- It's once again time to get gutsy with Liz Hall
and her expert guests on the Gutsy Babe Podcast.
- I'm your host, Liz Hall,
and welcome to this episode of the Gutsy Babe Podcast.
Today we'll be talking about natural ways to treat GI issues
with my special guest naturopathic physician
Dr. Brian Myers.
As a clinician, Dr. Myers is a compassionate listener
who seeks to understand each person's unique experience
and health story.
His main goal is to teach
and empower his patients
to understand the factors impacting their health
and longevity goals.
Dr. Myers has an enthusiasm
for staying up on the most current
research and technologies.
He uses the best conventional naturopathic
and functional medicine to resolve underlying problems.
He loves working together with his patients
to resolve disease and improve longevity.
His mission as a doctor is
to promote a balanced path towards optimal
health and longevity.
Dr. Myers, welcome to the Gutsy Babe
Podcast. - ,
thank you so much for having me.
- Oh, I'm super excited about this.
I have so many questions to ask. Are you ready?
- I sure am. Awesome.
- Let's get going here.
What is a naturopathic physician
and how do you differ from an md?
- So we're primary care doctors.
Um, we're licensed in several states throughout the country,
and, uh, we, uh,
complete four year accredited medical school degrees.
Mm-Hmm. , and then we practice
as outpatient primary care doctors.
Um, I think the big ways
that we differ from a conventional medical doctor is
that we really, um, try to understand the root cause
of pathology and address that while also trying
to optimize for longevity.
And I think those things, um,
make us a little bit unique in our practices.
- Oh, interesting. So how did you get involved
with naturopathic medicine?
- So, I, um, after undergrad I ended up, uh,
teaching at a school on a reservation in rural
Montana for a number of years.
And, uh, through that I felt compelled to go back to school
and study medicine and was pretty convinced at that time
that I wanted to be in primary care.
And, uh, ended up coming into contact
with an undergrad friend of mine
who had completed her naturopathic doctorate degree
and said, well, if you want to be in primary care,
you at least ought to consider naturopathic medicine.
So I looked into it and applied, uh, along
with some medical schools
and ended up in Portland at the National
University of National Medicine.
So, yeah, I mean, it was a little unexpected,
but when feeling resounded that I wanted
to be in primary care, it seemed logical
to be in a profession
where I was expanding my primary care tool belt more
so than I was learning highly specialized fields that
for me personally, I didn't have the same
level of interest in.
- That. Makes sense. - Yeah.
So I'm happy with my knowledge base now
and my, my treatment strategies as a result.
- I personally know you are very
knowledgeable in your field.
You practice something called functional medicine.
What is it and how does it differ from mainstream medicine?
- Functional medicine is a systems-based approach
to addressing the underlying cause of disease.
And I think that's part
and parcel with un with naturopathic medicine.
That's, uh, one of, you know, our philosophical tes is
to understand the root cause and to address that.
And so as I learned more
and more about functional medicine, I just think, gosh,
this is, this is the foundation of the medicine
that I learned in, in my medical school, similar in, in,
in a lot of ways to how I practice.
- Oh, you see a lot of, of patients with GI issues.
What are some of the GI health challenges you commonly
treat in your practice?
- I think the big things that come to mind are infections
and, uh, like leaky gut food intolerance,
inflammatory issues beyond those two.
I think about nutrition impacting microbiome and motility.
So those are kind of the big things
that I see impacting gut health,
and that can manifest in a lot
of different ways from one person to the next.
- Do you think hormonal issues come into factor
as well into your gut?
- Absolutely. 100% they do. Yeah.
I mean, those are important, uh, signals
for all facets to our body.
And so if, if there's hormonal imbalance
or if there's hormonal tissue
or that's, um, in different locations,
that can certainly give way to motility or,
or GI symptoms altering the microbiome increasing likelihood
for infection a hundred percent, um, integral.
- Yeah, that's, I truly feel
that's always been a lot of my girlfriends.
Just last night I was talking to a girlfriend of mine
and she was complaining of her GI issues,
and I mentioned it to her personal, I'm like,
you should check your hormones out .
You should go to Dr. Myers .
- You're exactly right. And some people might notice then
that they have like a shift in those symptoms
with the same periodicity as their cycle.
You know, as they're coming onto their cycle,
they might feel more constipated
or have an increase in like more GI distress or,
or as they're leaving it.
And so, yeah, those are certainly things to be mindful of.
And and part of what we do is try to figure out what
that underlying cause is.
Yeah. If there's an endocrine component as well. Absolutely.
- Right. For me personally, I know
that when I was on my cycle, I'd get diarrhea mm-Hmm. .
But on my regular, when I wasn't on my cycle,
I would be constipated.
