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(0:00) Introduction to proactive healthcare with Dr. Alessi (1:18) Sponsor: Exclusive offer for listeners (2:25) Empowering proactive health and listener feedback (3:49) The shift from reactive to proactive medicine (6:47) Functional medicine, health span, and proactive care examples (11:10) Understanding comprehensive lab work for better health (13:41) Blood sugar, hormones, inflammation, and gut health markers (19:29) Nutrient testing and functional reference ranges (22:48) Personalized health protocols for root cause resolution (23:15) Sponsor: Authentic Nutrition (24:25) Personalized care plans from lab results (25:51) Phased healing approach and patient empowerment (30:43) Integrating lifestyle medicine, nutrition, and patient habits (34:26) Nervous system and movement prescriptions for health (39:38) Optimizing sleep through circadian rhythm (42:29) Final takeaways on the proactive health approach (43:31) Learn more about the Total Care program (44:04) Conclusion and next steps for listeners00:00:00
That's the truth that most people overlook at the end of the day.
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And we could have run all the fancy labs and prescribe all the targeted nutraceuticals and
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give you the most customized plan on earth.
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But if your day to day lifestyle is a just just a complete dumpster fire, none of that at the
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end of the day matters.
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Welcome to Health Decode, your number one source for real health information with your
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host, doctor Alessi and Matt Tack.
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Hey, Health Decoded listeners.
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Doctor Alece here.
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Let me ask you a serious question.
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Are you tired of waiting until something goes wrong to finally see a doctor?
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At Alece Functional Health, we take a different approach, the right approach.
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We believe true health care isn't about chasing symptoms.
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It's about preventing them in the first place.
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That's why we created the Allesi Total Care Program.
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This is a functional medicine based membership that gives you proactive, personalized care
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year round.
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You'll get access to comprehensive blood work and functional testing, custom doctor grade
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nutraceuticals, deep discounts on labs, protocols, and follow ups, as well as twenty
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four seven direct access to your doctor, not just a 10 checkup that ends with another
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prescription.
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And here's the best part.
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As a Health Decoded listener, you'll get your first three months completely free when you
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sign up for an annual membership.
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That's on top of hundreds in savings already built into the program.
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This is your chance to take responsibility for your health and join a movement that's
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redefining what primary care should look like.
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Head on over to alessifunctionalhealth.com, click on our services tab, and go to Total
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Care.
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Learn more about this program and claim your exclusive podcast listener offer.
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Your health is your greatest asset.
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Let's protect it proactively.
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Welcome back to another episode of Health Decoded.
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I am your host, doctor Alessi.
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And your cohost, Matt Tack.
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Matt Tack.
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Good to see you, my guy.
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It's always good to do these, man.
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Good to see you.
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Yeah, man.
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Excited about today's episode.
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How you been?
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What's new?
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What's new, man?
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It's always it's always something new.
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Too many things, I think.
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Right?
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Too many things.
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Too many things.
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We're always on working on something.
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But one really cool thing that's, going on right now is our challenge.
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We got a lot
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of Yeah.
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In the game, and, they've been doing really well.
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And so we're just excited to see that feedback, of how, like, utilization of what people are
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utilizing.
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And so that's been that's been something that's immediate on the radar over the past couple
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weeks that we've been really investing into some people throughout this challenge.
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Yeah.
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You did an awesome job with the app and really building out the whole kind of program there,
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man.
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I I I'm going through it too.
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And I'll be honest, I have not been as good about like taking pictures and logging the
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meals and stuff.
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I'm more on the on the fitness tracking side, but the accountability is good.
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Getting the message from you.
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And I'm like, oh, man.
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I've I've messed up there.
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So yeah.
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It's awesome, man.
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Well, good stuff.
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Well, excited for today.
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This episode is something we were talking about wanting to do because it's gonna really kind of
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highlight the purpose of everything we're doing within our clinics and within the mission.
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Right?
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Like if we talk about like what's the the broad mission of why we're doing this?
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Why are we doing this podcast?
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It's to empower, right?
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To give people, listeners, patients, whoever, an understanding that ultimately, you have to
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be your doctor.
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Like, yeah, I'm a doctor and I can help you.
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And there's other doctors out there, but like we can't do it for you and we can't want it
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more than you want it, right?
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And so like empowering people to like, take that responsibility, take action, and set
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themselves up for like long term health.
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So we really want to pull back the curtain on one of the biggest problems in healthcare
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today.
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And that's the concept that it's reactive, not proactive.
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So, real quick, let me paint a picture, right?
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You walk into your doctor's office, you have fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, maybe you have
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high blood pressure.
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And what do you get?
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You're going to get some pills when you leave maybe two, maybe five, right?
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That's very reactive.
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They wait until something happens until the fire is basically full blown before they do
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anything.
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Yeah, exactly.
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The system isn't really good at crisis management, right?
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But terrible at the prevention side of things.
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And you don't get support until there's a diagnosis code, until something breaks hard
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enough and fit into a billing category, right?
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Yeah.
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So, but functional medicine flips that script on what we're focusing on.
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We don't wait until the engine seizes up.
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We check the oil and make sure we're operating.
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Right?
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We look at the patterns in your labs, your lifestyle and your symptoms, and even your
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stress levels.
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We're asking where is the dysfunction starting?
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And how can we stop it from becoming the disease, that proactive element?
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So a few things we want to touch on here, the difference between proactive and reactive based
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medicine.
