Podcast Episode #315: Stevia + Getting Back On Track After a Natural Disaster

Topics

1. News and updates from Diane & Liz [2:13]
2. Getting back on track after trauma [13:54]
3. Stevia & fertility [22:46]
4. Fertility and other issues [29:32]
5. What I'm into: Working it out [33:51]
6. Closing thoughts [37:04]

 

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You’re listening to the Balanced Bites podcast episode 315.

Diane Sanfilippo: Welcome to the Balanced Bites podcast. I’m Diane; a certified nutrition consultant, and the New York Times bestselling author of Practical Paleo and The 21-Day Sugar Detox. I live in San Francisco with my husband and fur kids.

Liz Wolfe: I’m Liz; a nutritional therapy practitioner, and author of the Wall Street Journal best-seller Eat the Yolks; The Purely Primal Skincare Guide; and the online program Baby Making and Beyond. I live on a farm in the mystical land of the Midwest, outside of Kansas City.

We’re the co-creators of the Balanced Bites Master Class, and we’ve been bringing you this award-winning podcast for nearly 6 years. We’re here to share our take on modern paleo living, answer your questions, and chat with leading health and wellness experts. Enjoy this week’s episode, and submit your questions at http://blog.balancedbites.com or watch the Balanced Bites podcast Instagram account for our weekly calls for questions. You can ask us anything in the comments.

Remember our disclaimer: The materials and content within this podcast are intended as general information only, and are not to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Before we get started, let’s hear from one of our sponsors.

Liz Wolfe: This episode of the Balanced Bites podcast is sponsored by Primally Pure Skincare. Primally Pure makes skincare products that are truly natural and nontoxic. Using ingredients like tallow from grass-fed cows; organic and fair trade coconut oil, and organic essential oils. In addition to being safe to use, their products also provide users with real, noticeable results. At www.primallypure.com, you’ll find their bestselling natural deodorant that actually works; face mists made from locally sourced and organic hydrosols, and their newest product, nature spray, an all natural insect repellant.

You’ll also find Diane’s favorite Primally Pure product, dry shampoo, and Liz’s favorite, the Everything Spray with magnesium. As a special bonus for you, Primally Pure is offering a free lip balm with your first purchase of one item or more. Simply add a lip balm to your cart along with any one item, and use the code “balancedbites” during checkout to receive one of their lip balms for free with your order. Head to www.primallypure.com and check out their range of safe and effective all natural skincare products.

1. News and updates from Diane & Liz [2:13]

Liz Wolfe: Yo. I think that we’ve been doing this for exactly 6 years now, correct?

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. I think probably a couple of weeks over 6 years. Which you know, this is my favorite part of our podcast anniversary. Is that it’s also our friendship-versary. Because we didn’t even know each other until we started doing this podcast.

Liz Wolfe: Nope. Super special.

Diane Sanfilippo: No, we didn’t. No they didn’t! {laughs} That’s a really obscure Billy Madison reference.

Liz Wolfe: Alright. So, Diane. Hi.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Oh hi.

Liz Wolfe: Hi. What’s up with you this week?

Diane Sanfilippo: Oh. Well…

Liz Wolfe: {laughs} Oh, oh, funny you should ask. Oh.

Diane Sanfilippo: You know, I’m surprised you're asking at this part in the show.

Liz Wolfe: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: No, actually I wanted to, just in case anybody fast-forwarded our ad. Just in case. If you didn’t hear the whole thing, the new product from Primally Pure I’m so excited about. The Nature Spray. It’s basically a natural bug repellant. And I contacted Bethany from Primally Pure, and I was like, “I wish I had this a few weeks ago when we had our crazy heat wave.” Because San Francisco is not hot. And it was over 90 degrees in the city for multiple days in a row. Which doesn’t sound that bad, but we don’t have air conditioning. I mean, can anyone imagine what more than 75-80 degrees feels like without air conditioning?

Anywho. It also brings out the mosquitos. Which, 10 years ago, all my friends who I have asked. We’ve never had to deal with mosquito bites. But, anywho. I was really wishing I had it. But I’m excited to have it now. So I’m super excited about that new product. What else is up? Finishing touches on 21-Day Sugar Detox Daily Guide. I’m getting super excited. I’ve been sharing some behind the scenes stuff over on my Instagram stories. I know lots of folks have been watching that and getting excited about that. We do actually have a monthly group, October 2nd. So this coming Monday is 21-Day Sugar Detox group kicking off.

