Welcome back to The Inspired
Living with Autoimmunity podcast.
I'm your host, Julie Michaelson,
and today we're joined by Dr.
Robert Floyd, the Paleo md, and we're
talking about how the standard American
diet is driving illness and how the
Paleo lifestyle supports wellness.
We go deep in this episode about the
importance of mitochondrial health and
how what we eat truly powers ourselves.
Rob, welcome to the podcast.
Hi.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
It's so much fun.
So already we've had a great time talking,
We have, if we had hit record,
we probably had a full episode
there in that conversation.
Totally.
So I am thrilled to have you here.
This is such a passionate topic of mine,
and I just can't wait to dive into it.
I love to start with story because
I am guessing when you went to
medical school, you didn't have the
intention of becoming the Paleo md.
No, I did.
I did not.
Absolutely not.
Um, I, you know, actually I went to
med school to become an orthopedic
surgeon, but, you know, wasn't
cool enough to get in that club.
So then I ended up doing, I have
a very, uh, varied background
of, uh, through medicine.
I've done trauma surgery, ICU U medicine,
uh, family medicine, emergency medicine.
I was a medical director in a
rural ER clinic or hospital.
Um, and, uh, Then I discovered
functional medicine.
And you know, I used to
live not too far from you.
I used to live in Boulder,
Colorado, and that's where I kind of
discovered, uh, you know, holistic,
integrative, complimentary medicine
back then, you know, as an athlete.
Um, you know, I, I got shiatsu, I
got acupuncture, I ate, you know,
took herbs and so on and so forth.
And so functional medicine was really
just a, a wonderful extension of how
I've already been for many, many years.
which is amazing.
and, but you're not just
practicing functional medicine.
You, you we're, we're gonna talk
about, and I'm gonna try not to get
angry in our conversation today.
Certainly it won't be at you.
Um, but we are gonna really dig into the
standard American diet, um, which is sad.
Doesn't even begin to
It is so sad.
. Uh, but how, you know, how did you
specifically, you know, embrace
the, the paleo lifestyle and realize
that that was a key for people.
Um, like, like we had spoken about, uh,
before we recorded, um, I basically went
from fit to fat and fit and back again.
Um, you know, when, when I was living
in Boulder, I was, like I said, a
climbing guide and a ski guide and
a ski patroller and, you know, I
was really into health and wellness.
And then I went to medical school and,
uh, when I left for medical school,
actually I was living in Jackson Hall,
Wyoming, you know, skiing, mountain
biking, building trails every day.
Um, , I was 155 pounds, uh, you know,
probably like a eight, 9% body fat.
And then I went to medical school
and, uh, a couple things happened.
I, my metabolism came to a
screeching halt and, uh, I was
full of stress and, um, because
of that, I put on almost 30 pounds.
Uh, I came back from med school
187 pounds or something like that.
And I mean, I vividly remember
sitting in biochemistry class.
This is my second semester there, and
I looked down and I'm like, oh my God.
I had a gut.
and I've never had that before cuz
I've always been active and fit.
And so, you know, I wasn't eating the
best and I was, like I said, stressed.
And so, um, you know, long story,
try to shorten a little bit.
I came back and I did what
I thought I needed to do.
I did caloric restriction, uh,
exercise and yada yada, yada.
And, and, and, you know, I lost
a few pounds here and there.
It didn't really get me back
to my pre-med school weight.
And then I went to residency for five
years and then I came back from that.
Um, you know, and, uh, again, I was back
up to about 190 pounds of, even though
I was like exercising more, but I was
still eating what I thought was healthy.
exercise your way out of a bad diet.
What
you can't outrun your fork.
No, absolutely not.
And that's, uh, that's another great book.
You can't
is a good
Um, But, uh, and then I started,
actually, I, I kinda, uh, I'll, I'll,
I'll give a shout out to Rob Wolf.
Um, I read, you know, the Paleo
solution and um, you know, like I
said, I thought I was eating well.
I thought I was eating what was healthy.
Um, you know, in Colorado,
I, I was vegan for a week.
That's all.
I could handle that.
But, and then I was a vegetarian
probably good
Yeah, to totally.
Then I was a vegetarian for
like six or seven years.
And, uh, but I realized too is like, this
is, This is not a healthy diet, you know,
vegan and vegetarian diets, unless you're
really, really, really, really good at
eating and picking whole healthy foods.
The majority of the people who
undertake these diets are eating
a bunch of processed garbage.
And, um, you know, unfortunately
the standard American diet has, we
should just rename it as poison.
It's what it is.
It's poison.
It's literally poison.
No, yeah.
agree.
I agree.
I love that.
So, so the finding paleo for
you was, was a big answer and
absolutely, it was an it, it
was an eye-opener and, uh, I
didn't even like understand it.
Um, you know.
And then, so I'll, real quick, I was
sitting there at my kitchen table
reading this and talking to my wife.
I'm like, Hey, Kim, you know?
And, and I like what he says in his book.
He's like, give it one month.
Try it for one month.
What do you have to lose?
Absolutely nothing.
What do you have to
gain everything, right?
And so I'm sitting there reading,
I'm like, Kimmy, we need to do this.
We should try this.
We should try this.
You know?
She's like, no, no, no.
I'm like, we should try this.
Really?
You know, next week we should try this.
She's like, no.
She had some tr, you know, hesitation
and trepidation and so finally
she's like, all right, fine.
All right.
Leave me alone.
Okay,
If you'll be quiet, I'll try it.
exactly.
So we, we kind of instituted it.
We went pretty much all into
the whole, um, paleo lifestyle.
Again, it's not just a
diet, it's a lifestyle.
You have to have a lifestyle.