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So you have your conventional approach, or your reactive medicine, which is based on acute and
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acute care model, designed for emergencies, trauma, infection, surgeries, all those things,
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right?
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Focuses on symptoms, symptom suppression and diagnosing coding.
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So very reactive approach.
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So, uses standard labs with a wide reference ranges, offering missing early dysfunction.
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And honestly, what you see a lot of times is that you might be measured getting measured
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somebody against that 60 years old, you might be a 30, 30 five year old human, right?
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So the algorithm isn't associated to the demographic that you need to see.
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So it's very reactive disease care, not healthcare.
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Yeah.
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And I always say, if you get hit by a bus and you go to the ER, but if you're slowly
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developing pre diabetes, autoimmune issues, excuse me, or burnout, that same system won't
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help until it's too late and the interventions they use often make the issue worse, right?
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So let's dive into a little bit more.
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Functional or proactive medicine looks at the pattern recognition or the root cause
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resolution.
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So this focuses on prevention, early prevention at that, and systems biology, looking at why
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things are happening, not just the what in the acute topical surface.
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We look at the root cause, use advanced testing in narrow optimal lab ranges, meaning you are
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going to be measured in the age range that you need to be measured at, right?
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So consider environment, lifestyles, genetics, and stress as part of the equation.
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And we're not just about treating like the high blood pressure side of things.
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We're asking if blood sugar, is it inflammation?
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Is it the blood sugar?
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Is it poor sleep?
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Is it high cortisol?
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That's the proactive and it's completely personalized to you.
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So here's a real world example and something that we've seen.
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So we had a patient in his 30s labs for his, primary care said everything was completely
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normal.
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But we ran a functional panel, his fasting insulin was 17.
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His cortisol was high in the morning and flatlined by the afternoon.
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So what did Doctor.
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Alessi do?
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He was able to catch the metabolic dysfunction and the HPA access burnout before he ever
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developed diabetes or what we call adrenal fatigue.
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So now here's the proactive care works for the long term, right?
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That's what we're always thinking of is long term, like something that you're doing today
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will impact you thirty, forty years down the road.
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Chronic disease is the leading cause of death globally and mostly preventable at the end of
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the day.
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So proactive care reduces healthcare cost, improves energy, quality of life, and
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potentially your overall lifespan.
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Although we tend to focus on health span versus lifespan, right?
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The quality of your years, no matter how many years you actually get out, right?
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So health span over lifespan is always what we focus on.
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So patients become empowered and informed participants in their own health.
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That's why we do this podcast, is to drive you value, and so that you can take ownership of
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your own health.
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So here's a relevant study that we wanted to bring in from the Journal of Prevention
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Medicine in 2021.
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So preventative personal care personalized care models reduce the burden of chronic disease and
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improve a quality adjusted life years.
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That's what we're talking about, that health span over lifespan.
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So quality adjusted life years.
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The truth is most people don't know how good they can feel.
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They just live in pain because they never had anyone look at their health from a proactive
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lens.
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And that's the goal of this Alessi Total Care, right, is to give people that edge, that
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clarity, and that energy back.
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So when you're proactive, you don't just avoid the disease.
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You thrive from being a human.
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And once you've experienced that, you never go back.
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So let's stop waiting for the fire.
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Let's start building a fireproof life, through proactive medicine, the proper supplementation
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of blood work and getting that data back.
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So now we want to talk about how we do that and the model we've created for that level of
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sustainability.
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Yeah, that's such a good point.
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And basically everything you touched on, I love the the fireproof life thing, right?
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It's like, don't wait for a fire.
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Prevent the fire.
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Right?
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Like, oh, like, we've got all these extinguishers.
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We have all these measures to put out the fire when it happens.
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It's like, how about we just never let there be a fire?
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Right?
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That's a that sounds better to me.
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Yeah.
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Because the damage that comes from that obviously can, you know, be sometimes very long
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lasting as well.
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So, you know, let's get into let's get into some details as we always do talk about how we
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do this.
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And then at the end, you know, we'll have a I want you to kind of get more into the
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implementation side and what people can do.
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So, you know, one thing we hear all the time in the clinic is, oh, my doctor ran blood work and
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they said I'm fine.
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Now, but then the patient meanwhile is exhausted.
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They can't lose weight.
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They feel like they can't form thoughts.
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They have mood swings.
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They can't sleep, gut issues, whatever.
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They know something's wrong.
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They're not stupid.
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They have this intuition.
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They've just been dismissed because the doctor's looking at a piece of paper with
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numbers, not the patient.
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Right?
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And so, here's the truth.
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In conventional medicine, standard lab work is just scratching the surface.
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It's not deep enough, and we've discussed this before, but most doctors are going to run like
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a basic metabolic panel.
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They're going to run a blood count, And then maybe if they're generous, they'll run like a
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thyroid stimulating hormone test, right?
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But it's not enough.
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You need to go deeper because you're just scratching the surface with those tests, and
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they don't paint you enough of a picture.
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It's like a snapshot, not the whole movie, right?
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So, let's talk about what we do in our office.
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And this is a part of the program we've created called Alessi Total Care, where we're going to
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use comprehensive functional lab panels that are going to catch dysfunction before it
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becomes disease.
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So, we're not just chasing symptoms.
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Obviously, symptoms are a good tell for us as where to focus, but we're trying to decode the
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early signs that your body is giving off that something's going wrong.