And the new book releases January 2nd. What we’re doing with the January 21-Day Sugar Detox this year. January 1st is actually a Monday this year. And I know that a lot of people make resolutions, and a lot of people do something on New Years’ Eve, and then they’re really ready to get things going on New Years’ Day, on the first. However. One of the big things with the new book. One of the big changes, or just new pieces of information that I’m adding are a lead-in week and a lead-out week basically. So you have a pre-detox week, 7 days. A post-detox week, 7 days. And in that pre-detox time, you're basically getting ready and doing all of the prep work. Part of it is just minimal stuff, like getting rid of certain things in your house.

And some of it on day zero, basically. The day before or two days before, it’s some shopping and meal prep and stuff like that. The biggest key to success with any program, and the sugar detox is no different. Is preparation. Because as each day goes by, if you have the food you need, and it’s there, and it’s ready, you're far less likely to veer off track. You’ll just be much more successful. So one of the big things I wanted to do was just give you guys exactly what to do each day leading up to it so you feel like you can go into it just ready to go.

So the book comes out January 2nd. Our big 21-Day Sugar Detox for January is going to kick off on Monday January 8th. So you get that whole first week to make the decision that you're doing it, and jump in and start preparing. And as a special pre-order bonus, we will have a lot of the information coming from that pre-detox week. So you won’t be left kind of hanging if you don’t have the book yet.

Just so much coming up with it. I’m really excited. But I’ll talk a lot more about it in the coming months when all of the edits are off my desk, and I can just talk about it more as a totally complete thing. But there’s that.

I think the only other thing. Some folks may have noticed on Instagram I posted some updates on Balanced Bites Spices. Three of the flavors are currently sold out. They will be coming back later this fall. So probably within the next month or two. The Mega Med will not be coming back in the next production run that I have. So what that means is anybody that’s obsessed with that flavor, go ahead and grab it now while it’s there, because it won’t be back for quite some time. But there will be five new blends, so I’m super excited about that. I think all of the new blends are actually nightshade free. I’m trying to think if any of them have nightshades. I think they’re all nightshade free, for anyone who has been asking about that. Because I’ve been getting lots of questions about that, for the AIP folks.

I think that’s it. Lots of stuff going on, as usual, over here. At camp Diane. All the things.

Liz Wolfe: It’s the uz.

Diane Sanfilippo: As per uz. What’s going on with you? You were on a trip recently, right?

Liz Wolfe: Recently? Yeah. I don’t know when this episode is supposed to air. So by the time it does, it might have a little more.

Diane Sanfilippo: It’s actually only airing like next week. {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: Oh, nice. Wow.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.

Liz Wolfe: Wow. We’ve got to bang some more episodes. So, recently I got to go on a Beautycounter trip to Montecito, which is the Santa Barbara area. And you were supposed to be there, but you were too busy. You're very important doing busy things. We totally missed you. But I got to go with Cassy from Fed and Fit. Arsy from Rubies and Radishes. And a bunch of other people that I’ve met through Beautycounter. It was put on basically by the corporate office as an incentive.

I just came back so proud and feeling so lucky to have gotten involved with this company so early in their journey. It’s a very young company. It’s like four years old; four or five. They are just doing something really, really special. You and I had our trip download/recap type thing, where I talked about everything that I learned from their science team. Zavia, who is lovely. And Michael, who are doing incredible things.

What really strikes me about this company is that we all get together, and it’s not to be like, “Rah, rah! Yay! Beautycounter T-shirts! Let’s jump and sing and confetti!” It’s about learning more, what we’re doing next. What the next step in the advocacy department is. And what Beautycounter is doing is just; I feel like I’ve been an industry watchdog for a while. Self-appointed. But what they’re doing, it’s just not being done anywhere. It’s unprecedented. And one of the things we need to know is, it doesn’t matter if we’re using the most “natural” skincare in the world, or if we’re more oriented towards the safer science performance skincare.

