Finding Your Why and Way to A Healthy Gut with Vanessa Vanderhoek, Integrative & Functional Medicine Nutritionist

Speaker A: Being a leader is an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference. Despite rapid advances in technology and new hybrid ways of working, being a leader isn't easy. Welcome to the Uncharted Leader Podcast. Inspirational stories of emerging leaders who are walking courageously into the unknown, disrupting the status quo, and carving out new futures with clarity, wisdom and purpose. Hi, I'm Kylie Stone, leadership coach, passionate storyteller, mum of three kids, and presenter of the Emerging Leaders program. Every one of us has a purpose. I have one simple goal. To ignite your passion and amplify the impact you have in the world.

Speaker B: I don't think you should run from pressure. I think you should run towards it.

Speaker A: I think to be a leader, you

Speaker B: have to be brave. You have to make hard decisions.

Speaker A: Sometimes you have to take steps that make you uncomfortable, to understand where you are and where you want to be.

Speaker B: We need to face this moment of fear with lots of courage.

Speaker A: I'm just like you. I failed, but yet I'm, um, the last woman standing. Welcome back to the Uncharted Leader Podcast. Well, today I am absolutely delighted to be able to have a conversation today about one of the most important aspects when it comes to being our best self, being a great leader, elevating our effectiveness, and living our best life. And that is health, more specifically, gut health. And today, to join me in having this conversation, um, I'm going to say is none other than Vanessa Vanderhoek, who I met many moons ago, um, before the pandemic time. Uh, she's made a transition out of being in, uh, the area of change management and working specifically in flexible work practices. She was the founder and creator of National Flexible Workday here in Australia. And then she made a transition after an incident of autoimmune, um, disease, not only in her own life, but with her daughter, and is now an expert in functional medicine. And she has a company called the Gut Health Nutritionist. Um, so she knows a lot. And so, honestly, I could not think of somebody who is more educated in this space, uh, on these topics, specifically when it comes how to we regain our health and energy and confidence, um, by taking a more holistic approach. So, technically, Vanessa is an integrative and functional medicine nutritionist. It's a mouthful, um, and she does support people all, um, over the world, uh, on more serious conditions of gut issues around bloating and constipation and autoimmune conditions and skin conditions. But she equally helps people, um, on areas of detoxification. Um, now today she's going to share with us about her own personal experience in navigating that for herself. Um, when she first came off, you know, the simple go to for most of us, I'd say is alcohol. Um, but now she talks about how that plays out on our gut. We talk about the relationship between our gut and our brain, how that impacts our performance and our emotional intelligence, how it affects our empathy. And look, honestly, there is just so many useful things in today's conversation. And, you know, it doesn't really matter where you are in your journey, you know, whether you're right at the beginning and you know, there's a lot of work for you to do specifically in taking better care of your health. Or maybe you're somebody who invests a lot in taking care of your health. You know, the point of this podcast is that it's not just about you. It really is about your ability to influence others and to influence others and empower others in being able to take better care of their health pays a lot of dividends, not only when it comes to your success, but but when it comes to the commitment you have to making a difference and how well you're able to take care of others. So, as with anything, please, I do invite you to give us a rating on the podcast. Please share your comments, um, if you enjoy the episode, ah, definitely share it out on your socials. Um, and one final thing I'll say is, um, you know, it's anything that you can see for yourself. I invite you to look from one area and one action that you can take. And once you jump off the podcast, put a little reminder in your diary, set a little reminder and go take the action. Because really, this is only going to make a difference if it actually makes a difference for you. So I hope you enjoy today's episode. Vanessa Van Der Hook. I am so excited to be talking to you all my listeners. If you could only see the video. In fact, you must go to the YouTube channel and listen to today's episode because you are going to love it. Just radiating beauty, vitality, health, and a bright pink jumper. You are amazing.

Speaker B: So are you. I am thrilled to be here. Thanks for having me, Kylie.

Speaker A: So, look, why am I excited? You know, people are starting to get familiar, I suppose, with. I'm always excited to see the people on my show. Um, but you and I first met, you know, moons ago, before the pandemic happened. And, you know, we know each other from a previous life in your area of expertise and change and flexibility prior to the pandemic. Wow, that's a story in itself. And, uh, one we'll talk about later. But the reason that I'm really excited about you being here today, um, is your own transition and your work now that you're doing with the Healthy Gut functional medicine, which is very, very different to what you were doing in the first part of your career. So for our listeners, can you please tell us, uh, about what is this thing Healthy Gut about and, and why you on this mission?