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So, let's just go through some of the core categories and kind of what we have built in as
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almost like a staple to look for.
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And when you touch each one of these bases, you're basically getting a global picture of
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health.
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And then you can pinpoint, okay, it's low here.
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This is high.
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Now, start to, you know, pull some strings, right?
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We're all about that pulling levers thing.
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So, number one is definitely a complete thyroid panel.
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So, most doctors are just going to run TSH, and then maybe T4 and T3.
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It's, it's, I like saying this because it's like, that's like judging the football team by
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the kicker, Right?
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You're like, you're like one guy.
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Right?
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You can't make a decision based on that.
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So we look at TSH, free t three, free t four, reverse t three, and then always, I wanna look
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at TPO and TG antibodies.
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These are going to tell me if there's any autoimmune thyroid dysfunction like
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Hashimoto's.
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Now, why?
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Why do we do that?
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Because you can have a normal TSH and still have a terrible conversion of T four to T
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three, which is the active hormone.
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Or, you could completely miss an autoimmune thing that could be attacking your thyroid.
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And then that goes undiagnosed for years until you become low thyroid, at which point it's
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often very tough to correct and you're on medicine for the rest of your life.
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So, the next thing we're going to definitely look at, and we discussed this before in a
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previous episode is blood sugar markers, right?
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And why this is so important.
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Because getting that entire metabolic picture can prevent an onslaught of chronic disease.
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Most diseases are metabolic in nature, or begin with some type of metabolic precursor.
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So,
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we're
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gonna look at fasting insulin.
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We're gonna look at the hemoglobin A1C, glucose, C peptide, and then we'll even look at
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like leptin and adiponectin which are the hormones that can help with your hunger and
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satiety as well.
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And this also is how we assess that fat signaling and metabolic resistance.
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So, your doctor might tell you your glucose is fine at 99, but functionally that's actually
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yet what we call a yellow flag, right?
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It's getting there.
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And so, we see insulin resistance actually starting in the 80s of blood sugar.
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So, if you're two points below that reference range high, you're bordering on it becoming a
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crisis, right?
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The next thing is we definitely look at hormones.
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So, we can either look at serum or we run a test called the Dutch test, which is a urine
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and also salivary hormone panel.
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And so, we're going to look at cortisol rhythm throughout the day.
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We're going to look at DHEA, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and even melatonin,
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right?
00:14:41
And these are all critical for patients that could be dealing with things like burnout,
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adrenal fatigue, things like PCOS, infertility, low libido, that's one that we see all the
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time.
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People don't want to talk about this and they get, I want to say maybe a little embarrassed
00:14:58
or kind of they kind of hold these kind of things back and they want don't want to discuss
00:15:01
it with the doctor because they think they're just going to get put on some kind of pill and
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then now all of a sudden there's the psychological aspect to that right like oh man,
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I'm on this thing now.
00:15:09
And so, basically you can't treat what you don't measure.
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And that's why we need to know these numbers.
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The next thing and this is a huge one and something that will sometimes just run this
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like alone for patients too, but is our inflammation panel.
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And there's a bunch of things in this that most docs don't even know what they are.
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And so, we already know is basically at it's at the root of nearly every chronic disease.
00:15:34
And so, we're going to look at your HSCRP, which is a C reactive protein.
00:15:38
We're looking at homocysteine.
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We're going look at ferritin, which is stored iron.
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We're going to look at ESR, which is erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
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This basically tells us kind of what the red blood cells are doing.
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And then another few that we look for, and that we will often catch issues with this, that say
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another cardiologist said, You're good, quote unquote, right?
00:16:00
And then we see somebody has a high oxidized LDL, a high MPO, which is myeloperoxidase.
00:16:07
This is basically a plaquing signaler, and then a PLA C and when we see either one or two of
00:16:13
those elevated markers, we're like, Okay, hey, you're on your way to a heart attack.
00:16:17
It's just it's not if it's when, right?
00:16:20
But again, these things don't get looked at in conventional medicine.
00:16:23
And then it's like, okay, let's just wait for the person to have a heart attack for us to do
00:16:27
something.
00:16:27
That doesn't sound like a great idea to me.
00:16:29
So, it's like how can we get ahead of this?
00:16:31
Because we often see this and you have you and I have seen this in like healthy young males,
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right?
00:16:36
Guys in their 30s.
00:16:38
Oh, I work out all the time I do CrossFit.
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I'm jacked, right?
00:16:40
They look great.
00:16:41
It's like dude, your cardiac inflammation markers are nuts.
00:16:44
Like how do we get ahead of this before you have full blown cardiac event?
00:16:49
That was me.
00:16:50
I mean, I was.
00:16:51
Yeah, that's true.
00:16:51
Yeah.
00:16:52
Yeah, you don't mind sharing that.
00:16:53
That's
00:16:54
why we get blood work done quarterly is because those those tracers can happen within a
00:17:03
quarter's timeframe, right?
00:17:04
If you can be ahead of the game, which like I'm ahead of the game, alright, well, how do I put
00:17:08
in the daily supplementation in order to kind of reactivate, and pull that back, right?
00:17:15
So, putting those things in place are really critical.
00:17:19
And that's why I am part of the Total Care program myself, because I want to get ahead of
00:17:28
the game, right?
00:17:28
So those are just extremely critical things.
00:17:32
My plaque markers, three to six months ago were not what they were today, right?
00:17:37
Yeah.
