Topics
- News and updates from Diane [2:11]
- The new podcast, Driven
- Baby Making and Beyond update
- Fan-mail goodbyes [9:21]
- Keto and depression [12:01]
- Keto and rosacea [25:56]
- Beyond the Balanced Bites Podcast [36:28]
The episodes are also available in iTunes, Spotify & Stitcher.
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You’re listening to the Balanced Bites podcast episode 397.
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. My newest book, Keto Quick Start, released on January 1, 2019. 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 bestseller Eat the Yolks; The Purely Primal Skincare Guide; and the online program Baby Making and Beyond. I live on a lake 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 8 years. This show will be coming to a close with episode 400 in mid-May; however, we will have all of the episodes saved for you to listen, or relisten, any time you want. Stay tuned for more info on Diane’s new show with Cassy Joy Garcia; Driven.
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: 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.
The NTA’s nutritional therapy practitioner program and fully online nutritional therapy consultant program empower graduates with the education and skills needed to launch a successful, fulfilling career in holistic nutrition. If you're interested in learning about holistic nutrition but don’t necessarily want to become a practitioner, check out their new Foundational Wellness course. To learn more about the NTA’s nutritional therapy programs, resources, and to enroll in their free course, Nutritional Therapy 101, visit http://www.NutritionalTherapy.com.
1. News and updates from Diane & Liz [2:11]
Liz Wolfe: Hi Diane.
Diane Sanfilippo: Hi.
Liz Wolfe: HI. {laughs} What’s happening over there?
Diane Sanfilippo: Well, so folks now know that as this show comes to an end, I’ll be kicking off a new show with Cassy Joy Garcia. You know, actually the day that you and I had the chat about; hey, ok, I think this will be the right time. Cassy had posted; hey, I’m ending Fed and Fit podcast. And I texted her after we had that chat, and it was literally just this moment of; hey. Do you still want to be doing a podcast? Because if you do, I kind of have this idea. And then we just ran with it, as we do. We ran with it.
So, just sharing all these ideas of things that we really want to be talking about. Which, you know, you and I have gotten into these topics a little bit on this show. A little bit of personal development stuff. Which I know we’ll talk about more in next weeks’ episode. But really this intersection and cross-section of wellness and health; but entrepreneurship and personal development, and just how do we; I hate to say balance it all. But kind of balance it all and find a way to stay healthy and positive and motivated and do all of the things in the context of being an entrepreneur. So we’re super pumped about it.
It’s going to kick off mid-May. So pretty much right when this show drops off, I want to say immediately thereafter we’re going to be rolling right into some episodes. Stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled for some crowd sourcing on some topics we’re going to be talking about in the very first few episodes. We want to really hear from you guys. Of course, I say you guys, because I know lots of you as current Balanced Bites podcast listeners are going to want to tune into that show. So stay tuned on the Balanced Bites podcast Instagram. We will actually be sharing some posts for crowd sourcing and episode topics for the first few episodes of Driven. So I’m super excited about it.
I don’t know. Obviously it’s totally bittersweet. We’ll talk about that a little bit more in a few minutes. But I love change. I love sameness, and I love change. I don’t know, I think it’s all positive things. But anyway, that’s kind of what’s top of mind right now. What’s going on with you over by the lake?
Liz Wolfe: Well, I’m not sure when this one airs. Let’s see; it airs April 25th. Ok. Well, you know, I have just been really grateful for all the positive messages I’ve been getting. And I think we’ll read some of them in a minute. But just really; it means a lot that what we put so much of ourselves into over the last 8 years was so greatly appreciated. I’m sad that people are going to miss it, but I’m also sorry, I’m kind of happy that people are going to miss it, because that means we were doing something right.
Of course it’s going to be bittersweet. We loved the podcast. We love the podcast. And we care about each other. But it’s just that time. I think it’s better to stop doing something too early than too late.
Diane Sanfilippo: Totally.