This is earlier on, on in my early days prior
to being diagnosed with my endometriosis to figure out
that that was my root cause.
- Yeah. Fascinating.
- So for each of those disorders,
how do your treatments differ from mainstream approaches
and why do you feel your approach is superior?
- Uh, well, um, not always superior.
Sometimes they can be variable,
but I mean, uh, so let's just kind of take those,
um, off the list.
So with infections, I think, um, it, it varies.
Uh, I think antifungals, um, don't have quite as many, uh,
unsavory side effects,
but the, uh,
herbal antifungals I have really great success with.
Um, with the bacterial infections,
I think we're pretty clearly establishing
that there can be a lot of downstream unsavory side effects
to antibiotic use either in the short term or the long term.
And so in that, those instances,
I've found herbal approaches to be more gentle
and less, uh, detrimental to the overall microbiome.
And so in those instances, I tend to prefer them.
Um, and I have had really great success with my herbals for,
uh, a NP for, for treating parasites as well.
So I feel real comfortable with those as well.
Um, and then the other things, it's a lot
of times it's about addressing nutrition, you know,
protein plants and fat primarily as, uh, effective agents
for motility and also improving the microbiome.
And then I think beyond that,
the conventional medical model only allows for certain types
of allergic responses, particularly IgE
or anaphylactic reactions.
And it can be variable whether you'll get a practitioner
who's willing to entertain the idea of IgG or IGA reactions.
And those are different parts of one's immune system,
but can certainly manifest with, uh,
delayed inflammatory responses.
And, and those are things
that can sometimes be misunderstood
or misidentified in conventional medicine,
whereas we can find really effective strategies
for addressing those things.
And, and, uh,
and moving forward for treating leaky gut as it were.
- Right. What are your thoughts about the roles that food
and supplements should play in treatment?
- Yeah, I mean, I think the most important thing
to remember is food is medicine, right?
Like, this is what we're providing to our body at all times,
primarily as an opportunity for our selves
to utilize that, right?
To make us a better person, to make us the next self,
to re-energize us, to, um, repair
and regenerate all of the cellular tissue.
And so we need to be mindful of that when we eat,
it's not a burden or a chore,
but it also should be with a little bit of strategy
because we're trying to like replenish this human body
and we can't just do
that without a little bit of care and respect.
And so I think that's the first
and most important thing
to remember is that food is medicine.
And then after that, like I find supplements
to be very effective when we're trying
to optimize nutrition, sleep, physical activity,
and stress management.
But I really try to stress
that those things are paramount to optimizing health.
And so we need to be addressing those pillars of health,
and we look at labs, we marry that with how
somebody's experiencing this world,
and we try to make strategic supplemental interventions
for the short and perhaps long term to again,
optimize for health and longevity.
So, or remove disease,
- You're right, food is medicine
and that's why you always tell me to cut the sugar .
Yeah.
- But it's so delicious, so delicious.
- . It's, so what tips do you have
for consumers when it comes
to purchasing more effective supplements?
- Seek a professional, definitely find somebody who's
knowledge and comfortable and understands
and marry that, like I said, with your experience.
Like, are they effective for you?
Are they clinically effective on lab work?
Um, those things would be valuable
to take into consideration.
Uh, beyond that, um, take a more active role in your health.
Like, this is your price of admission to life, to this ride.
This is what you have to live in and to be with.
And so I try to optimize it to the degree that you can so
that you can live longer, better, faster, more enjoyably.
- Yeah. So one of the supplements that you have recommended
that I've been on now for several years is
the DIM supplement.
And that has really, really,
truly has changed my life when it comes to my hormones.
Um, I used to call 'em like my old lady aches and pains.
Um, it literally takes those old lady aches and pains away .
Yeah. So I thank you for that.
And what was crucial regarding the dim is I had
to increase the amount
and you were the one that told me to increase the amount
to help me because even though it says like, take one
or two, I have to take four,
because your body, you know, uh,
absorbs it differently, so Right.
Or it just, that's what I need. Well, we,
- Yeah, we have the opportunity with certain labs like, uh,
Dutch test for example, where we can look at some
of those estrogen elimination pathways
and see if we've found a therapeutic dose yet or not.
So, you know, that can be really helpful for understanding
how that medicine is impacting you.
And the other thing is, yeah, we're trying to find
that therapeutic dose and in that, but also do it safely.
And that's again, where we need to circle back
to the previous question of like,
how do you find effective supplements?
Seek a practitioners
so you're not taking an unsafe amount Yeah.
That you're finding the right dose.
- No, it's so true. Um,
- I that might vary also with time too,
with you and anybody else.
- Yeah. Our bodies are constantly changing.
What are some of the worst and best foods for GI health?
- Let's start with the worst. Uh, sugar.
