LIVE WELL PODCAST | EPISODE 15 - What is Functional Medicine?

Functional medicine is a branch of medicine focused on getting to the root cause of illness. Instead of simply asking “what disease do you have?” functional medicine practitioners also want to know why you have it.

Join me and Kristen Brown, ARNP as we explain the functional medicine approach and how it might help you with your chronic illness. Kristen provides functional medicine care at Altheda Health and is a Nurse Practitioner with years of clinical experience in functional medicine, urgent care, women’s health, and family medicine. As a graduate of The Institute for Functional Medicine Certification Program (IFMCP), Kristen Brown is uniquely trained in the Functional Medicine model to identify and treat the root causes of chronic disease.

Kristen’s interest in functional medicine began even before she knew the name for it. Coming from a family with several members suffering with the symptoms of hypothyroidism, type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease, she wanted to be proactive and live in better health. This sparked her quest to improve her lifestyle and diet to help prevent these diseases in herself and to make positive changes to influence the health of her family.

Kristen is passionate about helping people suffering with autoimmune disorders, digestive issues, hormonal imbalances, emotional eating disorders, and weight loss. She most enjoys working with daring patients willing to seek out and challenge the root cause of their illness.

LISTEN BELOW (AND DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE SO YOU'LL NEVER MISS OUT!)

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Show notes:

• 0:00 Intro

• 0:46 Introducing Kristen Brown, ARNP founder of Altheda Health

• 2:44 Kristen speaks about her path to functional medicine

• 4:44 What is Functional Medicine?

  • “It’s not what do you have but why do you have it?”

• 6:15 Typical day at a family practice clinic vs. functional medicine practice

• 8:40 What is the functional medicine approach to autoimmune disease?

  • Bio-individual approach

  • Focus on shutting down immune responses

  • Inflammation contributes to 85% of our chronic conditions

• 10:40 Common sources of inflammation

  • Stress

  • Underlying infections

  • Food sensitivities or allergies

  • Leaky gut

  • Toxin exposure

  • Nutrient deficiencies

  • Genetics

• 12:00 Difference between food allergies and food sensitivities

• 15:20 What is functional medicine’s role in the care team?

  • Investigator

  • Listener

  • Advocate

  • Coordinating care with other practitioners

  • Support (pep squad!)

• 20:30 A typical functional medicine visit?

  • Intake history

  • Lab tests

  • Physical exam

  • Create a plan of action

• 26:00 How to contact Kristen at Altheda Health

  • The Institute for Functional Medicine is a great place to find a practitioner in your zip code

• 28:20 Piece of advice from Kristen

  • “When you know better, do better. When you don’t, do better and ask yourself why.”

• 29:38 Outro

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If you loved this episode, I'd be honored for you to give me a rating on iTunes. This helps me to get content out to others who are interested in getting control of their health through diet, lifestyle shifts and personal empowerment.

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Are you dealing with symptoms of chronic fatigue, brain fog, autoimmune disease, pain or digestive issues?

You’ve gone to doctor after doctor. You’ve received some answers, have started on medications and notice some relief (thank goodness!) but are still left feeling exhausted, stressed, inflamed and not fully yourself?

Or maybe every test has come back “normal” and your practitioners have told you that there isn’t anything they can do, to come back when things get worse, or to simply manage your stress better?

If yes, then you are someone who would benefit form 1:1 holistic health coaching.

Health coaching is a necessary extension of the health care system in that together we have more time to uncover issues, implement strategies and assess outcomes together. Autoimmune disease is complex and to address it we need to come at it from all angles (pharmaceutical therapies from your doctor while also focusing on root cause factors like gut health, diet, sleep and stress). I offer accountability, a knowledgeable resource and most importantly support.

I always offer free 30-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and what’s standing in your way. Click the button below to set up your free consultation and we can create a plan of action specifically for you.