Any time you're using, for example, a plant or a plant component. Which is what most products are made up of. You're dealing with something that is taking up what is in the soil around it. So not only do you have to be aware of what’s coming up from the soil, but you're also dealing with the actual picking, packing, and shipping of these items to become raw materials. So what Beautycounter does is they test multiple times for contaminants. Not only do they do that, but they also trace contaminants back to literally the field that these raw materials are being grown in and come from.

The transparency is just phenomenal. I can’t tell you how many stories, and how many anecdotes I heard over the course of the weekend that just absolutely solidified my feeling that this company is doing something different and we’re really lucky to be involved.

So you and I talk a lot about the business model of Beautycounter, and it is a consultant based model. But with none of the usual negatives of a consultant based model. You're not talking about monthly minimums or recruiting minimums, or anything like that. It is legitimately everything good about being able to mentor other, usually women, but hopefully men too in the future. Mentor other people in earning an income with flexibility.

Diane Sanfilippo: Mm-hmm.

Liz Wolfe: So, if you're passionate about this kind of thing, you don’t have to go work at Sephora. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But if you're a stay at home mom, or if you have another business going, you can do that on your own time while still maintaining your stay at home motherhood, or your ability to cook for your family. Or your ability to do another job. This is the future.

This is how it’s going to be in the future. The retail model is not the primary way people are shopping anymore. I went to Dillard’s the other day, and I was like; this is literally. I was looking for tumbleweeds blowing across the store. It was a total empty wasteland.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. Well you and I are constantly telling each other what to buy. And that’s exactly why I was saying to somebody recently; I was like, that’s why this stuff is… it’s easier to ask your friend. What works for you? What do you love? Why do you love it? Tell me about the company and all of that.

Liz Wolfe: Yeah. So I was just blown away. So just really, really excited for the future there. I will always work with multiple brands. Because that’s what people want. People want to know what works from different outlets. But that’s also been my job for like 5 years. So I’m going to continue to do that. But I haven’t been this excited about a company since Primal Life Organics. So I’m just super happy.

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m laughing because when you said you were the self-appointed watchdog of the safer skincare industry or what have you. At least in our bubble. I was laughing because Scott and I have been rewatching The Office, basically whenever we sit down to dinner. I mean, we don’t need to have quality time and talk at dinner because we talk to each other almost all day. So we can just be quiet and eat. But I was like, you are the Dwight Schrute. {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: {laughing}

Diane Sanfilippo: He’s like the safety officer. Fully self-appointed. Michael Scott is like, I did not give you this role. Anyway. I’m just laughing, because you're the Dwight Schrute of safer skincare.

Liz Wolfe: I totally am.

Diane Sanfilippo: Self-appointed safety officer. {laughing}

Liz Wolfe: Totally proud of that. And really, Primal Life Organics, Primally Pure, and Beautycounter are all just. I’m so happy to have discovered them. I’m happy that more companies are coming out that are doing the right thing.

Diane Sanfilippo: Agreed. And as a side note, for anyone who is listening and is like; “I don’t care about that stuff.” Or what have you. We’ve actually had a lot of women reach out to both of us to ask about the business side of things. Who have gotten involved, and are doing great with it, and are really loving it. So we just want to make sure that we’re sharing that message and putting it out there for people who are interested. If it’s not of interest to you; totally fine.

Most of us use some sort of skincare and could do well to find, you know, better sources for all of that. So I think that’s what has been really nice for me. Is that it’s not something that I didn’t use or want or need. It was stuff that I already was using but needed better. And that’s what I love about it. As I start at two different lip glosses on my desk. {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: I know. It’s everywhere.

Diane Sanfilippo: Crazy. Anywho. Awesome. Well maybe next year I’ll be on the trip with you.

Liz Wolfe: Yes, you will.

Diane Sanfilippo: And maybe we can podcast from the floor of a hotel room together, and do a charcuterie facial.

Liz Wolfe: Sounds good to me.

Diane Sanfilippo: Is charcuterie facial safer?

Liz Wolfe: {laughing}

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} I’m just kidding.

2. Getting back on track after trauma [13:54]

Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, so before we get into our main-ish topic I should say of today’s podcast, I wanted to answer a listener question that came in from Claire K on getting back on track after her home was flooded due to Hurricane Harvey. So this is super timely, and we’ve had, obviously, folks in both Florida and Texas and some neighboring areas, I believe. I don’t think it was just either of those states that have been affected by some natural disasters. So let’s get into her question here.