Liz Wolfe: So really, I’ve just been super grateful for that. And just enjoying spring time. That’s what’s going on over here. Still working really hard. I don’t think the Baby Making and Beyond work is ever going to end. Because even though we’ve got multiple parts of the course out there and available for purchase and enrollment, it’s a constant process of evaluating new science and new information. And changing things as it is appropriate.
We just did that recently with our section on ultrasound. We had a ton of really good information, and our conclusions are still the same. But what’s really interesting is that we were able to actually explain things in a way that kind of illuminates the conclusion a little bit better, based on some literature that Amanda Torres, who is our lead researcher, came up with.
I don’t know; I mean, I guess it’s a thing to be talented at research. She’s incredibly talented at research. So she brought a ton of really interesting stuff to my attention that helps explain why we landed where we landed on our recommendations about ultrasound; which includes doppler. I know a lot of moms probably think of doppler as the thing where you listen to the baby, and ultrasound is the thing where you see the baby. But both of them are forms of ultrasound, and use the same type of energy to evaluate.
And they’re actually; well, I don’t have to get into it too much. We’ll hopefully write something about it on Instagram or something like that where we can give people a little bit of a taste of what we do and why the program is so awesome! But I’ll look to post something on Instagram. So go and check out Real Food Liz on Instagram or the Curious Coconut where, hopefully we’ll be talking about this type of thing. Or Meg the Midwife. She’s in, I think, the alps? Not the alps. What’s in France? What’s the place you go skiing in France?
Diane Sanfilippo: Skiing?
Liz Wolfe: I don’t know. I must have my locations mixed up.
Diane Sanfilippo: Don’t know.
Liz Wolfe: That’s all I’ve got there.
Diane Sanfilippo: I do want to say, also. And I know we’ll touch on this a little bit later, but folks have been asking what’s the fate/future of the Master Class. And it will be open again this year. And we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to do it in the future; if it will be something that you're open to take whenever you want, or if it will have different enrollment periods. So we might post about that on the Instagram account and see what you guys have to say about it. It’s definitely still something that will be offered, we’re just figuring out how we want to offer it as time goes on.
It’s basically like going to nutrition school. So it’s a super valuable course, and we really want to be able to offer it because I know so many of you have gotten so much from it. So just stay tuned on that. You guys actually should be hearing; I believe the next time it opens will be some time pretty soon. So if you're not already seeing us post about it, you will soon. So stay tuned.
Liz Wolfe: Today’s podcast is sponsored by Vital Choice wild seafood and organics. America’s leading purveyor of premium, sustainable seafood and grass-fed meats, and a certified B corporation. Their popular Vital Box program delivers top customer favorites directly to your door. Any mix of wild salmon, fish, and shellfish that you prefer. Vital Choice offers a wide range of wild seafood; from top shelf Alaskan salmon and halibut, to Portuguese sardines and mackerel. Plus, mouthwatering grass-fed meats and poultry. Be sure to save 15% on one regular order with the promo code BBPODCAST or get $15 off your first Vital Box with the promocode BBVITALBOX from now through the end of the year.
2. Fan-mail goodbyes [9:21]
Liz Wolfe: Alright, so can I read some of the really nice comments about the show? I’ll try not to cry while we’re reading them.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, read them.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs} OK. So here’s a few that we saved. “Not a question, but given the news about this podcast, I wanted to send this note, which I should have done long ago. I truly thank this podcast and you guys for breaking my 14-year battle with disordered eating. While I don’t subscribe to a paleo lifestyle, the content and conversations in this podcast made me realize the lack of nutrients in my low-fat/no-fat diet. I now choose food as much as possible based on what is actually going to fuel my body. I feel better, look better, think better, and am so much happier. I started listening in 2014, and will miss the podcast dearly. But I’m excited to continue to follow the adventures you both have. Thank you for making a difference and being passionate about what you do.” That’s from Jen.