Speaker B: Ah, thank you. Well, it's my business is the Healthy Gut nutritionist. And I, I fell into it by accident. And I think if I look back at my career, there's a whole lot of signs that this was potentially where I was going to be, but I just had no idea at the time. And I think sometimes with our careers, we, we're always looking for the next thing and we're career planning and doing all these things. Whereas for me, I look back and there's always been this golden thread. And, and the golden thread has been helping people transform. So, uh, through consulting, through my business, it's always been that. And then when my daughter got sick at the age of two with her autoimmune condition, we were lost. So the treatment was very aggressive. And I just knew in my gut that there was something else going on for her. Um, she'd been sick with a virus, she had bad gut issues, and then all of a sudden we had this autoimmune condition. So, you know, I went to the US I had lot doctors here, she's got a huge medical team. And what I did was I just delved into the research. And I think the thing about translation of research in science to practice is there's about a 20 year gap. So what we're learning is, um, and I think AI will speed this up is how do we reduce that gap? So that translation is much faster. Um, so in her case, what I did was I delved in from the 10,000 foot diving board to say, right, let's just change the way that we live, the way that we eat. Um, and she went into remission really quickly, actually, and, you know, has been in remission from that condition for many, many years. So what that led me to is my husband said, look, I think you should focus on this. You really, you've worked it out. Um, yeah. And I think the thing with autoimmune disease, what we're really trying to do is keep remission for a long period of time. And so when people flare, they flare quick. So a lot of people say, oh, you can heal, you can overcome it. Maybe that's true. I don't honestly believe that. I think once you've got autoimmune, you got it for life. But how do we keep it in remission for a really long time? So I went to uni. I studied human nutrition. Can you believe they call it human nutrition? Would be nutrition. Um, and then I'm just in the midst. I know it must be like, animal nutrition or something. Um, I'm in the midst of finishing my Masters of Integrative Medicine, so I've really just continued to propel. I specialize in autoimmune disease. I specialize in gastrointestinal challenges, specialize in mold illness, in eczema, um, in certain conditions where people have just been struggling for a long time, often decades, um, and just can't get results. So I always end up with the very complex people, um, which I love. I really love it because we get results, because often pieces of the puzzle have been missed. And there's nothing like lived experience, I think, in health professionals. I've noticed with my own health team, with my daughters, those that have walked the path m. Are, uh, different. They think different. They relate to you different. So, yeah, I've been really conscious on building her healthcare team over the last, you know, six years to really emanate some of those principles. So that's. That's the short story there is a long one, like you said.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Well, I, you know, already I heard so many things that I do. I do want to, you know, kind of almost go back over it and talk about a few things that you brought up. And I think the first one that. That was very obvious was, you know, I think, you know, the experience that it must have been, what it must have been like for you, firstly, the relief, uh, to have her go into remission. But before we go there, uh, I do want to step it back a little bit because I imagine, you know, for the you to even say simple, what is a very simple thing, um, but a big deal is going to the U.S. i mean, to have been in a situation where you had to leave the country because of her health, that must have been like, such a challenging period of your. Your life as a mother, her life. I mean, can you give us, uh, I suppose, shed a little bit of light on what was happening back then and potential, even tell us what was the disease that you finally found that she had?

Speaker B: Yeah, and I think this. This is a good segue into my previous work in flexible work consulting. So before COVID when it wasn't everyone doing It I used to consult to government and big organizations on how to make flexible working work. And I organized Flexible Working Day, which was an international day where we celebrated flexible work. And in the first year of that, I gave a speech at conference. And at that speech I spoke about my own health struggles as well, where I had de veins intersection syndrome and um, carpal tunnel. So the trifecta of issues in your arm, um, the pain was 15 out of 10 for a long time. And I shared my own personal journey as a senior executive in government. And if I didn't have that ability to work flexibly, then I wouldn't have been able to manage, um, my own health problems. So as you know, we were dealing with all of this. I had my own things going on. And Kylie, you know what I did? I drank alcohol. So I would have a drink of alcohol every night. Usually, you know, by Friday night, it was a couple Saturday night, Sunday night, and then it just ended up being every night. And I think I see that a lot in my clients. And you can probably guess, I don't drink now ever. I'm one called deliberately.

Speaker A: That's why I'm saying sober.

Speaker B: I.

Speaker A: Well, go, go and watch the YouTube, uh, inter this one. Honestly. You do, right? You're radiating. It's very obvious.