And I will say over and over and
over and in my program, which I'll
discuss a little bit later, uh, I
say this, if I say it once, I say
it a hundred times, diets fail.
Lifestyles don't.
Okay?
You cannot, like we just said, you
can't diet your way out of a bad you.
Lifestyle.
You can't exercise your way out of
a bad diet, and so on and so forth.
But so a couple weeks into
trying this pale, Solution, you
know, lifestyle that we did.
Uh, my wife was blown away.
Um, I mean, she's like, oh my God, I
can't believe how much better I feel, um,
and, uh, so, you know, she was like, it.
It's weird because like, it's
what I see and I, you never hear
guys say, oh, I'm so bloated.
I'm so bloated.
Right?
When's the last time you
heard a guy say that?
Right.
But the, a lot of it seems like a
lot of women will say that, and she's
like, her, her bloating and her gut
pains went away and she was blown away.
So, and that's when I kind of started
going down a really big rabbit hole of
research and researching and researching
and researching and changed my life.
And, and this is why doing what
I'm doing, because I live what
I teach and I went through it.
And so I've been there so,
I love it.
It's, it's amazing and, and you.
I, I can tell from our conversation
before we even hit record, you're
as passionate about it as I am.
And that that's what happens when, you
know we are living it and we know, you
know, we just realize, um, I love that.
, you didn't have to be as sick as I
was to get the, and we could have a
whole different interview about why
is medical school designed to make you
sick, , that's a whole nother thing.
And it's not just in this country.
It's like I had the same conversation.
I, I did a presentation for a
bunch of physicians in Pakistan
and you know, same thing.
It's the between the stress and
the lack of sleep and the, you
know, bad food and all of it.
Mm-hmm.
. Yeah.
that's, Maybe downstream
change . That will happen.
Yeah.
I'd love to, I, I'd love to come and
talk more about lots of different
stuff, cuz it's like, again, you and I
we're, we're so in alignment about what.
We see needs to be done
with in, in the world.
And so, you know, you had asked earlier
about like why, and, and you know, what
does the standard American diet lead to?
I mean, there was, you know, a journal
article from the American College of
Cardiology, uh, last summer that said
93.2% of all adult Americans are.
That's insane.
0.2%.
Okay.
So basically statistically you can say the
entire American adult population is sick.
And when they say sick, they're
talking about, you know, they
have two or three or four.
Um, uh, Symptoms, uh, um, of metabolic
syndrome, you know, high cholesterol,
uh, enlarged, uh, hip to waist
ratio, uh, high blood pressure,
insulin resistance, uh, dyslipidemia.
And, you know, if, uh, one thing that
a lot of people don't know, um, I di
I just described the five, um, tens of
the five symptoms of metabolic syndrome.
And if you have any three of those, You
are diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.
And so basically the entire
adult population in America
has metabolic syndrome.
And if you are diagnosed with
metabolic syndrome, you instantly
have a 50% greater mortality risk.
So to me, you know, it, it, it,
it just, it, it infuriates me.
It makes me so mad that we sh
that we have gotten this way.
And like I, I asked you earlier,
before he started recording,
I said, , how do we get here?
And I mean, I think you and
I both know the answer, but
We do, we do . We'll, we'll, we'll wait
until your book comes out, for that
to really dig into that conversation.
Or this will be a three hour episode.
for sure.
but, but really underscoring
that if you were eating.
Processed food.
Um, highly processed food, lots of
processed food, eating on the go.
Um, even generally eating out a lot,
even at nice places, you're still
getting hit with a lot of crap.
Um, you're not eating food.
And so why do we need ? Why does that
make us sick when we're eating things,
our body's not recognizing his food.
What happens?
Well, um, really, truly, I think
it all boils down mostly to.
The mitochondria.
Um, and a lot of people maybe have
heard about it and they've maybe heard
about the kreb cycle and the electron
transport chain and so on and so forth.
But, uh, I really truly believe
that all of this chronic disease
is rooted in mitochondrial disease.
Um, the mitochondria, just for
those of you who don't know or don't
remember, I'm sure you've heard of
don't care, , but you will now
Yeah.
That's a lot.
That's a thing.
It's one of the sad things about,
um, what I see is like they're.
People are purposely being dumbed
down so that they are easier to
manipulate and so on and so forth.
And then because of that, they don't have
any agency over their health and wellness.
I mean, I, I can get very circular.
So anyway, go back to the mitochondria.
So the mitochondria are, and we
have 70 trillion cells in our human
body, and the mitochondria are the
little powerhouses of the cell.
Okay.
Um, and depending on how
metabolically active a tissue
is, you have more mitochondria.
So in one cell, I remember, and I, I
used to think this, you had a cell, you
had a nucleus, and he had one MIT Kon.
No, absolutely not.
Not even close.
It's like anywhere from, you
know, 5,000 to a hundred thousand
mitochondria in each cell.
In fact, we have a quadrillion
mitochondria in our body, and that
is a thousand trillions or some.
Enormous number like that.
I mean, it's something, a number
that we can't even comprehend, right?
I mean, think of about
70, 70 trillion cells.
We can't even comprehend how
many cells we have in our body.
So the mitochondria, they take substrates
and, um, they take, uh, you know,
sugar, pyruvic, acid fatty acids.
They, it's, it's it.
Let me explain real quick how,
because I love the mitochondria.
I think they're absolutely spectacular
and amazing and they're way underrated.
They are, we.
Millions of years ago, as
humans, we kind of hijacked them.
They're from bacteria, they have,
they don't have the dna n a, they
don't have your human DNA n a in it.
Okay?
So somehow nature, God, whatever,
however you wanna go about it, the, an
evolution, cuz it can both coexist, right?
And so we hijacked mitochondria
because we saw how efficient they
were at making energy, right?