This one is from Kathleen. “Yours was my first podcast, period. I’ve loved listening and learning from you ladies. Your passion for the topics and your obvious love and respect for each other kept me coming back week after week. So did the Mean Girls and Real Housewives references. I’ll miss you on Thursday morning, but I’m excited to see where this life takes you, and I’ll be along for the ride.”
From Jenny. “It’s the end of an era. Thank you so much for all of these years of your knowledge, and sharing your lives and experiences with all of us. You are my first health podcast; helped propel me into my own health journey, and inspired me to become an NTP. I will miss my weekly date with both of you.”
This is from Lauren. “Definitely the end of an era. I still have a few episodes to go back and listen to. I’ve appreciated having this podcast to listen to at work when I wanted to spend my time learning. It was also fun listening to the evolution of your opinions. Thank you for everything y’all have brought to the community. Diane, I always look to your information when it comes to health and nutrition. And Liz, I always seek what you have to say on anything Baby Making and Beyond. Get it? Wink, wink. Seriously, this podcast has led me to so many other podcasts and opened my mind to an entire world I didn’t know existed. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
And finally, from Jen. “The end of an era (heart emoji). I’ve been listening since the beginning and this podcast was so pivotal in my own healing, and what’s now my business. I can’t thank you both enough for all the years of work you put into this. You’ve helped so many people.”
Diane Sanfilippo: Aww. Those are so nice.
Liz Wolfe: Goosebumps.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. Thanks you guys. I mean, it’s just so nice to hear that. So thank you all for verbalizing your emotions. We appreciate it.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
3. Keto and depression [12:01]
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, Liz. Let’s bring things back.
Liz Wolfe: {laughing}
Diane Sanfilippo: So we’re not just crying on a podcast, and answer a couple of questions this week.
Liz Wolfe: Ok. Why don’t we start with this one? This one is from Kim; it’s about keto. Excuse me; keto. I’m not supposed to say ke-toe. I can’t not say keto. Which is it? Ke-toe. Or keto?
Diane Sanfilippo: I mean…
Liz Wolfe: I don’t know. Now I’m all mixed up.
Diane Sanfilippo: Be you, Liz. Be you.
Liz Wolfe: I’ll do me. Keto and depression. This is from Kim. “Hi, Liz and Diane. I’m a big fan of the podcast. A little background before my question. I started eating AIP paleo, totally on accident, four years ago when a food sensitivity panel ordered by my naturopath came back with strong sensitivities to gluten and a variety of grains, dairy, eggs, corn, many nuts, a few legumes, and nightshades. My Google search for recipes to accommodate such an elimination diet led me straight to AIP.
I’ve been enjoying paleo every since, greatly helped in the beginning by Liz’s book, Eat the Yolks and Diane’s Practical Paleo. And I’m happy to report many of my sensitivities have diminished and my overall health has greatly improved over the years. Physically, I’ve never been healthier. I have two symptoms that I still struggle with; anxiety that has become worse over the years rather than better, and a low libido that feels as though my hormones are just on vacation. I do have a regular cycle, and my hormones tested in the normal range, but a low libido and shrinking breast tissue persists.
Now my question. I was introduced to the keto diet through Diane’s new book, listening to the podcast, and just being in the paleosphere for what feels like forever. In January, how generic, I know, I thought I would go ahead and give keto a try to see if it would improve my hormone profile, and therefore libido and/or my anxiety. It was honestly very easy for me to eat keto after being paleo for so long. Unfortunately, after about 5 days, I experienced a very strong and scary depression, and mood swings that were far from normal. I immediately stopped keto. I tried again after a couple of weeks, but the same thing happened. I feel pretty good eating a lower carb paleo diet, but I’m not able to get into ketosis without experiencing these scary mental health symptoms.
My question is; why am I struggling like this when I hear of so many people feeling really liberated mentally? Does this mean keto is not a good idea for me? And are there paleo solutions that could help with my hormone and neurotransmitter balance? So far eating a higher fat and lowish but not keto low-carb has not offered help for my specific symptoms.”