Speaker B: Well, I'm deliberately sober now. And my husband and I did, um, an experiment and we just said, I wonder what it would be like because I run detox programs every quarter where we take it out for three weeks. It's a three week program. And that was fine. We always felt so good when we did it. And so we said, look, I wonder what it would be like if we took it out. Um, and of course what happens, My pain goes away, away, you know, as soon as you start doing the things your body wants to heal. Um, and I think for me as well, that overwhelm, so that I can't explain to you if you have a child or you're a carer, uh, that crippling feeling of suffocation and overwhelm, um, which I suppose is anxiety, um, can be really disabling. And the way that I was dealing with it was having a drink every day. And so we just went cold turkey. And that really helped. So that helped with decision making. You know, I never get angry. Not that, you know, I'm not like all zen and stuff, but, you know, never that zero to a thousand that I see with particularly a lot of mums. It's just like my brain settled down. That ethanol that my liver was pumping through it was going directly to my brain. We sterilize hospital equipment with alcohol. So of course it kills you good gut bugs. Um, and the research this year shows that no alcohol is best. Um, so for me, Kylie, that was one of the biggest things that just helped us just, you know, really, um, reduce stress, strain on our body. Um, and I just, I just can't understate it. Like, it was phenomenal, the change. So you're going to the US was a nightmare. But I suppose, you know, when you sick, um, you go to Google and you type in these terms and you, you try and find the answer. We're all looking for the golden, golden ticket bullet, whatever you call it, um, the people in the U.S. weren't it, um, no one was it. It's a big thing. So regaining health has to be holistic. We've got to look at all different aspects. I think, you know, the guy that we saw in the US was very helpful, provided clues and got me really thinking. Um, but, yeah, was it a waste? No, it wasn't. But, um, yeah, I think what it taught me was often we see people and they are, very often health professionals can be very linear. They're in their lane. They're like, this is the way. Whereas I, I'm a bit more broader, a lot more broader. Um, and I don't say I have all the answers, but I've got a very vast referral network. So the, my training in functional medicine makes me think more broadly and say, okay, well, what's going on for you? Where do we need to cross refer.

Speaker A: Yeah, look, I do want to ask you specifically about what the term functional medicine means. But before we do jump to that, I do want to just jump back quickly to the alcohol aspect because, you know, especially those who, you know, I went through a period where for me I just stopped, uh, and did the cold turkey and wow, that was incredible. And then, wow, what did I learn about how bad alcohol is for the body? And it's one of the worst things you can put in your body and a whole raft of things. Right. But the thing that I want to ask you about in particular, given, especially given that I imagine, given that you do detox work so you see it with others, that even though we know, even those of us in our drink, we know that it is either the best thing to do for our body to not drink as much. The, the, the transition between knowing what to do and then doing it is not easy. So what have you noticed? Uh, and you can share with us about your own Experience or what you see in the detox process. But what are some of the things that people have to navigate or deal with in that, that transition between taking it from a good idea to actually taking action? Because I know it's not easy.

Speaker B: It's the same with exercise, you know, same with saying, I'm going to be in for a sauna, I'm going to take to lunch, or, you know, it's all the same, isn't it? And I think the big thing is we're often, uh, taught to think down this path of, oh, I'm not motivated. Oh, you got to be motivated. Look at everyone on Instagram or TikTok, they're all motivated. That's actually not true. What you got to do is you got to get really clear on your why. And you know, this, you talk about this. Kylie around. Why? Why did we want to do this? Well, we wanted to do this because we wanted to show up better. No, that's not good enough. You got to do the five whys. You got to dig, dig, dig until you actually cry or get that emotion. Uh, and what it really meant for us was when we went to the five levels deep, for both of us, it was we wanted to be able to be a role model. We wanted to be able to be able to be there for our grandkids. We wanted to be that, like, it went super, super deep. And we're like, but, okay, let's do it. Um, so it's more than just that action. So it's called the five wise. You can Google it. And it's, if you get that emotion, some people feel a bit tense, others get it here. Um, and then I think the other thing is remembering action comes before motivation. So, you know all those people on Instagram and TikTok, they took action. You gotta take small action. So with the alcohol, we replaced it. My husband was bringing home every, you know, probably once a week case of non alcoholic. So drinking this sugary stuff. And then after about two weeks we're like, oh, why are we drinking this? This is just lolly water. Yes. Then we swapped to sparkling water with lemon in it. Right. And then we did that for a few weeks and then we had tea and now we just, we don't even think about it. We just have water or, or tea, like a chai tea like I'm having. So I think that's a really important thing. It's the same for exercise. If you're struggling with exercise, can you just walk around the block? You don't have to run 5km. Let's just start small. Get action by doing the walk around the block. You'll be like, oh, wow, it's nice and fresh on my face. I saw some birds, I smiled at that person. It wasn't too bad. And then you'll be able to do more and more. And I think that's a really big thing that's missing. Where, you know, when we're talking about health coaching, people are, you know, and a lot of my colleagues just say, look, here's the things you gotta do. Um, whereas I say to clients, do you wanna go mild, medium or hot? Some clients wanna go hot. They wanna do all the things and I can set up their plan like that. Whereas others say, look, I have to go mild. And that's where Kylie, I work with them on like, what we're just talking about here. Those small actions. What are those things you can take?