00:17:38
And so it's constantly evaluating, adding new supplementation, but getting that blood work
00:17:43
done so that we can provide data back.
00:17:46
Hey, my NPO is high, my LDL O wasn't really that high, but at the same time, I want to be
00:17:51
cognizant of it, and start getting the proper supplementation, like methyl, vitamins.
00:17:59
I think we incorporated a little bit uptick in my vitamin D intake, as well as we
00:18:05
incorporated, our omegas across the board.
00:18:09
So I'm really high on omegas right now as anti inflammatory markers.
00:18:13
Yeah, and that's a really good kind of a little segue here is, you know, we it's not do what I
00:18:19
say, do what I do, right?
00:18:20
Like we and we're very transparent, you and I, about our sharing these kind of things because
00:18:26
it's like that was my story as well.
00:18:28
I had basically Hashimoto's disease of the thyroid autoimmune building up for who knows
00:18:34
how long, right?
00:18:35
And it and I knew nothing until I took I ran a functional test on myself.
00:18:39
And I didn't have symptoms.
00:18:40
Wasn't having anything crazy.
00:18:42
I was a new dad.
00:18:44
I was in a busy new job.
00:18:46
And so just I thought I was tired, right?
00:18:48
And then I took some functional lab testing and I like wow I have full blown autoimmune in my
00:18:52
thyroid.
00:18:53
I was able to reverse that because I caught it early enough and was able to put in the
00:18:56
interventions and now I've created a basically a lifestyle that I live that supports that and
00:19:01
not allowing me to get back to that position, right?
00:19:04
Because once you've gotten there, your body's obviously leaning towards that.
00:19:07
So well, I appreciate you sharing that.
00:19:09
That's good man because it gives it just shows people that you can.
00:19:12
You can look phenomenal on the outside.
00:19:14
Obviously, you're a specimen of a human, right?
00:19:16
Your Jack, you're cut up, but you know what's going on on the inside is very important.
00:19:20
So yeah, that's really good.
00:19:23
The next thing that we look for a lot is gut health, right?
00:19:26
We're very focused on the gut is number one.
00:19:29
If you if your guts off, everything's going to be off.
00:19:31
So we use like advanced stool tests like a GI map to check for things like dysbiosis, which
00:19:38
is basically when you have an overgrowth of the pathogenic bacteria compared to the, you know,
00:19:42
the beneficial flora.
00:19:44
We can find parasites often, very common.
00:19:47
Leaky gut markers like zonulin and anti zonulin.
00:19:51
Calprotectin which checks for gut inflammation.
00:19:53
And then we can look at like pancreatic enzyme as well, because that is what supports that
00:19:57
digestive process.
00:19:59
And so your immune system lives in the gut.
00:20:01
And so if you're constantly sick, or you feel like you're battling stuff, have to heal the
00:20:05
gut first.
00:20:06
So we've discussed this actually in a previous episode, you should go listen if you want more
00:20:11
information on gut.
00:20:13
And then another one that we test all the time is nutrients, right?
00:20:17
We want to see B12, we want to see vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, and then an omega three to
00:20:22
omega six ratio kind of index.
00:20:25
These things basically tell us how your body is managing a lot of inflammatory things.
00:20:30
And so, you know, most people are walking around with fatigue or brain fog or they it's
00:20:35
low nutrients, right?
00:20:36
They just have never checked it so they don't know what that is.
00:20:39
And so, the concept again is like the functional ranges versus the standard ranges.
00:20:45
Right?
00:20:45
I hate the word standard because it's like, who is that for?
00:20:48
You even touched on this.
00:20:49
Is it for us in our thirties?
00:20:51
Is it for 50 year olds, 60 year olds?
00:20:53
How are we all within the same reference range?
00:20:55
Makes no sense actually.
00:20:56
And so something no one talks about enough is that exactly that, right?
00:21:00
Like the ranges are set for like a population but not for optimal health.
00:21:05
And they're so broad that it's like you could be anywhere, right?
00:21:08
What is the reference range for testosterone is between about 300 to like 900.
00:21:14
And so it's like you could be in like the four hundreds that doesn't mean you're optimal.
00:21:17
You're actually relatively low.
00:21:19
And if you look at what ranges used to be, they've actually like lowered the bar.
00:21:23
So it's like as we've gotten less healthy as a country, they're like, let's just lower the
00:21:28
standards here a little bit to keep up with how unhealthy people are becoming.
00:21:32
So it's actually it's it's dysfunctional.
00:21:35
So a couple examples would be like if a TSH, you know, lab says normal is between point five
00:21:41
to 4.5.
00:21:43
You know, optimal is going to be above, right?
00:21:46
Like above a 2.5.
00:21:47
And so, if it's in the lower range around like a one, you're getting kind of sluggish thyroid.
00:21:52
And then also things like vitamin D.
00:21:55
Like your doctor says oh, you're fine at 30.
00:21:57
Honestly, we should be shooting for like 70 to 80, right?
00:22:00
You want to be higher on that vitamin D.
00:22:02
That's a steroid hormone precursor that is vital for immune function, bone health, so many
00:22:07
things.
00:22:08
And so, you know, scientific supports this because the Journal of Integrative Medicine in
00:22:14
2019 said functional reference ranges can detect subclinical imbalances often missed by
00:22:21
conventional diagnostics.
00:22:23
And so that that points it out right there is like we're often missing the whole picture.
00:22:28
So if you're told your labs are normal, but you don't feel normal, you need to trust your body
00:22:32
because there's a reason we call it functional medicine.