She says, “Hey ladies. Love the podcast. I’m Hurricane Harvey victim, and I’m having trouble getting back on track. I was eating gluten free waffles, chips, and Rx bars exclusively after my home was flooded. How do I get back on track? My sleep is interrupted because of the trauma, and I’m craving salty snacks constantly. I feel like I’m adding to my stress by stressing about my meals. I’m so lucky to be back in a new apartment, and I want to find normal again. Thank you.”

Liz Wolfe: Can I start talking?

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, please.

Liz Wolfe: So, gluten-free waffles, chips, and Rx bars. To me, that’s about as on-track as you can be during a situation like this. That’s really hard. So maybe your first step, Claire, is to not feel like you're so off-track. You're really just doing the best you can with what you have. And there’s also a reason you're craving salty things. It’s because you are in stress mode. Your adrenals need salt. Your body needs carbs. This is not something happening that’s out of whack. This makes a ton of sense.

So, I would say, as you can gradually shift things towards maybe you have a sweet potato with butter and salt instead of a gluten free waffle. Or whatever. Just shift slowly. But make sure you're giving your body enough carbs, and enough salt. Just kind of slowly add the good stuff back in. I mean, if they’re Doritos or Sunchips or something; I don’t know. Maybe not so great. But just a regular old potato chip; that’s salt and carbs. Whatever.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} I know.

Liz Wolfe: I’m the worst health podcaster ever. {laughing}

Diane Sanfilippo: Well, I think the thing is that we’ve learned over more than the last 6 years, but over all the time that we’ve been doing this. It’s not the short-term moments when you're off track that make the biggest difference. It’s giving yourself some grace and forgiveness in those moments and not being so neurotic about your nutrition that, as she said, she feels like it’s giving her more stress. That’s the sign that it’s not the right time to be fussing over those details.

I mean, I can speak to that. Not in the same way; for sure, 100% not the same, in terms of a traumatic incident. But when I’m stressed, it’s usually not the time to be trying to change my nutrition or be crazy about trying a new plan or any of that. I think it’s the time to just stick to what you know. Keep things simple. I wouldn’t try to worry too much about eating anything that’s perfect or super well balanced. It’s just a matter of, like Liz said. If you can get to the point where it’s the sweet potatoes instead of the waffles, then cool.

And I think a really good idea would be getting some good protein around that’s easy. So a precooked chicken if it’s from Whole Foods. Or if you can buy a couple of chickens and cook a couple at once and just have that really fast, easy protein around. Because when anyone is stressed, good eating habits really go out the window pretty quickly. Because the last thing people want to do is spend more time in the kitchen, and cleaning up, and just doing everything when you're basically just trying to get through the day.

I think understanding that. Going through that trauma is extremely real. You're not alone. There are probably some people around you who you could connect with about this. So if there are folks who are listening; if you guys want to comment on the blog post over at www.BalancedBites.com for today’s episode, number 315, maybe you could talk to each other with some ideas or things that are working for you. I wouldn’t beat yourself up for it at all.

Some ideas in terms of exercise, or just different ways to ease back into finding some balance again. This is the stuff that we talk about with other types of stress, as well. Where I don’t recommend trying to go to CrossFit five days a week after you’ve dealt with a really hard trauma or while you're dealing with it. It can be great if you have a wonderful community in a gym to go back and engage in the community.

I think it’s also really important to just meter your own output. Because the way that you spend your energy. This is what Liz was kind of mentioning; your body is in a stress state. This is our Master Class; my Master Class analogy where I talk about a stress beaker. We all have this beaker, and it’s getting filled up with stressors all the time. For some of us, it’s close to full all the time, and one little thing can kind of set it over. And dealing with a major trauma like this is going to fill up a big portion of that beaker. So sometimes, if you add exercise on top of that, there’s a certain amount of exercise that is a positive thing and a certain amount that will push you over and just overfill that beaker and it’s just too much stress.

So finding a way to exercise that’s not overly stressful. Whether it’s yoga, or weight lifting that’s not super high intensity. You know, the kind of lifting where you lift some things, and then you sit for a while. That’s my favorite. {laughs} I’ve been sharing stuff like that in my Instagram stories a lot.