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I, I, so, so great. And, oh, uh, look, I, I think just for our listeners right now, you, you may want to press pause and just write a few notes about that. And I'm just gonna hit the, the highlight bullets because it's, um, you know, it's very easy to miss. We hear the gold and then sometimes we miss it, but if we repeat it, we, it embeds. So I want to highlight some of the things that we must, must, must, must take into consideration. And first and foremost, I love, love, love, love what you said about motivation and action and yours. It's so funny because in my third session in the emerging L program, it's called the A game, right? And we, one of the A's is how to take action. Um, and the first and how to take action starts with giving up what you believe about motivation and flip them. Because you're right, it's, it's motivation does not precede action. It's the other way around. So I'm so, so, so grateful that you brought that up. Thank you. So listeners, write that down and remind yourself. Um, and then the other part that you also brought up is the why. And I, and the reason I want to highlight it based on what you've said is because what I noticed, Vanessa, is it's very easy in life for people to assume what they know about purpose and then they think they're taking actions that are congruent with a purpose, but it is not the what, the kind of why that is intrinsic. And so I thank you for bringing up the five whys. And you. Right, go Google it. Because you do have to ask yourself to to get to the real reason that's going to give you that motivation to, to outlaw. Well, give you the motivation, let's just say, to tap into the, the, the thing that has. You want to take an action despite all the challenges because it is in the moment of making the decision about one to the other. It is, it is, it is that which is going to have you do it. So that was the second one and the third point that you brought up. Oh, that's right. The lovely Swap a Rooneys. Don't cut things out. Don't worry about, you know, depriving yourself. No. Make some reintroductions. I mean, that's gold. They So I love that.

Speaker B: I love it. Uh, yeah. And it's something that I talk about all the time. So it's really good that you, you value it. Because I'm like, yeah, I say this all the time. It is gold. Right. Because it's what got us through.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: No one wants to be deprived.

Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker B: Frozen berries in water is really yummy. Or frozen mint or like, it's endless. Yeah.

Speaker A: Actually funny you say put it in

Speaker B: your wine glass if you want. Swizzle ground.

Speaker A: Oh, that's another good tip. I did that with Michelle Bridges. Like you walk around with mineral water in your wine glass and. Oh, I like that idea. Um, but you know what's gold, what you just said then about the water, uh, with the different fruits and things in it. I actually interviewed a lady who is the founder of a company in the US Called Mint. And, um. Sorry. And that's what she did. So she went through the journey of getting, uh. She was addicted to Coke and she was a mom and she got the Coke out and then she was just drinking water, but she hated just plain water. So she started putting fruit into water and she's like, well, well. But I don't just. All the bottled water was all full of sugar. So she was on this mission to create water that was. Had fruit in it that wasn't full of sugar and she did it. Remarkable.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker A: So anyway, big shout out to her right now. But back to you. Back to you. So thank you for the pause to let us reflect on those three points. Now, I want to now jump back to what I was going to ask you about. What is functional medicine?