00:22:34
It's about helping your body to function better, not just chase a bunch of numbers on a
00:22:38
page.
00:22:39
So, now, we have an idea of how we use the tests to obviously, you know, find things and
00:22:46
figure out where's the dysfunction.
00:22:48
Now, how do we use that to create advanced protocols where we combine nutraceuticals,
00:22:53
detoxification, and lifestyle medicine to actually fix the problem at the root.
00:22:59
But before we do that, here's a quick word from one of our sponsors.
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Now back to the episode.
00:24:25
Alright.
00:24:26
So welcome back.
00:24:27
Now that we've dug into the labs and uncovered what's actually going on under the surface, the
00:24:32
next question is what do you do with that information?
00:24:35
So it's definitely not just throwing a multivitamin at it and hoping for the best.
00:24:39
That's old school.
00:24:41
Hey, look, cover all your bases.
00:24:42
Here's a multi.
00:24:43
The multivitamin can be beneficial, don't get me wrong.
00:24:46
But this is where we go from diagnosis to precision, right?
00:24:49
Because the power of functional medicine isn't just the testing, it's in the protocols we use
00:24:53
based on the tests.
00:24:54
So, we're going to use doctor grade nutraceuticals.
00:24:58
When we build a care plan for our total care patients, we're not just pulling random
00:25:03
supplements off an Instagram ad or even worse off of Amazon.
00:25:06
Right?
00:25:07
We're using clinical grade nutraceuticals that are chosen specifically to match your unique
00:25:12
lab results.
00:25:13
We custom create these med packs protocols that come in the little tearaway strips that you
00:25:18
know what to take, what time of day, when it's best.
00:25:20
And it's it's evidence based.
00:25:22
So it's not just guessing.
00:25:24
They're very high potency as well.
00:25:26
So, there is overkill sometimes we need to dial it back, right?
00:25:29
We don't need to use as much as you think.
00:25:31
Where you get some supplement from CVS or Amazon, you could take three, four or five of
00:25:36
them and not really feel the effects.
00:25:38
You take one of these more potent, you know, B12 vitamins, you might feel a little bit
00:25:42
stimulated.
00:25:43
So, they're definitely a lot more effective.
00:25:47
And so, we kind of have this phased approach, right?
00:25:50
We're like, we're going to start with detox.
00:25:51
We always want to make sure we reset and rebalance the system, make sure the liver which
00:25:55
is your filter and your gut are functioning, then we're going to phase into focusing on the
00:25:59
gut health, then obviously hormones which is energy and vitality, and then the long term
00:26:05
support and maintenance.
00:26:06
And so, you can't just jump straight to hormone optimization if someone has a sluggish liver or
00:26:13
if their gut is inflamed.
00:26:14
And so, that's where we have to focus on the phases of healing.
00:26:17
And so, phase one, supporting detox pathways.
00:26:21
We're going to start with a liver and cellular detox, especially if people have high
00:26:25
inflammation or a high toxin load.
00:26:28
So, using things like glutathione and NAC, milk thistle, and then you know supporting
00:26:33
methylation and sulfation in these glutathione pathways.
00:26:38
We have a really awesome protocol we use for the detox where we kind of base it on, you
00:26:43
know, someone's like categories, right?
00:26:46
Like they take a little test and it gives us a category, are you mild, moderate, severe?
00:26:50
And then that tells us how much of a detox we need to push.
00:26:52
And it's actually very accurate.
00:26:54
Then phase two, we go into the gut repair and resetting the microbiome.
00:26:58
We're going to use antimicrobials, things like berberine, oregano to kill off the dys biosis
00:27:04
or that bad bacteria.
00:27:05
We're going to rebuild with spore based probiotics, digestive enzymes to support
00:27:11
stomach acid and then ultimately healing the gut using things like L glutamine and different
00:27:16
herbs as well.
00:27:18
And people are often shocked.
00:27:20
You start getting your gut health back, your mood changes, your skin, people get better skin
00:27:24
energy once the gut is actually healed.
00:27:28
Then we phase into the hormone balancing.
00:27:30
So once you've detoxed and addressed the gut, now let's look at the endocrine system.
00:27:34
And so we're going to focus on insulin resistance, obviously, number one, using things
00:27:39
like berberine to balance that the body's blood sugar.
00:27:43
We're going to focus on thyroid health, the estrogen dominance if there is any, and then
00:27:47
adrenal fatigue, and then obviously low testosterone as well.
00:27:51
And so, it's a it's an axis we talked about this in a previous episode, the axis of how
00:27:56
your body creates hormones and you have to start from the top.
00:28:00
And then phase four is obviously replenishing nutrients and building up that resilience.
00:28:06
So then that's when you get into, Okay, I'm healed.
00:28:08
I'm not in crisis mode.
00:28:09
I'm good.
00:28:10
What are the main things you need for support?
00:28:13
And we did an episode on this too, like what are the main supplements you need to be using
00:28:19
just in general because the body's depleted, our nutrition that we get from the store is not
00:28:23
what it used to be.
00:28:24
And so things like magnesium, vitamin D3, B complexes and omegas are fantastic, as well as
00:28:30
like a probiotic.
00:28:32
And so everything we do is based on our patient, not just what's good for you, but
00:28:37
what's for you, right?
00:28:38
And so everyone is at a different point in their journey.
00:28:41
Sometimes people are their guts fine, right?