Diane Sanfilippo: Mmm. Well. I have a couple of thoughts here. And the first one is; for so many people, this idea that just because something works great for a lot of folks that it should work for everyone. I mean, this is just clearly not the case. So, keto is not for everyone. And I think it’s ok for you all to realize that it’s an amazing therapeutic tool. I think it’s ideal for folks who are dealing with type 2 diabetes, any type of metabolic disorder. Someone dealing with PCOS and that type of hormonal imbalance. It’s not exactly what Kim is talking about here. And I think it’s a great tool. It’s not a panacea for everything. And I don’t think that we need to assume that it is.
So, having said that. A couple of things; one, after 5 days eating with the intention of getting into ketosis; saying you're eating keto for five day doesn’t actually mean anything about whether or not you're in ketosis. And that’s not like a knock on the way someone is expressing this, but that’s how people think about it. They’re like; well, I’m eating keto for 5 days. And it’s like; well, you could be eating super low carb for 5 days. You might not actually be in ketosis yet.
I do want to say; again, I gave the caveat of; look. This isn’t going to work for everyone. That being said; day 5, it’s totally unremarkable to me that somebody would not feel well on day 5. Unremarkable meaning; that’s expected. Meaning, days 3-7, 10, 14, that’s your body shifting over. And you're getting to the point where you're running out of glucose. I’m not surprised that you don’t feel well. It’s totally normal because you're not in a place where your body is adapted to burning ketones for fuel yet. So, you're in that period where your body is trying to adapt.
So, if Kim does want to do this in earnest, and really see if eating keto would feel good, it’s going to take more than 5 days. And I’m not for people doing things that don’t feel good for your body. I don’t want you to fight something that your body is saying isn’t right for you. But there is a transition period when it comes to shifting from burning glucose primarily to burning ketones. And you need to know. In Keto Quick Start, I detail this week by week. I’m like; these are the days you're not going to feel good. These are the weeks you're not going to feel good. And that’s expected.
Now, if you're doing it for 30 days, and after 30 days or 6 weeks you're like; yeah. I’m still in this really bad place. And I’m eating adequate protein. I’m eating a good balance of veggies. I’m not undereating in general. If you're really balancing your place properly, and following the information that I have in my book; then that’s the point at which you can decide that it’s not right for you.
So what I want to emphasize here is; lots of folks in different dietary communities are like; well then do it harder. Right? Paleo harder. Vegan harder. Or you're not doing it right, and all of that. And I think there’s not a super long term time commitment that you need to give something to figure out if it’s working for you or not. I think that five days is not enough time, unfortunately, and five days is going to be the uncomfortable spot.
So, both sides here. You can either say; you know what? I feel pretty good. But she’s saying that she feels like she’s still pretty imbalanced, and she’s trying to see if there’s another way to approach this. I think it’s a decent idea to give it a shot in earnest, but 5 days is never going to be enough. You really do need to give it at least a month if not 6-8 weeks. And follow what’s in Keto Quick Start. Make sure you're not undereating. Undereating is going to be extremely problematic.
And this is the time when, if you're interested in something like exogenous ketones, that first two to three to four weeks is a time that that can be really helpful. Because as your body is running out of stored glucose for fuel, and your body is starting to produce some ketones but not a ton, that’s a time when adding some into the mix can actually be helpful. Because your body is looking for them, and you might not have that many. So that might actually lessen or blunt the impact that you're experiencing of this kind of depression and negative effects of that transition time.
So that’s my take on that. I will recommend Dr. Brighton’s new book, Beyond the Pill, when it comes to hormonal balance and hormonal health. It’s not just about people who were on the pill. It’s really about hormonal balance overall. And I think that it’s something that might be really helpful. But those are kind of both sides of it.
And I do think that if you give it a shot in earnest, remember that it doesn’t have to be the answer for forever. If it gets you feeling better for a while, and then you don’t want to follow it anymore, or it feels unbalanced to you to stay in that place. Or it’s summer and you just want to be eating fruit more often. Just because it works for you to experience some healing doesn’t mean you have to stay there for forever.