Speaker B: Yes. So it's a term that gets thrown around a lot. And I think, you know, we've got traditional medicine, which is, you know, your doctors and nurses and specialists and all of that. What functional medicine is doing is looking at not only your gut and your genetics, but you holistically. So also saying, look, what's going on with your beliefs, what's going on with your thoughts, what's going on with your biochemistry? So taking a much bigger picture. And I think the real key in functional medicine, and I honestly think this is why I, um, get such great successes with clients, is we take very thorough case histories. So, you know, when you go to the doctor and you go, oh, I've got a sore foot, and they go, oh, look, let me look at the foot. And, you know, there's no real questioning around. What have you been doing? Or what have you been eating? Or has this been a problem you've had for a long time? Maybe they do ask that. But, um, you know, when I'm seeing clients, we start back at their birth and it's a long appointment. When I've got a client who's 80, you know, for instance, much quicker if they're eight. Um, well, actually it's not often. Uh, sometimes it can be long if they're young, because often there's a lot going on. But, and, and getting specificity around. Okay, what was your birth, Were you jaundice? If you were jaundice, that's actually a big clue to me. What happened in your childhood, you know, what happened with your health? How was your mental health as a teen? You know, for women, when you got your period? What was it like? Like, you know, going through the decades. And so what that does. And remember, Kylie, I'm dealing with people who've got, you know, things that have not been resolved.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Um, so I don't deal with people who say, I want to lose weight. That's not my target market. Don't come and see me. I deal with people who have autoimmune conditions who need some support. People have been constipated since they were a child. People have got alternating constipation, diarrhea. They've seen gastroenterologists that can't work it out. Um, you know, I'm doing atopic dermatitis, which is also known as eczema. Very hard to get under control. Um, but it's often in the story, it's often there where, you know, I ask them, have you been in a water damaged building? Have you been exposed to mold? No. And then right at the last minute they'll be like, hold on a minute, I was. And sometimes it can be the smallest thing. It could be they lived on a farm that was sprayed with glyphosate, a very toxic chemical. Um, it could Be the mycotoxins from the mold. It could be infections, it could be all sorts of things. What I'm doing is I'm trying to always dig for that root cause. For a lot of people, it's stress, uh, physical stresses, emotional stresses, traumas, car accidents, all sorts of things. Um, food poisoning is another big one. Yes. And so it's just, um, functional. Medicine is really us stepping back to say, right, tell me your story. I want to know your story. My brain's a bit, like, all over the place. Joining dots, you know, it's all going on, but I think that's my strength. Right. You know me for a long time strategy.

Speaker A: Let's give people a strategic. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're very good at that.

Speaker B: I'm joining dots and I'm going, oh, what about this? What about this? What about this? What tests could we run? Could we, um. Like, I collaborate with their doctors and their other teams. What could we look at? What other testing, which isn't in the realm of traditional medicine, could we run, like, genetic testing, gut testing, urine testing, hair testing, you know, the testing goes on, um, to get them results. So, yeah, it's amazing. It really is. Truly. It's life changing.

Speaker A: Yeah. I can see how what you were saying about how you're closing that gap between what it takes, between research and practical results, like, it. It. You're really dealing with the clo. Like, I can just. It's so crystal clear how being able to close that gap for people, um, which makes you almost like a miracle maker.

Speaker B: It's really bizarre. Oh, my daughter calls me a witch because I had a spot on my nose, which I got removed. But she's like, you're still a witch. Because I studied botanical medicine, so, you know, I often prescribe liquid herbs, which makes me even more as a witch, according to her. Um, but I think the. The real thing is, like, for instance, I had a. I seem to get these waves. So, you know, recently I had a wave of prostate and breast cancer. No idea why. Universe almost sending me these people. So I do the deep research, I go to the literature, and I say, what's the latest literature on nutraceuticals, on food? Because prostate and breast cancer, very similar in how they manifest in the body. And there is some new recent research, which is great. So. And then, you know, lately, the last six months, huge wave of eczema. So every week in my clinic, I'm getting lots of lots and lots of eczema. Um, so I'm like, okay, universe, we get the Hint, delve in. And that's part of leadership, isn't it? Where you got to be in the unknown and say okay, well what is the research showing?

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: Um, and also what are we finding? And I think with functional medicine it's not just one size fits all. So it's not like what I prescribe to that person, I give to the next person because it is all based on their story. So one person with a certain, certain condition could have exposure to mold which is impacting, you know, their brain and their gut and their periphery and all sorts of things, whereas the next person, it could be stress. Mhm. Fascinating stuff.

Speaker A: It is fascinating. I'm, I'm, I am so fascinated. So uh, I, there was something that you just said there about um, the story and, and whilst you were sharing about that I guess my, my uh, interpretation, I guess of what you were talking about, you know, reminds me of I suppose the simple thing called there's got to. There must be some connection between how we decide. Well I'm doing a hypnosis program at the moment. So in my mornings I listen to. So every day morning before I get the first thing I wake up to, when I get, wake up before I get out of bed and the last thing I do before I go to sleep is I do a meditation and I came across and I'll just change the themes every now and then. At the moment I'm doing, doing one on hypnosis for um, food to change some of my, you know, relationship with food so to speak and the habits that I have around stress and food and uh. Anyway it's the, the I'm on week four. Uh, and uh, so I do it daily for a week and then I move to the next week and this week it, one of the things that comes up is around interrupting, binge eating, reading, which he talks about around it being a way to deal with emotional stress. And of course it's a really just like you were saying about how the universe sends you certain things at certain times. I, I turned onto that one.