And so it's, it's kind of like
your, your motor, your engine in
your car, you put gasoline in it.
It runs, it takes you somewhere.
The same thing with the mitochondria.
You put a substrate into it.
It does its magic and outcomes.
Attp attp is adenosine triphosphate.
It is the energy currency of
our cells, of our human bodies.
Without attp, you die like in a second.
Okay?
You're dead.
And we make, here's something crazy.
ATTP is a molecule.
It's, it's microscopic.
You can't really see it.
It's tiny.
It's invisible, basically.
Un you know, unless it's, you
know, super, super high, um, micro.
We make our own body
weight in at t p every day.
Ugh.
Yeah.
Think about that.
I, I make 155 pounds of a t p every single
day from my quadrillion mitochondria.
Well, I know I do
You do.
But, but the royal, we
yes, yes.
we want to optimally, we, we are
producing our body weight in a t p daily.
That's, that's incredible.
And so again, when that I, that's a
great, that's a great point you make
because when you don't make that, then
that's when disease starts occurring.
Um, and when you have mitochondrial
diseases, actually there's actually.
Primary mitochondrial diseases and
people with those who don't live very
long, they don't live beyond 7, 8, 9,
10 years old because they're so bad.
The, uh, when you have, what's what we're
discussing here, this is a secondary
mitochondrial disease because you're
not putting, you know, top unleaded fuel
in your motor to have it run smoothly.
You're putting, um, the standard American.
, which is junk food and
poison and processed foods.
And because of that, then the
mitochondria can't do what they do
and give us the energy that we need.
And it's clean energy.
I mean, granted, you know, it, it,
it's just like your car engine.
You put gasoline in it.
it does.
Its, you know, internal combustion
and out the back end comes
exhaust while you're driving.
The same thing happens
with the mitochondria.
Um, it, it does, it's basically internal
combustion through the electron transport
chain, making attp, giving you energy,
but it also makes reactive oxygen species,
which are kind of like the exhaust.
But our bodies are so, so genius.
We have millions of, millions of
different processes to get rid of.
Internal combustion exhaust
from the mitochondria.
But when you are eating these terrible
processed foods, high fructose corn
syrup, foods, Franken foods, things
that your body doesn't know how to
break down through your mitochondria,
you get increased amount of reactive
oxygen species and a decreased amount
of, uh, basically antioxidants,
which get rid of those and they
neutralize those and then you get.
and you know, I mean, it's, it's,
it's, it's not rocket science.
I do love it is science though.
It's awesome.
Science . So,
It is and, and.
To have this conversation be of value.
You don't need to be able to fully
understand all of the processes,
but you do need to understand
pretty much, you know, the symptoms,
especially in a audience, is as
an autoimmune audience, right?
So when you're thinking, you know,
I'm fatigued, well guess what?
At the cellular level, You're fatigued.
Your mitochondria are not optimized and
working optimally, so you're not going
to have the E, the energy, but it's not
just our energy to get through the day.
We're talking about the literally cellular
energy for your all of your body processes
to work the way they're supposed to.
And then, yeah, add on top of it.
When you've got the, the high oxidative
stress and all the other things
leading, leading to disease as well.
Um, so it is important to understand,
you know, how essential mitochondrial
health is, even if you don't feel
like understanding how or why . But
you know, it, it, it really is.
And just the fact that they are, you
know, the powerhouse of the cell.
Like that's all who.
need that you want, you wanna
be optimizing your power.
Um, we're focusing today on food.
Um, and, and we're gonna talk about,
you know, we've been talking about how
the American food system is not food.
And, and I think of it, I want to talk
about a couple things that do affect
mitochondrial function and health.
Um, the nasty standard American
diet, being one of 'em.
and toxins.
And I actually, I consider the
standard American diet to be toxins.
I mean, it's, it's this,
that's what they are.
I mean, that's what it is.
What you're eating.
Your body isn't recognizing
as food cuz it's not food.
And so it is the same
as a chemical exposure.
Well, and plus it's loaded
with chemicals anyway, um,
Absolutely.
And, and like I said earlier, like
the standard American diet, the, it
should be just cons called poison.
They, I got, I, I wanna figure out an
anagram for poison to describe our diet
because it, it, it's so, it's so bad.
It's, you know, um, I know I kind
of see where you're going with like,
What you were just talking about,
like the why is the standard American
diet so bad for us and because it,
it affects our mitochondria health.
Um, like I said, um, when you're
not putting in high quality,
um, um, substrates into your
body, It doesn't run well.
It it, I I really like, earlier
you had mentioned like even you
don't need to know the science to
understand how this help makes, helps
you and I equate it and I think it's
really, really good to think of the
mitochondria as the engine in your car.
Like I've said
Absolutely.
if you put, uh, You know, top
high-end fuel and change the oil
and change the spark plugs in your
engine, it's gonna run well forever.
It's gonna get you everywhere
you wanna go, sitting down
your, it's gonna last forever.
If you put low quality gas, you
don't change the oil and you don't
change the spark plugs and you
don't do the maintenance, then
your car's gonna break down and
it's gonna cost you a lot of money.
And that's get, you're gonna
be taking a bus somewhere else.
And it's the same thing here
with us, with our health.
If you don't maintain mitochondrial
health, And, and, and in doing so,
you maintain overall health because
what you do for your mitochondria
also improves the rest of your
It's your whole body.
Yeah.
I love, like to, to me, it reminded me of
a conversation I had once of, you wouldn't
put unleaded fuel in your diesel engine.
Right?
What's gonna happen to your car?
Yeah.
You're not gonna get very far.
it's gonna break down real quick.
It is not fun for anybody
to use the wrong pump.
And that's essentially what it is.
I mean, we need nutrient density.