So a great example of this is somebody who might be type 2 diabetic, and uses keto to become not diabetic anymore. You know; a year or so into eating keto. If you’ve lost the weight you wanted to lose, and you're not diabetic anymore, there’s not, to me, a strong reason to say, I’ll never eat a few oranges. Like, I just think that when we get to a place where we’ve decided that the thing that helps us get healthier is the thing we want to do for forever. And ignore the fact that there are other ways to balance health. Then we’re just being overly dogmatic. I think often people are afraid to kind of loop back around.
So for me, eating paleo really helped me to get my digestion on track and to help my blood sugar regulation. Keto took it further for me, with blood sugar regulation to the point where I said to Liz before we sat down to record today. I’m pretty hungry, but I know I have a meal waiting for me. And we’re going to spend 2 hours recording, and I’m not going to pass out, and I'm going to be fine. That’s something that over time, eating keto or just lower carb in general has really helped me with. There were years where I would have had to snack while we were doing this, because I just couldn’t have handled it. It’s important to know the difference between learning something and just falling into it and thinking I have to do that for forever.
So, anyway. A couple of sides to that for Kim. I think it’s probably worth it to give it a real shot. And I think it’s also important to know yourself and know that if about 5 days in you might not feel great, plan your life around that a little bit, if you can. Let that day hit on the weekend, you know, when you can be home and take a nap and not be a Monday at work when you're trying to be the most productive, whatever it is. And just kind of know that about yourself.
So, that’s my take. And look; if you're like, you know what? I’m not sure I want to get through that potentially really uncomfortable low mood time frame if I don’t know how long it’s going to last beyond 5 days, and it feels really uncertain and scary. Then don’t do it. And I think there are other ways to look for different solutions.
Liz Wolfe: Ok. You know I’m not a keto expert at all, so I just stay away from that entirely. But I wanted to throw in just one or two things. First of all, I think anxiety and libido kind of go hand in hand. So if you are dealing with anxiety, I don’t think it’s totally unheard of to have a low libido as a result, regardless of what your hormones are. Because I do think, while hormones really govern libido in a lot of ways, your ability to even wrap your head around, you know, having some action in your day is entirely a factor, as well. That’s something that I think a counselor or a therapist can be really, really helpful with. When you find the right one.
The other thing is, we don’t know Kim’s age, or where she’s at in life. Shrinking breast tissue, depending on where you are postpartum, or post nursing, can be totally normal. Or it could be something that’s not normal. So I think another thing to note is we don’t know what hormone testing she did. So depending on what kind of hormone testing you take on, you can get a better picture of what’s really going on. I think both Diane and myself like the DUTCH test. It’s a little bit expensive, but it gives you a picture of your hormones throughout your entire cycle. Which is more helpful than, I think, just testing them on one particular day or cluster of days. So I think that could be really helpful.
And also, this naturopath that you're working with maybe would be able to work with some hormone tests or work on addressing some of these things. Maybe they could look at the balance between hormones, because your hormones can show up in range. But you have to also look at them relative to each other. That can be really helpful, as well.
When I got my DUTCH tests back, I actually talked to Dr. Becky Campbell, who has been on the show before. And had her kind of read some of my results, and she made some recommendations for me. So that was really helpful. So I think really at this point it would probably be a good thing to work one on one with somebody who can look at hormones. Who can maybe even look at gut bacteria balance to see what might be going on and what might be, I don’t know, inducing some of these depressive symptoms.
Oddly enough; and this probably has nothing to do with this whatsoever. But, I think oftentimes our gut bacteria and our gut health can really impact how we feel mentally. And my example of that happening is months ago, when I was put on a round of penicillin; long story. But I chose to go ahead and do the penicillin. Within a few days of being on the penicillin, I started having really, really odd symptoms. Feeling very spacy. Feeling very like life was not real life. I was having a really strong preoccupation with thoughts of death. And I just could not figure out what was going on.