Speaker B: I went oh yeah, well that's right

Speaker A: at the right time. I'm, you know, I'm going through a separation. I'm you know, navigating how to deal with that, deal with that uh, whilst having three teenagers and, and, and I'm currently house sitting so I'm not in the house. And there is so much that uh. And I, and you know I'm very proud to say that I haven't fallen into a lot of old like what was typical for me about like what you were saying about the alcohol and stuff like that. M. Mostly because it's been a good five year journey. But the reason I bring it up, Vanessa, is because, you know, I'm reminded, I guess of that, that the pattern of binge eating for me, which is not extreme. Like I'm not to, you know, go, you know, to maccas and sit there in the car park and you know, stuff food in your face or you know, I don't eat a lot of fast food, but I certainly am a. Emma, if I have an emotional experience, I, uh, will. My immediate thought is, oh, I. I would love a glass of wine right now. Or give me some, give me something to snack on.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: It's kind of just that go to. And in the absence of doing that, um, well, not doing that allows me to then be with the emotion and then therefore write out that out. Right. Which is why I'm finding the hypnosis so valuable.

Speaker B: Valuable.

Speaker A: But I want to give you an opportunity, I suppose just share some experience with this because I noticed that you did draw a parallel between where people start with in their life, because where they start with in their life can then obviously drive their patterns of behavior when it comes to the food they put in their body. And I, uh, I dare say, you know, do you have, I suppose, an example or what is what has been your experience with what you see in terms of that connection?

Speaker B: Look, I don't proclaim to specialize in binge eating per se. I have had some clients with it. And you know what the fascinating thing is, this is where that intersection with genetics comes into play. So just so happens not everyone who comes to see me does their nutrigenomic profile because it's expensive and they don't want their data, um, and all sorts of other reasons. But for a couple of the people who have, who have got binge eating tendencies, guess what, it reflects the literature. So they've got um, a polymorphism which means a change in the enzyme around a particular gene called mao. And mao, you need to make serotonin. So for some people the binge eating is because, you know, we know serotonin makes us feel good. So because of that genetic polymorphism that's causing basically when they've got uh, that stress, it becomes more pronounced and then they want to eat certain foods because it helps them make serotonin. Where the challenge becomes is if they also have a genetic polymorphism with getting the serotonin into the brain. So that's a double whammy. So if you've got that one and you got the one in your gut, it makes it even harder. And they're probably the people in the McDonald's car park, um, you know, feeling really bad for themselves. But actually, when we look at their genetics, it's right there we can see why. Um, so what's the thing to do? The big thing, if you have this polymorphism or if you. You're, um, struggling with just, you know, eating irregularly, would be maintaining your blood sugar. So. And I think for emerging leaders and anyone listening to this podcast who, you know is a busy professional, I cannot stress more, especially if you're 40s and above, because you're at the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, um, and high glucose levels. The trifecta, um, it's called metabolic condition. So we want to be eating three meals a day at least. You want to be eating fat, fiber, protein with each meal. Um, there's a lot of schools of thought around fasting and things like that. And if it works for you, great. I haven't seen the greatest literature for women. Women, um, especially if you've got certain genetics. So I'm more driven around data for individuals. So some people who are slow metabolizers do well, um, and better at fasting, whereas a lot of people are fast metabolizers because they're so stressed. Fasting is not great. So, you know, the days that you are, you know, looking at the Tim Tams, and instead of having one, having the whole packet or whatever, just stop and be that observer. We've got to remember, we're not our thoughts. We're the one listening to the thoughts. So you could be the one going, vanessa, look at you. What are you doing? Did you have breakfast? You know, what did you have? You know, where did it change? Give you a coughing fit? You know, it's true. And you might go, oh, I had granola instead of my usual eggs with veggies. Guess what? Granola is not keeping your blood sugar balanced. It may be for the next person, but for you, you go, oh, that's interesting, Vanessa. Uh, I'll try my eggs again tomorrow. Uh, because now I'm down this path. Now, the more that you keep your blood sugar balanced, so we're keeping that insulin at bay, what happens through the day as cortisol peaks and troughs with stress, the symphony of the orchestra of your hormones is better able to adapt. So if you're skipping lunch, a lot of professionals skip lunch. Bad idea. Um, it's just going to make that cortisol and that insulin become exceptionally dysregulated.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: If you skip breakfast, it's the same thing. Then you crave the sugar at 3 o', clock, you know, it's almost, you can't stop. I see it all the time and I have been there myself. I haven't been there for a long time, but I do remember in my 20s, on the way home, catching the train, I'd have to go past the news agent to buy a packet of lollies. You know, I'm so glad.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, totally. You know, I, I, it's so, you know, I know because I want to just go on the one hand. Sure. You know, if you're over your 40s, you've got all these other conditions, therefore, but I mean if we just go back to like what just you said, then our pattern of behavior in the workplace in our 20s for eating is not great. Uh, you know, we think, we, you know, we don't, we're not present to uh, oh, uh, we just get up and go to work without having breakfast. Or then you get to the office and then you know, by the time you skip lunch and, or you eat at your desk, which is also not a healthy thing if you're focusing on other things because you're not at home is so many things. Uh, but then we're not conscious of even the type of food we put it out. I will go get a hamburger and have this and that. And quite frankly I go, you know, it's too late to wait till you're 40s. And what had me want to just say, say this is one, one guy that I'm remind that I know of. So I donate, uh, I've now, now donating plasma and blood. I have a rare blood type which makes me the people who the blood like blood bank keeps messaging. Can you please come and donate some more blood? Um, I'm like, yes, but I want to do plasma this time. Um, and I want to donate plasma because I've heard the story, you know, um, Michael Klim, right, who now is dealing with an autoimmune and has to get regular immune injection of plasma. Uh, and you know, look, there's no truth to the matter of anything, but if, you know, he was obviously a high performing athlete, a very young age. Um, and so his body's gone through a lot in his age. But, but if I, I think to myself, autoimmune conditions these days are so prevalent in society, which are stress related. Right. And, and, and as, as 20 year olds um, 20 and 30 year olds, we think we can just go and do binge all nighters and with our body bounces quickly. But I'm sorry to say that's only because you can't see what's going on on this. Like you are at some point, you do not, you do not want to get an autoimmune condition. You want to start taking care of your body now. It's too late to wait till you're after 40.