LIVE WELL PODCAST | EPISODE 14 - Endometriosis as a social justice issue with Angie Alt

It’s an unfortunate reality that women’s pain is routinely ignored or undervalued in the medical system [1]. Women in pain are much more likely than men to receive prescriptions for sedatives, rather than pain medication for their complaints which can affect access to proper treatment [2]. This bias is one difficulty in the diagnosis and treatment of the condition endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to endometrium, the tissue lining the inside of the uterus, is found outside the uterus. This tissue can grow outside of uterus on other organs, commonly the ovaries, uterus, bowel and pelvic sidewall, seriously injuring or even destroying these other organs. In these locations the tissue responds to cyclic hormonal changes, just like the tissue inside the uterus, which causes inflammation, bleeding, and A LOT of pain. 1/10 women experience endometriosis so it’s actually far more common than we think! [3]

I interviewed Angie Alt of Autoimmune Wellness to get her take on why endometriosis has become a social justice issue and what we can do about it. Angie herself manages three autoimmune diseases, Lichen Sclerosis, Endometriosis, and Celiac disease and has used diet and lifestyle shifts to help her live a more vibrant life. Listen to the episode to learn about Angie’s experience with endometriosis, learn about treatment options, and explore important ways to manage this underrepresented condition. Make sure to share this blog post and interview with all of your girlfriends. There is fantastic info in here that can help women get empowered and informed!

LISTEN BELOW (AND DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE SO YOU'LL NEVER MISS OUT!)

Click here to listen in iTunes

Click here to listen in Stitcher

Or if you’d like to play the episode right now in your browser, use the player below:

Show Notes:

• 0:00 Intro

• 0:40 Introducing Angie Alt

• 3:57 What is endometriosis?

• 5:20 Why don’t we hear about endometriosis more despite it’s prevalence?

  • Endometriosis is a “women’s issue”

  • “Women’s pain is routinely undervalued and ignored in the medical system” - Angie

• 9:00 Angie’s experience with Endometriosis

• 10:40 The phenomenon of women trying to self-manage the pain due to lack of proper treatment

• 12:18 Is endometriosis an autoimmune disease?

• 13:50 What are the available treatments for Endometriosis?

  • Laprascopic surgery

  • Find an endometriosis specialist

  • Hormones

  • Pelvic floor physical therapy

  • Liver support

• 22:10 “The hormonal treatments for endometriosis amount to experimenting on women” - Angie

• 24:10 The role of our liver in hormone production and detoxification

  • Castor oil packs

  • Dandelion tea

  • Supplements

  • Beets, leafy greens and foods that support the liver

• 25:10 How to deal with the severe pain?

  • Don’t let the pain get ahead of you

  • Ok to use pain medications

  • Anti-inflammatory diet

  • Meditation

  • Heat pads

  • Resting

  • CBD Oil

• 31:44 Stages to endometriosis 1-4

  • The stages do not reflect how much pain the person might be in

• 33:00 Finding a specialist for endometriosis

  • Nancy’s Nook as a great resource

• 36:00 Angie’s advice for women going through their healing journey with endometriosis

• 37:10 Outro

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If you loved this episode, I'd be honored for you to give me a rating on iTunes. This helps me to get content out to others who are interested in getting control of their health through diet, lifestyle shifts and personal empowerment.

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P.S. I always offer free 30-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and what’s standing in your way. Contact me to set up a consultation and we can create a plan of action specifically for you.

In Health, 

Christina Tidwell, MN, RN, CHC

LIVE WELL PODCAST | EPISODE 13 - How To not suck at cooking with Lindsay Kinder

Lindsay Kinder is the head chef and macaron expert at Food La La. She’s classically trained in French cuisine and loves teaching people how to make fun, beautiful, delicious, feel-good food. She loves fancy (but not fussy) and knows all the tricks in the book!

Join us for episode 13 of the Live Well Podcast as we talk about the importance of home cooking and how to become a chef even if you think you’re horrible in the kitchen!

LISTEN BELOW (AND DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE SO YOU'LL NEVER MISS OUT!)