And I Googled some of the “uncommon side effects” of penicillin, and one of them actually was preoccupation with thoughts of death. Just really, really strange. And it was just a really strong example to me of how the different things that you're doing, whether that’s food or medication or whatever it is; impact your gut flora and your gut health and can definitely cause psychological symptoms.
So, not saying that eating keto is like being on penicillin. Not making that comparison whatsoever. But anytime you change the food you're eating, you can definitely manipulate your gut flora. You can rebuild that. You can make it healthy again. You can compensate for that. But I think it takes an aware and targeted approach. Which is basically what Diane is talking about.
4. Keto and rosacea [25:56]
Liz Wolfe: Ok. Next up, we have a question on keto and rosacea. And this is addressed to you, Diane, but I will read it anyway. “Hi Diane. I absolutely love, love, love your podcasts. They’re so motivating and help me keep myself on track with my healthy eating. I’ve been on keto for 8 months, and around 9-12 months I switched over to paleo keto. I initially started my journey because I was suffering from IBS, which is now gone. Yay. I found that strict keto was too limiting and harming my health. I lost half my head of hair, felt weak, wasn’t eating enough, etc. I’m still trying to find ways to get my hair back.
Since switching over to keto paleo and upping my carbs to 60 net grams per day, I have developed rosacea. My skin is going crazy, and tends to burn and itch and become inflamed with red bumps and pustules easily. My nose has become very oily all of a sudden. I never had this issue when I was on the Standard American Diet. Any tips or suggestions or reasons as to why this is happening? Can keto paleo cause autoimmune issues? Can eating saturated fat cause oily skin? I feel like I’ve been eating the healthiest that I’ve ever been eating my whole life. Eating lots of veggies and salad. I’m not crazy about eating high fat, as it causes gastrointestinal issues for me. I’ve eliminated dairy and eggs, which is so hard, for the last three months. I’m having more cheat days, sugar, chocolate, croissants, when my body feels like it. But nothing crazy where I binge eat.
On a side note, my labs are normal. But iron is 29, which is low. Do you have any recommendations as to what to use on my face in terms of moisturizers, sunscreens, face washes, as I’ve developed anxiety about being in the sun and putting anything on my face? Thank you.”
This is a lot of stuff going on.
Diane Sanfilippo: Do you want to talk about this from the skin side of things first?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah, I can do that. So somewhat in line with what I talked about with the previous question; often times, there are a lot of different theories about rosacea and what causes it. I think some of them are less possible and have kind of been discarded over time. One of them is that it is caused by some kind of microorganism on the skin. I don’t know. I really just don’t know. But I definitely know that when I speak to people with rosacea, they are almost always also dealing with gut or digestive issues.
So my hunch; my feeling, and I think a lot of practitioners would agree with me, is there is something going on there. And when you switch food a lot, when you, for example, was talking about strict keto. We don’t know what that means. Oftentimes when anybody switches from one dietary plan to another, there is that potential to undereat. We’ve talked about; hey, I switch to paleo so now I only eat chicken, broccoli, and coconut oil. You know? So people end up switching and they end up massively undereating and under nourishing themselves. In which case things like losing hair, feeling weak, and knowing you're not eating enough; those things happen. And a lot of times, you have to do a little bit of extra work to come back from that.
So, I would definitely look at gut health, potentially some stool testing to see how your gut bacteria is doing what it looks like. What you may or may not be lacking, or what might be taking up a little bit too much space. That could be helpful.
Topically; any time you're dealing with a ton of oil. And I think that she’s saying she has oily skin. I think one of the easiest and most basic things that you can try using that really; it’s very simple, but what’s good about that is you're not introducing a bunch of new, random ingredients where you're not going to know what you're reacting to. So one of my favorite things to do for oily skin is to just order a straight up vial of green tea extract, standardized for EGCG. You can go to skinactives.com and just order that; it’s like 5 bucks.