I mean, that's, we're we're
designed to actually eat real food.
Um, and so it, it it's, it's
a double edged sword, right?
We've got this like toxic unrecognizable
thing and then also we're missing the
nutrient density that we need to run.
Absolut.
. Yeah.
And that's a great term, nutrient density.
People don't even think about that.
Like you go to Taco Bell, there's
no nutrients in that food.
You go to McDonald's, there's new,
there's no nutrients in that food.
Um, like 75% of all the foods in the
grocery store are processed foods.
Um, and you need the
standard American diet.
Nutrient deficient and caloric dense.
Right.
And it's, that's just the
opposite of what we need.
We need nutrient, um,
density and low calories.
I, I'm not saying low calorie diet,
And we don't have to count calories.
We're not talking about counting calories.
Absolutely not.
No.
I, I actually, and I, you know, I
don't even, there's a lot of people
out there that like to account
their macros and this and that.
I'm like, I don't even bother doing.
you, I can't be bothered.
That's I,
Exactly.
But if that's what you
like doing, go for it.
And if, if, here's the deal, if it
helps you be more focused on what
you're eating and how you're treating
your body, all the power to you, you
know, like a lot of times these, uh,
these quote diets, it just makes people
more cognizant of what they're eating
sometimes, and which is a good thing in.
Yeah.
And I know, you know, we, so
many, we talk about, you know, eat
whole food, eat real food, eat.
And a lot of people it's
like, sounds like noise.
Um, but it's not.
It, it, it's real.
And this is, if you look at the health
history in our country, look at when
we moved away from real food, And,
and then watch, look at the numbers.
Literally of chronic illness.
I mean, it's exponential, you
know, sadly, it's, uh, I've got
job security, unfortunately.
Right.
Yep.
you know, but the, but here's
the beautiful thing too, and I
know, oh, this is what you preach.
It's never too late and the body heals.
So, course correct, right.
Change.
So who, is there anybody
that you would say.
Paleo is not an optimal eating
lifestyle like, or the Paleo lifestyle
No.
God no.
No.
I think it's, I think it's the most
optimal lifestyle for everybody.
Again, it's not a diet, and diet is part
of a lifestyle, you know, for Paleo.
I, I don't think there's anybody
you know who, you know, could
not benefit from, from the paleo.
Slash diet slash lifestyle
because you know it's Whole Foods.
It's, you know, you're avoiding gluten,
dairy, sugar, and, you know, seed oils
and, um, other toxins in your diet.
And you're eating whole foods.
You're eating, you know,
vegetables, um, steamed vegetables.
Um, you're eating, you, you're avoiding
most grains, you're avoiding most legumes.
And one of the reasons why I
did the whole paleo and why I.
Why I've become what I've become and
I believe it's, I mean, gut health,
obviously, you know all about gut health.
You know, every, anybody in our field
knows how important gut health is
Well, and if you have autoimmunity
and you have not done the work to heal
your gut, you have leaky gut like I
hundred percent, yeah.
Period.
if, if you eat the standard American
diet, you have leaky gut, which is
intestinal permeability, which is,
it's the root cause of all diseases
right now that, and, and it co, it
causes harm to the mitochondria.
Um, and so, you know, back to the
whole paleo, I don't think anybody
could, would have any negative
effects if they went to paleo.
And, and my, and my ethos is
gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar free.
Um, PS oil free and artificial sweetener.
right?
Artificial sweeteners are toxins.
Okay.
Most people don't know that as Peram
was invented when they were trying to
make another, um, um, pesticide, right?
And I don't know what guy in the lab was
inventing a pesticide and, and tasted it.
Hey, this is sweet
Right, right.
someone did.
And so it's a pesticide and
it, because of that, it.
your microbiome.
And that's a whole nother
conversation we have.
How important the microbiome is.
And so what I like about Paleo
is it supports your microbiome.
It supports healing your gut.
And again, it's a lifestyle.
I, you know, I was talking to
you and I have a small ranch.
You have a small ranch.
I raise sheep, I raise meat, chickens, I.
Egg chickens.
Um, we sell our sheep from farm
to table for friends and family.
Uh, it's all organic.
Um, you know, we, they're grass fed.
Um, and, uh, the paylor
lifestyle is about that.
It's also about, you know, where
did your animals come from, where
the humanely raised and slaughtered.
Uh, did they come from a cao, which is
a concentrated animal feed operation,
which is absolutely the devil.
It's terrible for everybody.
Um, does.
Where are your foods coming from?
Are these people being treated fairly?
Are they being paid well?
Is it fair trade?
Is it organic?
I mean, it's a lifestyle that you have
to embrace because again, you and I've
spoken about this, like we've been so
Misled
misled.
We're like
a very polite way.
Yes, we, we have, we've been bamboozled
to think that convenience is what
it's all about and yada, yada, yada.
It's actually killing us.
I mean, it's, it's, it's despicable
and it, and frankly it pisses
me off and it, you know, there's
times I literally come to tears.
it's, well, it's horrifying and
because you see, and I see all the
time, I mean there, there is so much
chronic illness and it's unnecessary
like this, that this is not it.
It's not rocket science.
And it's not the way it's supposed to
No, and, and you brought up
a point I wanna highlight.
About this, the, the difference of,
we, we talk about it sometimes as
as quality, um, but you know, talk
about animals that are pastured,
humanely raised, humanely slaughtered,
um, that is completely different.
I, and again, I grew up low fat.
I eat, I will, I have
no interest in another.
You know, boneless, skinless chicken
breasts my whole life, . Um, I
actually don't eat a lot of chicken.
I, I
Good.
You're better off.
yeah, I can only handle little, but
I do eat a lot of grass-fed red beef.