Liz Wolfe: The lift and sit. The bend and snap.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Close to the bend and snap. But the lift and sit. I should story about the lift and sit. I turned to Scott today, and I was like, “Aren’t you glad we have these benches so we can sit in between.” {laughing} But I think those are really good ideas, and kind of practical ways to ease back into things.

You know, if you want to give yourself… this is something I learned from The Happier Podcast. I think it was a listener that has written in with this suggestion. Give yourself sort of a due date of how much time do you want to give yourself to sort of emotionally have space. I mean, when you deal with a trauma that you can’t really control how this is going to feel. But you could say to yourself; ok. From whatever today is, I have 30 more days to just feel it, deal with it. Wallow if you want to wallow. Be sad, or feel whatever you're going to feel, and not beat myself up over choices. And then maybe you give yourself a date in the future, 30 days ahead. Where you say; ok. As of this date, that’s when I start to make some other changes. Because I can’t stay in that place, you know.

Yes, this is a situation where, you guys know I like to say, “We are not victims.” This is a situation where, this is not about a life choice that you made. Yes, you were a victim of a horrible natural disaster. But at some point, we have to change the way we think because we can’t change the situation. And that’s the only thing we can affect, is our thoughts. To then change our environments. So if you want to give yourself a deadline of, “I can feel this emotional pain in this way until this time. And then I’m going to need to do something else.”

I think that’s a fair and practical way to approach it. I don’t think that’s stuffing down emotions or not feeling it. I think we all just need to find a way to feel it, and then perhaps compartmentalize it for a while. And then give yourself the many times of grace, so you can live your life. Not ignore that it happened, but not stay there for too long.

Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm. I think it must be hard, too, in this situation. Because so many things have been taken out of her control. And it’s like, “Well this is a thing I can control, and I want to control it.” I think that goes on with a lot of people in a lot of different situations. But maybe also just acknowledging that there are things that you will bring back into alignment at a pace that is not overly stressful for you. And you will try and lift that kind of oppressive cover of stress from the situation to the degree that you can.

Diane Sanfilippo: Today’s podcast is sponsored by Vital Choice seafood and organics. Purveyor of premium sustainably sourced seafood and a certified B corporation. Vital choice offers a wide range of fish, shellfish, humanely raised meat, protein rich bone broths, and paleo friendly snacks like organic dark chocolate, super antioxidant trail mix, and bison jerky. As the grilling season continues, www.vitalchoice.com is your source for real food.

3. Stevia and fertility [22:46]

Liz Wolfe: Alright. So today we are also answering a question that came in on Stevia, from Carol K. Not Carol Kane, I don’t think. I don’t think she listens to the podcast.

Diane Sanfilippo: Carol King?

Liz Wolfe: Carol Kane.

Diane Sanfilippo: No. {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: Well, yeah. I’m talking about from Princess Bride, right? You were talking about the singer.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.

Liz Wolfe: This is you and me. We’re both weird, but in different ways.

Diane Sanfilippo: So weird.

Liz Wolfe: Yeah. Ok. “You ladies are the best, and I’m so thankful to have found you a few years ago. My husband and I are trying to conceive, and since I’m 37, he’s a young 33, we know we may have a different journey than if we were in our 20s. I stumbled across a resource last night that said stevia may have contraceptive effects, and we were floored. While I only use stevia occasionally, like Zevia, a soft drink sweetened with stevia, because I still fight the Diet Coke dragon. He uses it all day every day. Coffee, tea, even adds it to La Croix, and natural calm. We both started looking for more articles on this subject, and of course some say it’s best to avoid stevia, and some say not to worry about it. What are your thoughts on stevia?

Extra info. We both work out three to five days a week, high intensity interval training, Orange Theory gym. Though I’ve considered adding more yoga and backing off the intense stuff. Mostly paleo diet. I do have a hormonal imbalance. Very low testosterone, low cortisol, high to normal estrogen. My husband’s hormone levels have not been tested. I have concerns about my cycle I’m meeting with my doctor about in a few weeks. Painful cramps and PMS symptoms. Only bleed for one to one-and-a-half days. Which seems like a bad sign for female health. I eat some gluten free breads. Was off the paleo wagon for a while, and I’m stepping my way back. My husband says he wants to be paleo, but then doesn’t really pay much attention to it.”

