um, how much heavy metals you have. And you were hormone levels.

Zuri:   1:6:43
Yep. And those are all easy tests and same with your nutrient panel. And find out what your gut is absorbing. So, um, we definitely recommend those.

Mikey:   1:6:53
The more you know, the more you can, um, you know, work with, um And then, of course, you want to get your screening. You want to make sure that your teeth are always being checked to have a lot of, um, bacteria that can enter your bloodstream through your mouth, so make sure your teeth are are on par makes you get your paps mirrors your calling up Skopje's. I could never say that. What is it you

Zuri:   1:7:16
don't ask a colonoscopy. It's got, like some Freudian thing. Yeah, I don't want to think about

Mikey:   1:7:23
and then, ah, thermography, which checks various heat patterns in your body. It's good for detecting cancers. Um, and then there's things that you can do for yourself, one of which I use on a regular basis on. I think I alluded to it a little earlier in the show, um, called a body scan meditation. Um, I've included in the show notes on, and it should be a daily practice so that you can sense when something is different in your body. If something does feel different, positive or negative, you can ask yourself some relevant questions, such as how much watered I drink today, what type of food that I eat. And my feeling stressed that I get enough sleep and in time if you do this on a regular basis every day, it will help you develop more sensitivity and body awareness, which will give you more control of how you feel. It's really the equivalent of balancing out your bank account. If you balance out your bank cat, you see something's wrong. You look up, something's going on. So, um, that kind of brings me back to a ah dot Ah, quote from the Dalai Lama, which I like and basically states that when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he answered man because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices his money to recuperate his health. If you're doing it right, you can do both. You can have health and money.

Zuri:   1:8:54
Yeah, it goes back to that whole thing of lack and limitation and just focusing on, um, investing in yourself and your health is wealth, right? So just to recap, we will go over the 10 real quick and, uh, number one was eat good food to was get good sleep three. Drink clean water. Four. Clean up your personal care products. Five. Take a deep breath manager, mental and emotional health daily exercise and emphasized. Reduce environmental toxins de stress and monitor your check engine light. We go into all of these tips so much more on our website in the Blawg and several blog's actually, um, and that's really the foundation for our work. And we want everyone to be healthy and live there most beautiful life. It's the reason why we show up to serve you most beautiful life. And on that no, we're signing off. Thank you so much for being a part of this. We

Mikey:   1:9:59
love you. We hope you received extreme value from this podcast. If you would like to connect with us on a deeper level, you conjoined a free tribe subscription newsletter or follow us on social

Zuri:   1:10:13
and take advantage of our free shopping guides. Discounts on products, hacks on recipes using the links in the show notes. Our aim with every show is to provide you with value, and we welcome your feedback and support. The best, sweetest support us is to click the share button and tell your community about us. You can also subscribe and give us a review. We appreciate you so much for tuning in, and we're honored to help you discover what's beautiful about being you.