Um, and, you know, I, and again, some
people listening are gonna say, you know,
I don't live in Colorado, and that's fine.
There are other ways
to access high quality.
You know, protein sources.
I, yes, I'm blessed.
I, I know, you know, the rancher who
grew my cow that's in my freezer, you
know, and I know how it was raised.
I got to see the, the ranch,
you know, I know the people.
Um, and so not everybody is going to
have that level, but just like you were
talking about how McDonald's isn't real
food, you know, that's a whole nother.
Story about, you know, beef
is bad, red meat is bad.
They're talking about feedlot meat,
commercial factory farmed meat.
Totally different, literally different
Well, they also feed them, you know,
grains,
Paper stock.
They feed 'em expired candy.
They feed them garbage.
I saw a video of, um, a
pork factory, uh, farm.
They were literally feeding
these pigs garbage from the dump
with plastic containers in it.
And there's, there is literally a
government document that says the pork
feed can have this much plastic in it.
Right.
It's disgusting.
it's disgusting and.
I actually have to drive.
Passed a feed lot from
my house to the clinic.
I'm in the clinic once or twice a week,
and otherwise I'm working from home.
And I, you know, again, I live in
this beautiful area and we've got
access to these amazing things and.
I mean, there's a, you know, cuz you
li so I, I know you understand when
somebody says, smells like Greeley,
even though you lived in Boulder, right?
Like , it is not natural.
Yes.
Yeah.
When the wind would shift, it would
go all the way down to Boulder.
Um, that is not healthy.
Nobody should be eating that kind of meat.
And yeah,
you know, the thing is about the CAOs.
Okay.
Uh, I mean, this is, could
be a whole nother podcast.
I mean, there's so much to unpack
and all this stuff, and that, I
mean, I love why we're doing this.
Again, we'd spoken about why we're doing
this, and it's to get the word out.
It's, you know, the, the World Economic
Forum and all these world leaders
are talking about a great reset.
Okay?
And it's.
What you and I want, but I think there's
a great reset coming and it's from
people like us and the grassroots reset
of, of, of, you know, COVID pulled
back the curtain of the man pulling
the levers like in the Wizard of Oz.
Right.
right.
And a lot of us are like, have woken up.
I, I think you and I are already
kind of awake just because
of the realms that we're in.
But I think a lot of Americans
all of a sudden went like, . Oh
my God, what's going on here?
And, but this, this applies to what we're
talking about, food, meat, CAO rays,
concentrated animal feed operations.
They are the devil.
They're bad for the environment,
they're bad for the animals.
They're bad for the
people that work there.
They're bad for the
people that eat the food.
They're, they're just bad, bad, bad.
You know what they're good for?
They're good for the corporate profits
Yeah, that's
Okay.
And so what we're you were
talking about earlier is, you
know, grass fed, um, the whole
pastured, you know, it's, it is different
and there's nothing to be afraid of
if you're eating protein that was
raised this way, which is the perfect,
you know, you've talked about paleo
as a lifestyle, so if you're eating.
You know, commercial beef, feedlot beef,
you're not eating paleo because they're
eating corn and grains and trash, and
you are eating whatever the animal ate.
And so that's how that works.
Including the antibiotics.
Yes.
Yeah.
80% of all antibiotics
in the United States.
Actually, I think it's gone down a
little bit because there's, like, in
the hospitals, we had what was called
antibiotic stewardship programs, right?
We don't want to give antibiotics
nearly willy to just everybody.
You know, people come in with an upper
respiratory infection or sore throat.
They're like, who can I have a Z-Pak?
Can I have antibiotics?
We had to say, no, this
is likely a viral issue.
Go home and you know, help build
your immune system, whatever, blah,
but even that's a course correct
cuz it used to be antibiotics
for everybody all the time.
Yeah, absolutely.
And so in these, uh, CAOs, because
the conditions are so bad for the
animals and, and I'm talking beef,
chicken, pork, you name it, it's bad.
They're so concentrated that they
feed them antibiotics to keep them
from, you know, getting sick and
then having some disease spread
throughout the entire, uh, operation.
They found out a long, long
time ago that when you feed cows
antibiotics, they get fatter faster.
And the, you know, the same
thing happens to humans when you
take antibiotic put on weight.
And there there's actually
studies that I include.
I do, I, I love doing the research
cuz I'm so passionate about this.
And they, they've, they've shown,
studies have shown that if you are, um,
exposed to antibiotics, Nine times by
the time you're four, you have like a
90% chance of being overweight and obese.
Um, if you are exposed to antibiotics
once, um, as a child, you are at an
increased risk of being overweight.
And so these.
Big corporations who are there
to make money off of you, they
understand, Hey, if I feed these cows
antibiotics, they're gonna get fat.
And guess what I could sell?
They, they, they cost more
to buy, and then we butcher,
and then blah, blah, blah.
And so, you know, it's, it again, it,
it's all about, you know, the lifestyle.
And a again, I could, I could go
on and on about the whole, oh,
cows are causing climate change.
That's the biggest crock of horse pucky
Feed lots.
Feed lots are, are causing
climate change, not cows.
. We need the cows.
there is.
And I
Try farming without animals.
It doesn't work.
no.
And uh, you know, I love the whole
regenerative farming and regenerative
agriculture that's going along,
you know, with Polyface Farms
and, you know, Joel Salad did.
amazing.
We were talking bef and that's,
it gives me hope, right?
We were talking about this is why
we're doing this, and yes, we're
angry , and yes, you know, we, we've
been, we've all been bamboozled and,
and you and I now know better and
we're trying to spread the word.
Um, but there is hope, the
regenerative farming movement.
Functional medicine, paleo,
lifestyle, all of it.