Ok. Well really, there was the question that was asked. And then there’s going to be the information that we volunteer for the other part of the question.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Yeah.

Liz Wolfe: Yeah. So, I’m sure there are a lot of alarmist blogs out there. Kind of capitalizing on Google search rankings type blogs that will paint a bad picture of using too much stevia. However. This is excessive stevia intake. In my opinion, this is too much. Stevia in the coffee, and the tea. Adding it to literally everything.

One of the things I talked about with Aviva Romm in the interview I just did with her. I’m not sure if this will air after this or before that. But one of the things she and I talked about was cumulative exposure to potential stressors. We were talking more about environmental toxins. However, there are many substances that are fine in certain amounts but then, just like stress, your stress beaker, you maybe have a stevia beaker. You can kind of go overboard, and they can start having negative effects.

So, there’s no level that we can consistently point to and say, “This is too much stevia for every person. Don’t go past this limit.” Different people are unique. There might be other issues going on. Maybe a proclivity or tendency towards male hormonal issues. Things like that. Fertility problems that this can be interacting with and causing greater problems. We don’t know. But just in general, there is something beneath this. A need for a sweet taste that maybe needs to be conquered. Or maybe just using real sugar, because your body is like, “I keep thinking you're giving me sugar, and you keep not giving me sugar, so I’m going to continue to ask for it.” That’s kind of that Diet Coke dragon.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.

Liz Wolfe: But it’s just too much. I don’t know how much is too much for every single person. The research on stevia interesting to me. It’s something I’m going to look into a little bit more; probably most people don’t need to worry about it. But I do think this is too much stevia.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.

Liz Wolfe: Your thoughts.

Diane Sanfilippo: Well, your note about alarmist websites. Kind of the worst part about websites that do this is that one day, it’s the alarmist why it’s bad, and the next day it’s why it’s fine. I have a hard time trusting that type of content in general.

Liz Wolfe: Oh yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: Because it’s like; it’s just so obviously clickbait. So I would be really careful about what the source is and how alarmist that is. Meaning, how scary are they making it sound? Especially in the post title. Maybe that sounds crazy. But if you're reading something on a doctor’s website that took you six pages through Google searches to find, it might be a better source than a blogger who’s trying to make you scared, basically. So there’s that.

Liz Wolfe: Yeah. There’s a lot of money in clicks, and that’s why these posts come out. It’s not always to be helpful.

Diane Sanfilippo: Which is kind of unfortunate.

Liz Wolfe: Yes. And why I don’t make more money off my blog. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I don’t make any money off my blog. That’s not the model that we have, you know.

Liz Wolfe: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: So, I’m with you. There are times when someone says, “How is stevia? Is that ok?” And it’s on my list of natural sweeteners that are ok to use in small amounts. I don’t even say in moderation. When I say small amounts, I mean, if you do want to sweeten your coffee in the morning, once in the day, then not a bad choice. And I think Carol is kind of hitting the nail on the head with this all-day, every-day thing. And that’s really the point that you were making. Is that when it’s all the time like this, it’s a dose and duration issue. We don’t know everybody’s ability to tolerate it to whatever degree. So who knows if this is going to be a problem for him. But I do think if something has the ability to alter your fertility, it might be worth just kind of scaling back on that.

And I am always all about; I really think a caloric sweetener is a better way to go.

Liz Wolfe: I agree.

Diane Sanfilippo: Stevia is a natural; it is a plant. It’s found in nature. It’s an herb. It looks like sage when it’s dried and ground up.

Liz Wolfe: You can grow it yourself.

Diane Sanfilippo: You can grow it. You can put it in herbal teas. But the way that people use it in extracts. I’m going to guess he’s got a liquid extract he’s using. I just think we end up overdosing ourselves on stuff like that. Because you're pulling it further and further away from its natural form, and what we would come across as just hunter-gatherers. So there’s that.

4. Fertility and other issues [29:32]

Diane Sanfilippo: The other side of this is what was in the extra info. And we don’t know if he’s going to be affected by the stevia intake. If his fertility is going to be affected by that at all. The best way to know is to have his situation {laughs} tested. And see if there is any issue whatsoever. The hormonal stuff is also another big issue. And as you're getting older; 37 is definitely getting up there in age for childbearing. And this is not a podcast to judge any of that. I care not about at what age anybody wants to do anything they want to do. It’s just a scientific thing as we get older, right? This is just what happens.