And basically, you can take that at point of use; don’t mix it all up. Because any time you mix something with water, you're going to need a preservative introduced to the whole thing and you just don’t want to deal with that. So basically, what you would do is just tap a little bit of that powdered green tea extract in the morning into your palm, add a couple of drops of water, and basically pat it onto your face. It’s very rare that this causes any kind of reaction, but always, any time you're introducing anything new on your skin. Especially if you have sensitive or frustrating skin, you want to spot test. And you want to probably spot test a couple of days in a row. So pick a couple of spots; maybe like; I’m pointing. Not that anybody can see me. But a long your jaw. And then maybe just a spot on your cheek or somewhere on your face to make sure it’s not going to bother your skin.
But doing that for a couple of weeks can really help balance oil production at the surface of the skin. It’s really great for people that deal with acne, with oily skin. That’s one of my favorite tips. And again, you can use green tea based products, but then you're also introducing a ton of other ingredients that the manufacturer has put in to enhance the feel of the product on your skin, or to preserve it or whatever. So I really like just using that one active and using it in that way.
So that could be helpful. I’ve had a couple of clients and friends say that that specifically helped their rosacea, as well. So that’s really interesting; green tea as an antioxidant, so that could have something to do with it. And that’s probably where I would start.
As far as can eating saturated fat cause oily skin? I think any dietary change can probably change how your skin looks and feels. I can’t think of any actual direct mechanism by which eating saturated fat would cause oily skin. So the best I can do is kind of shrug on that one.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. Just a few things I was going to say about what’s going on with her nutrition, and kind of to your point. We don’t know exactly where in her system the trigger for the rosacea or the oily skin is happening. So just kind of keeping this in mind. She mentioned that she eliminated eggs recently. And interestingly, I feel like depending on how many eggs you were eating before, if you eliminated them. Same thing with the dairy. I don’t know what the positive effects are for you on that. So, did eliminating dairy show you positive effects or not? Did eliminating the eggs show positive effects or not?
Because the nutrition that you're getting from both dairy and eggs is rich. And not that easy to find in a lot of other sources. So getting choline, getting vitamin A, getting lecithin from your egg yolks. All of those nutrients are amazing, and not that abundant in other places. Same thing with dairy, getting some calcium, getting some fat soluble vitamins. That stuff is not that easy to find in other sources of nutrition. So I would just say; unless you know you can’t have any dairy whatsoever, I would try and reintroduce some of it. Especially something like goat and sheep dairy. If you don’t do well with cow, you may do better or do totally fine with goat and sheep. That’s something that I’ve found for myself and it’s been such a relief to add that stuff back to my life. And again, remember that eggs carry a lot of nutrition that we are really not finding in other sources. So I want to see what happens you bring those back.
Now, the other side, in terms of digesting what you are eating, a couple of notes. We’ve talked about digestive enzymes a ton on this podcast. I really like the; you know I found these Whole Foods 365 digestive enzymes. They are a tablet versus a capsule. So you want to take them mid-meal. But they don’t have that plastic capsule around them. They’re just kind of straight up; I feel like they are fasting acting than enzymes that come in a capsule because your body doesn’t need to digest that capsule first. You're just getting immediately to those active ingredients. But the Whole Foods 365 brand digestive enzymes; that might help you.
Also looking at if you are eating tons of salad and raw veggies, maybe switching over to some more cooked veggies. Things that are a little bit easier to digest. Just things you can change up to see how your digestion responds. All of that could be really helpful. But I would start with what happens when you do have eggs. What happens when you do have goat and/or sheep dairy. And then starting with the enzymes.
And another thing about the enzymes is, the ones that I’m recommending are just enzymes. You may find that a little bit of ox bile is; I don’t think these have ox bile. They definitely don’t have hydrochloric acid in them, because I find that to be a bit too strong for me. But they may have ox bile in them, I forget. Which will help you to emulsify fats, as well.