00:28:44
And we go straight into the hormone.
00:28:46
Sometimes they're a little bit further back and they need that detox and support.
00:28:50
So it's all about, you know, the patient and kind of their position.
00:28:55
And so that's the best part is every single protocol is built on them, their labs, their
00:29:00
history, their life, their goals, all of it.
00:29:03
And not no two patients are going to get the exact same combination.
00:29:06
And we're constantly checking in very frequently.
00:29:09
We track symptoms.
00:29:10
We're going to retest markers and adjust as the body heals.
00:29:15
And the cool thing is, through this, we are teaching and educating and empowering.
00:29:20
And so eventually, I want my patients to be able to read their blood work.
00:29:24
I want to teach them like hey, when you start seeing this dipping low and this going high,
00:29:28
what does that mean?
00:29:29
Oh, that means I'm stressed.
00:29:30
Should do this right and so they know how to read their own blood work and then support it.
00:29:35
And so, you know, it's real science.
00:29:38
It's not.
00:29:39
We're not anti medication.
00:29:41
We're just pro mechanism, right?
00:29:43
The body, we're meant to we want to work with the biology and not just try to override it and
00:29:47
hack it with medication.
00:29:49
So, think of this the next time someone tells you that supplements don't work, ask these
00:29:54
questions.
00:29:55
Were you taking the right ones in the right dose at the right time for the right reason for
00:30:01
your biology?
00:30:02
Right?
00:30:02
Because those are a lot of factors that go into it.
00:30:05
You can't just throw a blanket multivitamin and expect to heal.
00:30:08
And so, we don't stop there.
00:30:10
We empower people to take control, take responsibility, and ultimately be the doctor in
00:30:15
their own life for themselves and their family.
00:30:18
And so, I think that's honestly the coolest part of what we built here with the Total Care
00:30:21
Man and kind of you are a lot of the inspiration on this.
00:30:25
So I'd love for you to chat or talk more about this, but that lifestyle medicine blueprint,
00:30:29
right?
00:30:30
And kind of what that looks like for people to, hey, we helped you, but now like here you go.
00:30:35
Here are the keys to your future.
00:30:38
We want you to take control.
00:30:39
So, why don't you get into a little bit of that lifestyle medicine?
00:30:43
Yeah, for sure.
00:30:44
And one of the things I just want to note, you know, one thing that you always tell our
00:30:50
patients is, you know, you're with us for one hour a month, but you're with yourself twenty
00:30:56
fourseven, right?
00:30:58
And so that's the truth that most people overlook at the end of the day.
00:31:02
And we could have run all the fancy labs and prescribe all the targeted nutraceuticals and
00:31:08
give you the most customized plan on Earth.
00:31:10
But if your day to day lifestyle is just a complete dumpster fire, none of that at the end
00:31:15
of the day matters, right?
00:31:17
So healing doesn't happen in a bottle or a binder.
00:31:20
It happens within habits of how you incorporate your habits throughout the day, right?
00:31:26
So we just are a makeup of our habits.
00:31:29
So that's why Total Care is built around lifestyle medicine, right?
00:31:33
Real actionable tools that you can use every single day to take your health back.
00:31:39
So let's dive into it a little bit more and what you aforementioned was the personalized
00:31:43
nutrition component.
00:31:45
So we like, you know, the real tactical ways of how you're starting to incorporate these things
00:31:50
in.
00:31:50
And you can't really out supplement a bad diet at the end of the day.
00:31:56
You need both.
00:31:57
It's everything, right?
00:31:58
But at the same time, you really need a lot of luck in your diet and what you're doing.
00:32:03
That's what we're doing through this challenge is you're creating a storyboard, taking a
00:32:07
picture of what you're putting into your mouth, right?
00:32:09
Because at the end of the day, like what you put in your mouth is a habit.
00:32:13
Nice.
00:32:13
And so we don't hand out generic meal plans.
00:32:17
We teach you how to eat in a way that stabilizes number one, your blood sugar, and
00:32:21
then reduces inflammation and works with your body.
00:32:26
So it's the anti inflammatory eating approach, no seed oils, no refined sugar, and minimal
00:32:31
processed foods.
00:32:34
Or if it is processed, it's lightly processed, right?
00:32:37
So we wanna look at those.
00:32:39
Blood sugar control.
00:32:40
So we are very much protein forward.
00:32:44
So protein forward, real fiber incorporated in that, and mindful timing of carbs.
00:32:50
People don't realize, like, how important it is to actually time carbs.
00:32:54
You can eat them actually later at night if you're working out in the morning and utilizing
00:33:00
those appropriately.
00:33:01
I think that's like the utilization of carbs is a really, really critical thing of like
00:33:06
actually when, the usage of that occurs.
00:33:09
Right?
00:33:10
And that's why we're such believers in mindful eating, but targeting it towards what the goal
00:33:16
is, right?
00:33:17
And we do a lot of resistance training here.
00:33:19
We recommend resistance training and carbs can be utilized in such a great tool, with that.
00:33:25
So gut support is the other thing, right?
00:33:27
Fermented foods, bone broth, elimination of those common triggers, which we dial in through
00:33:34
you sit down with Doctor.
00:33:35
Alessi, or one of the members of our team.
00:33:39
And we'd kind of walk you through, all right, what are those mindful triggers based on what
00:33:44
inflammatory responses that you might have, right?
00:33:48
Inflammatory responses.