Um, and, and my audience is
very familiar with, um, AIP p
Autoimmune, paleo, uh, it, it's.
I, I think whatever form, but when,
when you're, I joke, when I tell
my story, um, I thought I was paid.
I say I, I was doing it wrong.
I, I thought I was , so I was, you know,
it's not, you talk about lifestyle, it's,
it's back to, it's not just what you're
avoiding, it's what you're including.
Right.
So I, I was.
Or what you might not be including.
In my case, when I first thought I
was paleo, I was again fat phobic.
. And I remember getting like paleo
cookbooks and I, you know, I was
gonna dive in and they had coconut
oil, butter, and all these fats
that I was like, you know, so I
would cook it, but without the fat.
So I, I was like low fat,
still avoiding grains, um, uh,
at low fat, high carb paleo.
I, I managed to do.
So Even like if you're eating a lot of
processed paleo, You're probably getting
a lot of sugar and, and a lot of crap
that, and there's a lot of those, you
know, artificial sweeteners being used
in the quote unquote paleo products.
Yeah, for sure.
And again, um, I mean, I, I kind of
see where we can go with this too,
is like we should, you know, here,
here's how you, if you wanna change
your life and your health and wellness,
stop eating processed foods, period.
Stop going out to dinner.
Um, Eat whole foods at home, um,
you know, eat vegetables, uh, small
berries, um, you know, don't, you
don't wanna be eating, you know, two
apples and four bananas every day.
It's a lot of sugar.
It's too much sugar.
Again, sugar gums up the mitochondria
and again, it makes 'em run poorly.
You get more reactive oxygen species,
more inflammation, and so on and so forth.
But, you know, you, you have to look.
Food as information and food.
Food is really important.
You know, it's, it's one of
the, the one of the joys we
have as human beings is eating.
And, you know, I I, I'm also
work in a hospice clinic and,
um, and I've seen a lot of that.
Um, you know, food is, it's, food
is information for yourselves.
Food is community, food is love.
Food is memories like, I mean, we
have so many deep ties back to food.
I mean, I, I, there's a
couple of my favorite foods.
I think they're my favorite foods
because it reminds me of, you know,
the big family parties that we
used to have when I was growing up.
And so, you know,
I've yet to encounter a client
whose, you know, emotional.
Happy food is salad that their,
their childhood memory feel good.
Food is, is never vegetable based.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, I mean, you know, it, it could
be, and I mean, it, it also depends.
Here's actually, now that's a good
point that you bring up because, you
know, when we start, I don't know.
I mean, I was.
The, the processed food and the sugars.
I'm 54 years of age and so,
Give me two months.
I'll catch up.
okay, good.
Um, you look great.
I never would've guessed
Oh, you're very kind
um, it all kind of started
about when I was born.
I mean, the processed food industry
came about after World War ii.
Because during World War ii, they
had to figure out how to get food
across the sea to our European troops
and other troops around the world.
And they did that.
They, they made processed,
you know, uh, long shelf
sustaining life, food, whatever.
So then all of a sudden they realized,
oh my God, this is, this is, wow.
This is a cash cow for us.
Yeah.
How convenient.
You know, and, uh, I once had a nurse
at, at the hospital I work with, and
she said something very profound.
She said, convenience is the killer.
and it really is, you know, um, going
back to food and why you should eat
food and like, I'm really blessed, uh,
my wife and I love to cook together.
If you don't know how to
have that too.
Yeah.
learn how to cook.
Yeah, absolutely.
If you want to eat good food,
you shouldn't learn how to cook
and it doesn't have to be fancy.
not at all.
high quality ingredients, you don't
need, you know, a a three hour recipe.
Oh, no.
Absolutely
food tastes delicious and your
taste buds change really quickly.
Um, which is the perfect segue into, I
want you to share with listeners about
your Ancestral Reset program because it,
to me, it's brilliant because you break
down, you handle all the resistances
when you know the, it's too hard.
I don't cook all the, all the
things, all the reasons why
people say they can't start.
With a Paleo lifestyle.
So share with us about your program
Um, thank you.
Um, I've made my program failure proof
basically, and it's, it's a, it's
a lifestyle transformation course.
It's not a diet.
Again, diets fail, lifestyles don't, and
so what I try to do is I, I get people to.
Seamlessly changed their lifestyle.
So basically what I've done is I've
devised a program, it's a 12 week
program, and then there's um, you
know, an continued optimization
program that I'm working on afterwards.
Um, and, but basically you get.
Delivered to your house,
you get 144 meals.
They're, I think they're great.
Uh, it's paleo meals, um, you
know, it's high quality protein.
It's all grass fed.
Um, and, and it's cage-free, grass-fed,
chicken, beef, all that stuff.
Uh, and then, uh, I've devised the
program, so it's, you know, high protein,
um, high veggies and kind of a lower carb,
but a, again, I'm not anti carb at all.
We need
We need carbs,
we hundred percent need carbs.
And I am
Good carbs.
Clean
Yes.
Yeah.
I'm not talking about Ben and
Jerry's . That's not what you need.
or donuts?
but then again, you know, here
I'm also about self-compassion.
You know what?
If you need to have some Ben and
Jerry's once in a while, eat it.
It's not gonna kill you.
It's when you eat it every day.
Unless it makes you feel
sick, that's different.
. Listen to your body.
Yes.
So my program is like, I've included
144 meals I've in, I include, um,
supplements for gut health, sleep,
energy, and cognition because those are
all pillars of functional health, right.
Um, I include, uh, a list of, you know,
Palolo MD approved snacks, um, and, you
know, some, some links that I can, I
can give my clients a, uh, a, a discount
on, cuz I have a a, a Paleo MD store
that I sell supplements in snacks.