This is about really working closely with your doctors and finding out, where are you in this whole thing with your hormonal state. With his situation. Everything altogether. Because I would hate for you to be so focused on the stevia that you're missing a bigger picture issue.

And doing three to five days a week. If it’s three, that’s one thing. If it’s five, that’s another, of the high intensity interval training. And she did make a note, trying to do more yoga and a little bit less of the intense stuff. I would absolutely vote for that. Because we’re trying to get your stress level down so you are in a place where your fertility is a little bit better. So now the stevia question is really like a fertility question. But I think it’s all totally relevant and important to our listeners.

Liz Wolfe: I should make the point quickly that I was not saying use normal sugar with your coffee, and your tea, and your La Croix, and your natural calm, and in everything. I’m saying, maybe try a teaspoon in your coffee in the morning to see if it calms the beast a little bit. And then I’m not saying replace all of the stevia with all of the sugar. Important note.

Diane Sanfilippo: Also, from a practical side. If you guys are having a lot of issues with sugar cravings. {ahem}

Liz Wolfe: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} I did talk about. No, but the 21-Day Sugar Detox. It is really helpful. You guys can do it together. And also, I will say, I don’t require anybody to take any supplements, or do shakes, or anything on the program. It’s fully a real-food based program. However, I do recommend some supplements in it if you're really struggling. And specifically, L-glutamine can be extremely helpful for people who are dealing with sugar cravings like this all day long. It is an amino acid. It doesn’t have really any taste. You could probably mix it into some water or maybe the la Croix. Is that how you say it? I don’t know.

Liz Wolfe: I think you're supposed to say la Croix. Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: Not “la Croix”. Not like “croissant.”

Diane Sanfilippo: I don’t drink it, so I don’t know how to pronounce it.

Liz Wolfe: So good.

Diane Sanfilippo: But I think that the L-glutamine could be really helpful. And I talk more about that. It’s in in 21-Day Sugar Detox, the book that’s been out for a long time. And there will be details on it in the daily guide when that comes out, too. So anyway. Hopefully that’s of use.

Liz Wolfe: And, unsolicited advice. Not advice. This is not advice. Unsolicited discussion. The hormonal imbalance. Obviously you're going to see your practitioner pretty soon. I would imagine you're going to have a discussion about DHEA or something like that. But update us on that. I hope that you get the information that you need. And I don’t want to throw a bunch of information out there when you maybe have a very in-tuned practitioner that’s maybe going to help you with it. But keep us updated on how you're doing.

Liz Wolfe: The Balanced Bites podcast is sponsored in part by the Nutritional Therapy Association. The NTA trains and certifies nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants (including me; I’m an NTP), emphasizing bio-individuality and the range of dietary strategies that support wellness. The NTA emphasizes local, whole, properly prepared nutrient dense foods as the key to restoring balance and enhancing the body’s ability to heal. Nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants learn a wide range of tools and techniques to assess and correct nutritional imbalances. To learn lots more about the nutritional therapy program, go to http://www.NutritionalTherapy.com. There are workshop venues in the US, Canada, and Australia, so chances are you’ll be able to find a venue that works for you.

5. What I’m into: Working it out [33:51]

Liz Wolfe: Alright, we have a new segment.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Liz Wolfe: We’re going to call it working it out. This is where we’re going to share a movement idea, or a cool equipment we’re using. A song we can’t stop listening to. Or a podcast or a book on audible we can’t put down. And, I’m totally unprepared for this new segment. So do you have anything, Diane? {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughing}

Liz Wolfe: You’ve got lots of equipment.

Diane Sanfilippo: I mean, I think your contributions to this segment will be things you might be listening to. Are you more into podcasts and audiobooks now than you used to be? I feel like you sometimes take walks.

Liz Wolfe: Yeah, but I wouldn’t say that means I’m into it. I would say I was at zero percent and now I’m into three percent.

Diane Sanfilippo: Ok. Well, I can probably talk about workout stuff. And movement idea; let’s see. One of the big things I’ve been into since a couple of years ago when I hurt my low back deadlifting. This is so nerdy. But it’s a good amount of warming up. As I get older; I don’t know. I saw somewhere on the internet someone said, “If you need 20 minutes to warm up,” something about that being a problem. I was like, “this guy is obviously not close to 40.”