00:33:50
So, we use food tracking not to restrict you, but to reconnect you with what food does to
00:33:57
your body.
00:33:58
So, food is constantly giving you a feedback.
00:34:01
That's why we call it that gut brain access is constantly giving you the feedback of like,
00:34:07
hey, this is super inflammatory, and I gotta figure something out here.
00:34:12
So it's constantly telling you things.
00:34:16
And whether we're listening to it or not, right, is one of the important things.
00:34:20
So we want to be more cognizant and conscious of how we're listening to our body after we eat
00:34:25
things.
00:34:26
So let's dive a little bit into the nervous system reset because stress isn't just a mental
00:34:31
game, right?
00:34:32
You don't have to just plow through it.
00:34:34
Can there's different ways that you can incorporate new habits.
00:34:38
So the way you breathe, rest and regulate your nervous system affects every single cell in the
00:34:44
body.
00:34:45
Again, your nervous system is constantly telling you something.
00:34:49
So in total care, we teach a couple different things, cold water exposure.
00:34:54
We love the idea of, you know, doing ice baths on a regular basis.
00:35:00
I wouldn't say every day, but getting into a cold shower, getting into an uncomfortable
00:35:05
scenario where your body is going in from sympathetic parasympathetic, right?
00:35:09
We can talk a little bit more about that, by contrast showers to just build resilience in
00:35:14
your body.
00:35:16
Breath work, breath work goes in combination of cold water exposure tools like box breathing
00:35:21
and CO2 tolerance training are really, really crucial in understanding.
00:35:26
But breath work is just basically, you know, setting a reminder on your phone as a habit of,
00:35:32
Man, let me get some big, deep belly breaths.
00:35:36
So when we can really breathe through our nasal, and fill up our lungs and our stomach
00:35:43
with air, those are the breaths that you need and being conscious of that and building that
00:35:48
as a habit of two to three minutes daily, you know, of maybe three to four times a day,
00:35:54
right?
00:35:54
Doesn't take very long and it's a simple habit.
00:35:57
Then the mindfulness, parasympathetic activation, what we talked about in cold water
00:36:03
exposure does the same thing, but the vagus nerve stimulation, grounding, prayer,
00:36:08
meditation, journaling, getting up a little bit earlier so your cortisol levels aren't crazily
00:36:12
spiked.
00:36:13
If you get fifteen minutes of just complete downtime before the kids wake up or before your
00:36:19
spouse wakes up, if you can get that early launch period where you're just in a meditative
00:36:25
state, before your cortisol rises, you get that gradual increase, right?
00:36:31
One thing we recommend is staying away from caffeine for anywhere from forty five to ninety
00:36:36
minutes before you wake up to allow that activation of your cortisol just gradually
00:36:43
rising in the morning, right?
00:36:45
So when there's a nervous system calms digestion, digestion improves, hormonal
00:36:50
imbalance, sleep deepens at the end of the day, and inflammation drops.
00:36:56
So here we go for, a critical piece that I like talking about specifically because so many
00:37:03
people miss out on the movement prescription, and you don't need a gym to get stronger.
00:37:10
We're not chasing aesthetics.
00:37:12
We're chasing function at the end of the day.
00:37:14
And if you want a little bit of both, I don't fall to you.
00:37:17
But movement is medicine and our approach is balanced and sustainable at the end of the day.
00:37:23
And one of the big things, again, I go back to our challenge that we're having right now is
00:37:28
zone two cardio.
00:37:29
Are we maximizing our heart rate?
00:37:32
Are we scaling it up into blue zone activities?
00:37:35
What we're calling in our challenge blue zone activities is when you get that heart rate up,
00:37:40
That zone two cardio for metabolic flexibility and overall mitochondrial health.
00:37:46
So that is a great way to measure.
00:37:49
And if you are measured, we have a heart rate monitor that gives feedback to our app that
00:37:54
lets you know when you're in that zone two training window.
00:37:58
So weight training for muscle mass, bone density, and insulin sensitivity.
00:38:03
This is huge.
00:38:05
You know, what we recommend is getting like a DEXA scan to where you're at right now, and
00:38:09
then a measurable of where you can be in three to six months down the road.
00:38:13
But that's good data to get back as far as weight training and how you're building in, our
00:38:19
resistance training.
00:38:21
Mobility work is another big thing.
00:38:22
And I'll be honestly, I honest with you, this is something I need to work on more and more.
00:38:27
I typically go to the gym, get it done.
00:38:29
But mobility work is so, so important because mobility, a lot like the stressors of like
00:38:38
running and launching and sprinting, if you don't use it, you lose it.
00:38:44
And so we want to make sure we're constantly staying in that flexible state.
00:38:48
And this also aids in our micro supplementation as well.
00:38:52
So high in omegas allows us to be a little bit more mobile because we have more joint repair.
00:38:57
Vitamin C supplementation allows us to be more mobile.
00:39:01
And so incorporating mobility for joint longevity, fascia health, and injury
00:39:06
prevention, right?
00:39:07
So that's just getting those stretches in and tailoring yourself where you're stretching out
00:39:14
those hamstrings, which are a large muscle groups, maximizing core, getting those
00:39:20
stretches in there really, really important.
00:39:22
So we tailor it to your level, no CrossFit starter pack required at all right here.
00:39:29
So that's not something we advise.
00:39:32
So we would just want to give you basic exercises basically to build your core and the
00:39:36
elasticity of your body.