So again, those are all things that if it is the higher fat that you're eating, this will help with all of that and help your digestion break it down a little bit better. Because it’s not necessarily; like you said Liz. It’s not like I eat saturated fat and there’s a mechanism by which that yields oil production on my face directly. There’s just a lot of different balances or imbalances that could be happening, especially with the gut flora and an immune response to that that might yield a result on your skin. So we just want to see if we can figure out how to balance that.
When it comes to products for your face, too, shoot us an email because Liz or myself can definitely help you beyond also what she recommended for the green tea extract. We can see if there’s something that can help along with it. Send Liz the email {laughs}. But we can see if we can help you with some other specifics.
Diane Sanfilippo: Today’s podcast is sponsored by Perfect Keto. Dr. Anthony Gustin and his teams have created a line of supplements that are super clean and effective, no matter what your dietary needs. I’ve been blending their MCT oil powder into my matcha latte lately. Not only are MCTs; medium chain triglycerides; a premium source of your body’s preferred type of energy, and help to fuel your brain and body, but there’s also no added taste. It makes your coffee or matcha wonderfully creamy. Check them out at PerfectKeto.com and use the code BALANCED for 20% off at Perfect Keto; and their sister site, Equip Foods.
5. Beyond the Balanced Bites podcast [36:28]
Liz Wolfe: Alright. Let’s talk about beyond the Balanced Bites podcast. How we suggest you keep up with us.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: First of all, all of the episodes of the Balanced Bites podcast are saved and organized on www.blog.balancedbites.com by topic. And you can always just go back in your podcast player and pick an episode and just relisten to that one. We’ve got enough episodes, you’ve probably forgotten the content for most of them, so a review can never hurt. And of course, our books. My book, Eat the Yolks. And Diane’s 50-billion books. And by the time this podcast airs, she’ll probably be working on another one.
Diane Sanfilippo: No.
Liz Wolfe: Even though she swears up and down she’s not going to.
Diane Sanfilippo: I’m not. I will not. The Master Class; I think that’s probably the best place if you have not yet taken the Master Class; especially if you're somebody who is considering a nutrition certification. What we’ve heard from our students over and over again is that heading into a nutrition certification after taking the Master Class puts you leaps and bounds above everybody who is coming in to your nutrition program. You're just going to know so much more, and have so much better context for what you're going to learn that’s going to expand on what we’re teaching. And actually, there are some topics that we probably expand on more than you’ll learn in some certifications that you’ll take.
But what I think is cook about that is that you get to go into a nutrition certification as not as much of a blank slate. So everything that you learn, you have more context for it, and you're able to ask better questions as you're in your additional coursework. So our course for students is $497, so it’s $500. For that 500 bucks you're basically; it’s almost like you know how in high school you could take AP classes and you kind of get ahead going into college. It’s kind of like that. It’s kind of like AP classes for heading into any nutrition certification.
The other thing it does is it gives you a way to connect with other people and have community. So I know we have the Facebook group for this podcast; which will convert into a Facebook group for Driven. But there’s a separate Facebook group for those of you who are going through and have gone through as alumni the Master Class. And if you want to talk to each other, get recommendations, and be able to stay connected around health issues, I think that’s a really good way to do that. Because having that community is so powerful and uplifting.
And then of course, again I mentioned the Facebook group. We’ll be converting that to a group for Driven. And then there will also be the Balanced Bites podcast Instagram is going to convert into a podcast account for Driven, as well. So those of you who have been following along this whole time, you’ll be able to see what we’re talking about and get some flashbacks to some past episodes of the Balanced Bites podcast.
Liz Wolfe: And also, remember in next weeks’ episode, 398, we’re going to share some of our favorite health minded podcasts; not Balanced Bites podcast podcasts for you to follow. So tune in for sure.
Alright, well that’s it for this week friends. You can find me, Liz, at http://realfoodliz.com/ and you can find 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. And of course, that will help you keep up with us when you are moving on in the world. While you’re on the internet, leave us an iTunes review. See you next week.