Speaker B: And that's the thing. Like I see women in their third, late 30s and 40s who can't shift weight, who, you know, have all these conditions creeping up. I had a lady the other day, she's on 2012 medications at 40, that's a lot. Um, and when I take the history, the health habits, eating habits have not been good for a long time. And I'm actually quite lucky because I couldn't tolerate gluten from about the age of 16. So that. Well, lucky in a way. But, you know, it was a bit shit because, you know, 30 years ago, 20 years ago, there were not many options. So what did I eat? I actually ate berries salads, you know, when all my friends were eating McDonald's and things like that. So, you know, I'd go to Coles and buy a punnet of blueberries. Well, that's if they're going to need a Big Mac. And I look at, I look at my health now and I go, wow, you know, it really did set the scene. And I think we got to be really clear that, you know, in our body we've got a set number of fat cells and those fat cells at all different sizes, Sizes. And it is around our early, you know, teenagehood, late teenage hood, up to 20s, where that gets programmed. So you get programmed with the number of fat cells that you're going to have. So what we want to be doing through our 20s is making sure. Okay, yeah, I've been programmed with this. I want to make sure they don't get too big. I want to be making sure that my metabolic health and preserving it for the future. Um, it's not to say you can't start that in your 30s or 40s, 50s, you should, because the adipose tissue around the stomach can lead to some really bad health conditions. And we're not just talking about metabolic health, we're talking about cancers. We're talking about all sorts of bad things. Heart disease.

Speaker A: Yeah, well, I guess, uh, yeah, well, I guess in the context of, uh, you know, leadership, being a leader, being out there to Want to. Being a role model, which is what a lot of parents ultimately, you know, really want for themselves so they can live a thriving life. And I think if we even talk in the context of living a thriving life, that that's most important. Right. Um, I do think there's a really important message, I guess, to wrap up on about the relationship between your ability to. To be the best version of yourself in whatever your chosen field and how you treat your body. Like, there has got to be a correlation, right, that some. That. Between your ability to treat yourself and what you put into your body with how that then presents itself. And I imagine a lot of research from, you know, that there would be about that. Right?

Speaker B: Yeah, I completely agree. And I find that people often, when they optimize their gut health, when they optimize their biochemistry, uh, what we find is they say, I feel smarter, My brain fog's gone, colors are brighter, my vision's better, I can sleep, sleep less. I wake up with energy. I'm not sore, my mood is stable. I can tolerate more stress at work. Um, so it's this unraveling where a lot of the people who I work with, who are leaders and executives, say, wow, why would I go back to this? Really cloudy, tired, got to get through the day. And I think the other thing that I find, Kylie, is people's consciousness raises. So the. The less toxins that are going in their body, they're more aware, they're more. Their emotional intelligence, even though they've got high emotional intelligence, it seems to create this special magic about them, and it seems to really elevate it and upgrade it. So, yeah, it's. It's incredible.