00:39:38
So let's dive into number four.
00:39:40
Something that I just love talking about is the circadian rhythm optimization.
00:39:44
So light is absolutely a drug at the end of the day.
00:39:47
What people don't know is that they are building up their melatonin supply throughout
00:39:53
the day in order to get proper sleep.
00:39:55
So most people's energy, the mood and sleep are wrecked because their internal clocks are just
00:40:01
completely broken.
00:40:03
We coach the total care patients on getting natural sunlight in the morning to set that
00:40:08
cortisol rhythm.
00:40:09
That's one thing I love about Florida is that you can get out early and typically you can get
00:40:13
that sunlight exposure all day every day.
00:40:16
But the earlier the better is when you're building that vitamin D supply, right?
00:40:20
Getting blue light, cutting out the blue light at night to protect your melatonin supply is
00:40:25
extremely important as well.
00:40:27
So if you're gonna be on your phone, maybe grayscale it or get those blue light blocker
00:40:31
glasses to actually aid you in that process so you can protect your melatonin supply.
00:40:36
Sleep hygiene strategies are consistently, wake up and sleep at the same times.
00:40:43
Try to be really within a half hour window, right?
00:40:45
So like nine to 09:30, nine thirty to 10:00.
00:40:49
You wanna make sure you're within a very finite, window of, you protecting your sleep
00:40:54
times of when you're sleeping and when you're getting up, right?
00:40:57
Temperature and darkness are also crucial.
00:40:59
So a little bit cooler is always better, at night.
00:41:03
So if you're in the, you know, sixties, maybe low seventies range, but typically in the
00:41:07
sixties, mid sixties to high sixties is really what great temperature to sleep in, as well as
00:41:14
getting darkness, no light surrounded, where, and sound is also another thing that you wanna
00:41:20
eliminate.
00:41:20
So, other things that you can utilize is like red light therapy, magnesium, and glycine to
00:41:26
deepen that sleep quality.
00:41:28
Those are really great tools.
00:41:30
I tend to use the sauna, in the cold plunge and those things that are something that you don't
00:41:36
want, you wanna get earlier in the day rather than later in the day.
00:41:39
So at minimum of four hours before bedtime, if you're gonna be doing some cold water exposure
00:41:43
or sauna therapy.
00:41:44
So when your circadian rhythm is aligned at the end the day, everything else, digestion,
00:41:48
hormone output, mental clarity, that stuff just starts to fall into place.
00:41:53
It's just all in a alignment.
00:41:56
So it's really beneficial for you just to write those things down and implement one by one.
00:42:01
I know it's a lot, but you can just take one or two things that you can start incorporating
00:42:06
over time, right?
00:42:08
So we always want to give you support behind this.
00:42:11
So here's from the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 2021 said that lifestyle
00:42:15
interventions remain the cornerstone of chronic disease reversal.
00:42:20
It's important.
00:42:21
It's important to really understand that these small implements, these are it, right?
00:42:27
This is the solution of what we're explaining here.
00:42:29
So it's not your supplement.
00:42:31
It's not a drug.
00:42:33
It's not even a doctor.
00:42:35
At the end of the day, the accountability is you.
00:42:37
Your consistency, your rhythm, your commitment to showing up for your own body, the only one
00:42:42
we get in this lifetime, every single day.
00:42:46
So, as I wrap things up, here's my final takeaway for you is, you don't need to wait
00:42:52
until you're sick to start healing.
00:42:54
Functional medicine gives you the tools and total care gives you that map.
00:43:00
So proactive is the future and the future is right now.
00:43:05
Amen, I have nothing to add to that.
00:43:08
That was so well done.
00:43:10
And so you know, to learn more people are interested in learning more.
00:43:13
How about how we help diagnose reverse heal chronic disease within our total care program.
00:43:20
Go to a lesseefunctionalhealth.com schedule a consultation where you'll meet with either
00:43:24
myself or one of our providers and we will create a personalized plan for lifelong health.
00:43:31
Listeners of this podcast will always get exclusive discounts and price reductions on all
00:43:36
of our protocols and lab tests.
00:43:37
Definitely mention that.
00:43:39
And as always, if you found value in today's show, please like, subscribe, and share this
00:43:46
episode with someone who needs to hear it.
00:43:48
That's how we can grow this message and change more lives.
00:43:52
So wanna get in touch with us or be featured on an episode?
00:43:56
Email us at ask@AlessiFXHealth.com.
00:43:59
And as always, visit us at AlessiFXHealth.com.
00:44:04
Sign up for our newsletter and check out our resources page to learn more about our approach
00:44:09
to nutrition and cutting edge therapies.
00:44:12
And thank you again for tuning in to Health Decoded where we break down the science, bust
00:44:16
the myths, and help you take control of your health naturally.
00:44:20
Until next time, stay curious, stay empowered, and remember, your health is in your hands.
00:44:28
Thank you for tuning in to Health Decoded, where we break down the truth about all things
00:44:33
health and empower you to take charge of your well-being.
00:44:37
If you found value in today's episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with
00:44:42
someone who needs to hear this.
00:44:44
For more resources and personalized support, visit us at alessifunctionalhealth.com and sign
00:44:50
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00:44:52
To hear your questions answered live on the show, send them to ask@AlessiFXHealth.com.
00:44:57
That's ask@alessifxhealth.com.
00:45:03
Until next time, stay curious, stay empowered, and remember, your health is in your hands.