Click here to listen in iTunes

Click here to listen in Stitcher

Or if you’d like to play the episode right now in your browser, use the player below:

Show Notes:

• 0:00 Intro

• 0:40 Introducing Lindsay Kinder of Food La La

• 1:00 Lindsay talks about quitting her job in insurance to travel to France to learn more about her food

  • “There's so much more out there for me if I can be brave enough to find out what that looks like”  

• 4:00 Trying to answer the questions:

  • Where does great food come from?

  • What are they doing with it that’s so special?

• 10:00 “Love to eat? Learn to cook”

  • Lindsay’s thoughts on why, as a society, we’ve gotten away from home cooking

• 17:00 The main blocks people come across when learning to cook

  • Intimidated and embarrassed

  • “No woman should ever feel like she's supposed to know this stuff.”

• 21:58 What is our role as women with cooking and how can we feel empowered?

• 22:20 Lindsay’s advice on where to start to get into cooking at home

  • Choose recipes from a trusted source while you are starting out

  • Prioritize good quality ingredients first

• 33:00 Lindsay’s favorite kitchen staples

  • Good quality knives

  • Vitamix

  • Food processor

  • Kitchen-Aid

• 40:00 How to make cooking fun again so it doesn’t feel like a chore and one more thing to cross of the to-do list

• 44:30 Outro

Ready to get started? Download Lindsay’s three quick tricks to instantly make your food taste better by clicking here >>

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If you loved this episode, I'd be honored for you to give me a rating on iTunes. This helps me to get content out to others who are interested in getting control of their health through diet, lifestyle shifts and personal empowerment.

---

P.S. I always offer free 30-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and what’s standing in your way. Contact me to set up a consultation and we can create a plan of action specifically for you.

In Health, 

Christina Tidwell, MN, RN, CHC

My Favorite Natural Deodorant (...That Actually Works!)

I’ve had a few people ask me about what natural deodorant I use and honestly, up until a few months ago what I thought about natural deodorant was, “That’s cute. Now I smell like BO AND lavender!”. My pits felt sticky with coconut oil. I’d have to go back to using my tried and true Dove for hot and sweaty days. 

We’ve been lead to believe that we need chemicals and harsh, strong ingredients for deodorant to actually work, so I bought into that for a long time. Thankfully that’s not the case anymore.

I recently tried this deodorant from Primally Pure and I love it! I have been using it for a few months to see if I liked it and, you guys, it really works!!!!! So well. No joke. I’m really into it and definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to transition to safer deodorant.

While deodorant may not seem like a big deal, it’s actually one of the biggest ways you can either contribute to your toxic buildup or bring nourishing ingredients to your body. I figured it I was focusing so much on the food I put into my body, I should take a bit of time to think about the things I put on and absorb into my body as well!

Here are some of the chemicals typically found in drugstore deodorant:

• Parabens are preservatives that allow the product to last longer by preventing mold or bacteria growth, BUT have been very closely linked to endocrine disruption + breast cancer.

• Fragrance masks body odor + makes you smell slightly floral or shower fresh, BUT is a mixture of 3,000+ chemical ingredients and the cause of countless serious health issues.

• Aluminum blocks your pores to prevent sweat and keep you dry all day long, BUT studies have revealed its connection to detrimental diseases like Alzheimer’s. [Primally Pure]

So, I don’t think you’re failing at your health if you don’t immediately eat 100% organic foods and switch to all natural everything, BUT it’s a really important and interesting factor to consider for whole person health. It’s also pretty easy to make the switch once you find something you like.

This month I’ve been using the Blue Tansy Deodorant which is delightful! Blue tansy is great because it’s thought to combat inflammation, calm irritation and itchiness, relieve redness and deeply nourish the delicate underarm area that we tend to neglect.  You can get yours here >> and use the code “LIVEWELL” for 10% off the Blue Tansy scent!

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If you want to talk more about holistic health I always offer free 30-minute discovery sessions to get clear on your major health concerns and what’s standing in your way. Contact me to set up a consultation and we can create a plan of action specifically for you! 

In Health, 

Christina Tidwell, MN, RN, CHC