Liz Wolfe: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Because I need 20 minutes.

Liz Wolfe: A 26-year-old trainer?

Diane Sanfilippo: I know. I was like, listen buddy. Take your 5 minutes, and I’ll take my 20. It does take me a while to warm up. But one of the things I’ve really been focusing on is glute activation. {laughs} And that is super important if you're squatting or deadlifting. Or doing anything other than maybe upper body activities. But especially squatting. Because a lot of people have issues with their knees hurting when they squat, and a lot of times that comes from a lack of glute involvement; glute activation.

I can say this, because not only do I have personal experience, but also my husband and his program, Full Body Fix, and he’s been teaching some workshops lately. Which I attended one of them here in San Francisco. But he really talks about this stuff, where when you’ve got this pain, here’s the warm up you should be doing. Here’s the fixing movement that you should be doing. It’s not always what you think it is. Your knees hurt, you wouldn’t think, “I need to be activating my glutes before I squat.” You think it has something to do with just warming up your knee joint. And it really doesn’t.

So, I’ve been super into using a resistance band. It’s not one of those long bands that you might wrap around a bar to have help doing pullups. It’s one of those thin but wide bands you put around either your knees or your ankles. And doing some side steps and doing some back stepping. Part of that, just in my warm up, in everything else that I’m doing to get warmed up. So I guess, basically I’m digging the resistance band. But as part of the glute activation and warm up to do lower body stuff.

So if you don’t have one of those little guys, definitely get one. I think, I don’t know. I feel like a lot of fitness-y people have a lot of exercises all over the internet where they’re using them. But I use them mostly just to warm up. So that’s it.

6. Closing thoughts [37:04]

Liz Wolfe: Alright. So let’s provide some closing thoughts, shall we?

Diane Sanfilippo: Shall we?

Liz Wolfe: We shall. My closing thoughts, throwing back to the stevia question. Maybe this is just on my mind because I just had that great chat with Dr. Aviva Romm that will air or has aired. I’m sorry that I don’t know when that’s happening. But this idea that certain things can be good and then they can turn bad, depending on how you integrate them into your life and the quantity that you're using.

Aviva and I talked about cortisol, and cortisol being so incredibly important. And this also kind of throws back to getting back on track after the natural disaster question. I want to read here a quote from Aviva’s new book. What she says, is that “Cortisol is responsible for regulating major biological processes including metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and protein; the responsiveness of your immune system to infection and inflammation, your hormonal balance, sex drive, and reproduction as well as your thyroid hormone production.”

So, in the case of cortisol, we need it; but we need to do everything that we can to keep it in balance. Obviously, stevia is kind of a little bit of a different thing. But this theme just keeps reappearing in my life, so I want to talk about it. But stevia, we know, has some positive effects as well. The actual raw, green stevia. The herb. Which, Diane, you’ve always stressed that people need to use the herb, like powdered green stevia versus the more refined extract. But it can have some positive effects.

But once you hit that threshold and continue to use it, it can turn into something negative. So, I feel like we’re always; the whole point of this podcast. Balanced Bites. We’re always trying to strike that balance with things. And I think it’s important for all of us to kind of look at what the number one thing that we can do to bring more balance into our life. Whatever it is might be. Whether that’s looking at your stevia, or looking at your stress.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think it’s really important to also note that often the thing that we are trying to put our attention on as what we think we’re going to fix. So back to the stevia situation. {laughs} The stevia situation. Looking at the stevia is probably not really the bigger picture issue. Even if that consumption could be reduced. And even if he’s just putting way too much sweet stuff in. Oftentimes we will focus on a thing that we think is the cause of the problem and it’s often the symptom of the bigger problem. So stress and all of that. Pushing all of the stuff. Pushing all of the sugar cravings and all of that. Tends to really be at the root of everything. But it’s so much easier to just look at what we’re eating, and not look at how we’re eating.

Liz Wolfe: Alright, that’s it for this week. You can find me, Liz, at http://realfoodliz.com/ and Diane at http://dianesanfilippo.com. Join our email lists for free goodies and updates that you don’t find anywhere else on our website or on the podcast. While you’re on the internet, leave us an iTunes review. See you next week.