Speaker A: A magic potion taking care of one.

Speaker B: Yeah, it sounds easy, but as you know, it's.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot. Absolutely. Which is why I think those three. Three things that you mentioned earlier on were really such a valuable way for people to navigate that, you know, that those moments of the decision. But look, um, so many incredible things, uh, to learn about. More importantly, I mean, there's a lot of technical terms and what there is to do. Like you're saying lots of different tests and all that kind of stuff. So what I would like to do, um, is make sure that we can give people an opportunity to learn more about where do they go to get started, to potentially on this journey to learn more about it. So can you give us, I suppose, some reference points on where people can even connect with you and what they should potentially do to start that journey?

Speaker B: Yeah, I think probably the easiest is to go to my website. So it's the Healthy Gut Nutritionist and you can book a free discovery call. So if you say, look, just let me know that you watch this, um, and put a note and what we do on that discovery call is just I get a better understanding about what's going on for you, what your struggles are and you get a sense of how I may be able to help and then we work through, you know, can I help you and do you want to work with me? That's probably the best part, best way. Um, or you can follow me on the socials, which I'm sure you'll put it a link to.

Speaker A: Yes, we definitely will. I mean it's one thing to read about stuff, talk about stuff, but wow, it is really inspiring. Uh, over the years I've seen, you know, what you do to create magical looking food and your recipes and what goes into that and it's always fun seeing that part of it. So definitely we'll put your links to your socials in there. And I guess, um, one of the things I do want to suggest for people listening to today in a wrap up is to make a decision about two things. One is that you deserve it. You really do deserve to have the optimum body that allows you to thrive in life. And I can't. It's always why, no matter what work I'm doing. Vanessa, health always comes up in one of our modules on resilience in the world. But it comes down to what you do to sleep, eat and move your body. Um, so I do invite you that wherever you're at on that path for yourself, please, please, you gotta take care, care of your, your body. Um, and the second one I want to shout out too is, I'm, I'm not sure the language of the quote, Vanessa, but I'm reminded of that. I think it's a, uh, Chinese proverb about, you know, when was the best time to plant a tree was, you know, 20 years ago. And uh, now would be the next time to do that. So because just today, you know, here you will be in a year's time and if you don't do it today, you'll to be the same place you'll be in a year from now and nothing's going to be any different. And it, you don't have to do a lot. And um, uh, I was the big person who used to be the kind that was like bullet gate, just give me everything, let's do everything. And the, the most important lesson I learned was for me it is to take a small step forward. One. One simple thing. If I do one simple thing every day, that's a wonderful step forward.

Speaker B: Yes. And it takes, what, three months to put to get that happen habit down pat.

Speaker A: Is that right?

Speaker B: Amazing.

Speaker A: Right. So any final parting words of wisdom for you, Vanessa?

Speaker B: Well, I love a quote, too. I didn't plan on saying a quote, but given you said a quote, I was like, that's a good idea. I love the quote. And we're not sure who says it. Um, but it goes like this. Genetics loads the gun, but nutrition and environment pulls the trigger. So I look at a lot of genetic profiles and some people have really poor genetics. Moi. I've got very bad genetics. Um, and that's why I was so sick for so long, up till about the age of 25 or 30. Um, but environment and your lifestyle really pulls the trigger. I think what you said about meditation. I've meditated twice a day for six years. Bloody fantastic. Everyone should do it. I remember hearing people saying that, going, oh, you're weak. Did. Now that I do it, I couldn't live without it. Yeah. Um, and that's part of lifestyle, so. And I think those kinds of things are influencing my genetics. Are they turning on or are they staying off? And. Yeah, I'll just leave you with that.

Speaker A: Oh, I love that. Thank you so much for sharing that quote. It's a, um, really great one. I'm such a visual person. I noticed when you were sharing, I was like, swatching the gun. I'm like, oh, that's. I love that analogy. And look, to wrap up and say, firstly, thank you very much for joining me today and taking the time out of your day to. To share about what it is that you're so deeply passionate about. And I've just got to say, I love. I love our interactions. I love being with you. I love just your vitality and wisdom. And it's just been such a joy to have you here today. So thank you so much.

Speaker B: Well, thank you for having me. It's been amazing to.

Speaker A: Oh, thanks. Thanks for listening to today's episode. If you're interested in learning more about how you can unleash your potential, go to the Show Notes for the details on the upcoming Emerging Leaders program. And if you enjoy this podcast, hit, subscribe or connect with me. All my details are in the Show Notes.