And if, if anybody wants to see
it's the Paleo md.store, um,
use a code first 10 for 10% off.
If, I don't know if you have a
store like that or anything, Julie.
I do, but go to your, I
mean, it's not pale you.
You probably have more
focused for this conversation.
yeah.
Well, I'm, I'm not, uh, again, I, I,
I wanna share like, all ships rise
with the rising tide and like, I'm
not trying to, you know, take clients,
but just, just check it out people.
Um,
Absolutely.
Well, and again, if you're like, Ooh,
wait, there's an easier way to do
paleo or to get started, um, I say
ch you know, check out the store for.
Ah, thanks.
And one of the things I, I, I tell
these people is like, um, I also
institute, um, time optimized eating.
Okay.
And we had talked about this earlier.
I, I'm changing the word fasting.
I'm changing the word, time
restricted feeding because nobody
wants to fast, nobody wants to
restrict and nobody wants to feed.
When you say feeding, you
think of cows at a trough,
Yep.
So, um, Institute, time optimized
eating, and, um, that is one of the most
amazing ways to improve your health.
Um, it's, it's, I love it.
I fast or , I, Tom time optimize, eat
almost every day, like 99% of the time.
I am not eating for 16
hours a day, sometimes more.
And for me personally, what I always
try to, to encourage my clients to do
is to listen again, listen to your body.
Um, I once in a while, wake up hungry and.
, I'm gonna have a really good
nutrient intense breakfast.
It doesn't happen often, uh, but I'm not
like, oh no, I'm not in my eating window.
My time isn't optimized yet.
Like, no, listen to your body.
Yes, it takes maybe some time to get
used to when you're making changes,
um, but also, especially those of
us who went through chronic illness.
Found wellness, our first
tendency is usually to hold what's
working a little too tightly.
Um, and so I, I just wanna remind
listeners, you know that, that listening
to their body, and I love that you
said even for you, you know, it's 99%
like this is, this is my lifestyle.
It's not about perfection and, and
always hitting a hundred percent.
Yeah.
Funny cuz you live in Loveland and, uh,
Lauren Cordain, he is the guru of the
Paleo and he's from, from Fort Collins.
He's
Yeah.
C S U.
Yep.
And, uh, He is on his website.
Uh, it's uh, and the paleo lifestyle
is like, like 99% of the time I fast.
But on the food, and it's a 90
10 rule, it's an 85 15 rule.
If you do something 90% of the
time, you are gonna wreak the
benefits of it dramatically.
And so in America, we have it backwards.
It's really, really sad.
Um, people eat garbage.
They,
Yeah, your side salad is not compensating
for the other 90% of your diet.
That's for sure.
And, and again, I want, I wanna tell
people that it's not your fault.
Like you said, we've been
bamboozled, we're being like
sheep led to the slaughterhouse
in the name of corporate greed.
Okay?
That's, this all goes down
to corporate greed, period.
And they don't care about me.
They don't care about you, they
care about what's in your wallet.
So the, the lifestyle is,
Do it most of the time.
I, and I, one time in, one of my, in, I
also, in my program, they, they have 12
weeks of learning modules and um, you
know, group coaching calls that I run.
And one time I just randomly came up
with, oh, make it a habit not to have it.
Right.
What a great way to live a life.
And uh, yeah, you know what?
Lace potato chips, they're awesome.
Yes.
But you don't eat 'em every day.
You make it a habit not
don't eat them ever
Yeah.
I mean, yeah,
There are better potato to.
Somebody asked me that the other day.
Because I was, it was a, a family
member, a loved one, and I was kind of
dissing on their, I read the ingredients
on their chips and they were like,
why would you read the ingredients?
They're potato chips.
All of them are bad.
And I'm like, no, if I'm gonna eat a
potato chip, it's gonna be cook, you
know, and cooked in avocado oil and salt.
And that's it.
It's not gonna have a, a big
list and it, and I'm not gonna
eat them every day either.
Um, I love, you know, we're so aligned.
My weekly email that went out yesterday
was imperfect Action for the Win because.
It's not about perfection and perfection
will get you to stop doing the good
things if you're trying to be perfect.
And so, you know, I love that you brought
up the 90 10 or 85, 15 if you're, if
you're quote unquote on plan, right?
Honoring your lifestyle 90% of the time.
You don't need to do more than that, and
that's 90% more than people eating the
standard American diet are doing now.
So even before you hit 90, you're going
to notice improvements in your health and,
Even if you change one thing in
your life, um, you know, um, you can
improve your health dramatically.
And you, you talked about perfection
and, um, I, I, I have to say that.
The human body is genius and we have
thousands of redundancies in our
body to stay healthy, and there's
not much that's perfect in the world.
I think the human body's pretty perfect.
I mean, we are amazing and you sh
people should honor what we have.
We're lucky that we have this body.
Uh, we're blessed.
I mean, to think.
This , what we're actually
experiencing here is crazy.
I mean the, this experience called life
is amazing and people, you know, one of
the things that, like, one of the reasons
I created my program is because I saw in
the hospitals, in the clinics and like
people, when you're sick, life sucks.
You don't have the
Well, it
optimal life.
smaller and smaller and smaller and,
and that's, you know, this conversation
today is to give you the inf you know,
knowledge is power and so we're sharing
the knowledge that you have, the power.
to create wellness for yourself because
nobody else is going to do it for
and, and only you.
You know, I like to, we
talked about book titles.
One of my other titles, potential
titles in my upcoming book
was No One's Got You Back.
right?
It's only you.
I mean, in, in reality, you know
you're born alone and you die alone.
And in between you have support
from family, but you are the only
person that can control your health.
Right.
And it's very important.
And
and no matter what you've been
told, you can control your health.
Yeah.