Sugar by another name. Alcohol.
That's, that's, that's about it.
Uh, what are the best protein plants and fats?
I think, um, if I could just say a little bit more about
that, I would just quote Michael Pollen
and he said, eat food mostly plants, not a lot, lot.
And I think that that really resonates if you just take
a moment and think about that.
And then also are mindful that at your meals, you're able
to easily identify, these are my protein plant fat sources.
Those are the things I think that are really
optimal for GI health.
- Okay. Can I ask you, is is popcorn good for you or
bad ? - ?
It depends. I mean, I mean, um, some popcorn I'm, uh, .
I, I think it's hard to argue is popcorn good for you?
Uh, but I don't think that it's horrible.
And, and I think that there's a lot
of variability from one person to the next.
It might be fun to wear a continuous glucose monitor
and see how some amount of popcorn affects your blood sugar
and from one person to the next.
The magnitude and duration of that would help understand
how bad that popcorn is for somebody.
But I mean, it's delicious ,
um, probably not a bag.
- Also. What about oatmeal? I feel that it's controversial.
So they say oatmeal is good for you,
but yet sometimes I've also read that it's not,
so can you share some light on that?
- Yeah. Um, I think just jumping back to
what I'd said about wearing a CGM,
it's probably not great for your blood sugar.
And there are certainly things that you could do
or one could do to kind of hack that maybe
by adding some more protein
or, uh, healthy fat to the, that, um, oatmeal to kind
of buffer the blood sugar dysfunction
you might otherwise have.
Um, beyond that, I mean,
it's a pretty well tolerated food when
people aren't feeling well.
And so from that standpoint, it's, it's not horrible .
It tastes great. It's really, uh, it's really,
uh, a nice comfort food.
- It's true. So how would you add a protein to your oatmeal?
- Oatmeal? Well, you could add eggs.
Some people would add like a nut butter.
- Oh, a nut butter. Okay.
So we hear a lot about probiotics and prebiotics.
Well, can you explain what they
are and what the differences?
- Sure. So, uh, prebiotics are kind
of like the fertilizer
or the substrate that creates the, uh, foundation for
the microbiome that inhabits our gut.
And the probiotics would be those types
of beneficial bacteria.
And so some examples of prebiotic foods would be like onions
and garlic and asparagus and artichokes, bananas, apples
and leeks and probiotic foods that we kind
of commonly eat would be our fermented foods.
So like sauerkraut, kefi, kimchi, kombucha, uh,
Tempe yogurt, those sorts of things.
- You recommend people to take a prebiotic
and a probiotic daily, or does it depend?
- Yeah, I mean, it certainly could be beneficial
to take those things regularly.
There are lab tests that are helpful for evaluating whether
that's how urgent
or imperative that might be from one person to the next.
And then I think the other thing is with, uh,
like a general intention of improving microbial diversity,
rotating probiotics seems to be, um, an effective strategy
and also improving the range of plants
that you're eating is an effective strategy for improving
or optimizing your prebiotic foundation, as it were.
- Let's say, I just wanted to do one or the other, not both.
Would you recommend a prebiotic or a probiotic?
- I would say eat nutritious foods and have a probiotic.
- Okay. So if a person could only make three lifestyle
changes to promote optimal GI health,
what would you recommend?
- Refine your nutrition,
and that includes what we've talked about,
and also making sure that you're well hydrated.
On top of that, I would say make sure
that you're optimizing for sleep.
I think that sleep can oftentimes be overlooked,
but is an important part of our overall wellbeing
and our GI motility.
And so that's something that, um,
and I mean our longevity as well.
And so I, I think that those, if if we,
if we're just picking three, I'm picking those two.
And then I'm gonna also say, uh, aim for regular consistent.
Well-formed bowel movements,
and if you're not experiencing that, then seek help.
- Yeah. All right, Dr. Myers, so how can people reach you
and find out about you?
- I'm available at Walnut Creek Naturopathic.
That's in Walnut Creek, California.
Um, our web clinic website is Walnut Creek Naturopathic,
and the phone number is (925) 939-0300.
- And just a note, just because your office is in Walnut
Creek, California does not mean
that anywhere anyone can't reach out to you
because you do Zoom meetings, right? Virtual.
- That's right, that's right.
I'm available across California, uh, via telemedicine
for first and follow appointments as well. Absolutely.
- Amazing. Great.
Well, thank you so much Dr. Myers for joining us today.
It's been a true honor and such a pleasure having you here.
- You're very welcome. It's been my pleasure.
I've had a wonderful time. Thank you so much.
- Well, that's it for this episode, so don't forget
to hit the subscribe button for more gutsy babe content.
See you next week on another installment
of The Gutsy Babe podcast.
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