And, and here's, here's something
that really bothers me, is
like people get a diagnosis of
diabetes or autoimmune disease.
So on and so forth, these chronic
illnesses, and the majority of doctors
have never said, Hey, you know what?
That's reversible.
right?
You can get rid of type two
diabetes a million percent
easily.
In fact, you know, um, I'm a member of
the American College of Lifestyle Medicine
and they just came out with a position
paper that says the treatment goals for
type two diabetes is complete resolution.
It's not maintenance, it's re.
Why not?
I joke.
So, you know, in Julie Michaelson
coaching, I focus on autoimmunity
and at the clinic I work with
all kinds of people and I'm like,
please send me the diabetics.
Like, it's so easy, , it's such a quick
hit and it doesn't take a long time.
Once people understand, I, I once had a
cl a client, she has type one diabetes.
Um, and she was, when she was first
diagnosed, you know, they sent her to a
diabetes coach, which I didn't realize.
There was something called a diabetes
coach, and now I know why I didn't know
about it because her diabetes coach
didn't tell her that she shouldn't be
eating oatmeal every day for breakfast.
No, just use more insulin.
You'll be fine.
Yeah, I was like, I, you know,
she couldn't believe like
her neuropathy got better.
She wasn't having to add bolus to her
pump, her insulin, you know, she didn't
used to be able to sleep through the
night because, you know, she just, she
was just burning through insulin and it
was like some of those kind of things like
they're, again, that's when I get angry,
like, how can somebody be a diabetes
coach and not tell you to go low carp
Like, that doesn't make sense to
me, but, That's a different, yeah.
a whole different podcast
yeah.
And, and I look forward to
when an autoimmune diagnosis,
treatment should equal resolution.
Right.
well, I mean, I, I personally
have helped people.
Resolve their autoimmune disease.
I mean, I'm sure so have you.
And it
of course, this is, yes.
the, the whole point, the whole plan of
autoimmune disease should be resolution.
Here's my question for you.
You're, you're way more into autoimmune.
You're up to your eyeballs
more than me, right.
So, okay.
as homo sapiens, we've been
evolving 500 to 750,000 years.
Okay?
Every generation getting fitter,
faster, smarter, stronger, living
a li little bit longer than the one
previous now until the last 50 years.
Right?
So, and, and the, the amount of autoimmune
disease has absolutely skyrocketed.
It's astronomical.
My question to you, being a, an expert
in that field, was there autoimmune.
15, 20,000 years ago.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna guess no.
I would say no.
even when I was diagnosed, which
was in the early two thousands.
It was still rare.
Like, I mean, that's how much it's
changed was, you know, I remember
them saying, and I was in my thirties,
you know, oh, you're so young.
Well now somebody in their thirties
is diagnosed with autoimmunity.
A, it's not rare.
B, they're not young like . It's not.
Same thing though, before that, about
a decade before that, I was working
at Nova Southeastern University
with AU well autistic children.
Autism was rare in the nineties.
. It's not rare anymore.
So if we don.
Like, tap the brakes and look up and
say, okay, what is going on here?
Um, you know,
and look up
seriously like it, you know,
this is the wake up call.
And again, this is why you and I
are optimistic that things are are
changing because we are having the
conversations and, and people are
listening and, and it's a process
and one of the most satisfying.
Things in my work is, you know, yes, a
helping people reverse their symptoms
and, and life get bigger and better again.
But really it's the ripple effect, right?
Then their children are growing up
eating real food and the, the, you
know, healthy paleo lifestyle and,
and um, that's how we create change.
100%.
Absolutely.
And you know, I tell people, I tell people
that I'm talking to you about my program
and like, you know, do you have children?
Do you have kids?
Do you have grandkids?
Do you wanna see them grow up?
And here's here two things.
A scary statistic I heard.
I don't know what to believe anymore,
but by 2030, they're expecting if,
if it continues, the away it's going.
That every male child born in the United
States of America will have some form
of autism will be on the spectrum.
Well, if you look at what I was just
saying, how rare it was back when I
was teaching and how common it is now.
If that, if that makes sense, if the
trajectory continues the way it's going,
that, that, that will be, uh, a fact.
And I would add, and I, I'm just making
this up, but logically, , almost every
female will have autoimmunity as well.
right?
Like, it, it's a, so, you know, it's, it's
time for us to, to create that change.
So you covered so many amazing
tips, um, and really I, for where
can people check out your program?
Uh, it's on, uh, www.thepaleomd.com.
That's, uh, my website there.
And then, um, you know, like I said,
uh, the Paleo md.store, they can follow
me on Facebook at, uh, the Paleo MD and
on Instagram at the Paleo MD as well.
Perfect.
I love consistency.
cross platforms.
It makes it so easy.
I'm trying, I'm trying to
And all of this is, is gonna be in
the notes too, but I know I tend to
listen to podcasts when I'm moving
. And so, um, sometimes it's just nice
to hear and they're like, oh, okay.
That I can remember.
I'm gonna go check it out.
I know you covered lots and lots and
lots already, but we always love to,
to throw you under the bus and ask
you to give listeners one action step.
What's one thing they can start
today to start to improve?
Oh, that's way too narrow.
I know it's so hard.
It's the hardest question.
Um, well, I mean, we talked about.
Gluten, dairy, sugar.
We talked about, uh, fasting.
I, I do wanna, I, I do wanna add
that about fast time-restricted.
Time optimized eating.
It's not for everybody.
If you have.
anorexia.
If you have bulimia history of if
you are pregnant or breastfeeding,
it's not for everybody.
Or if you have cachexia, uh, which
it means, uh, decreased muscle mass
from something from a chronic disease
like cancer or something, or just,
you know, very, very thin and frail.
I would, I would venture to say,
um, the number one recommendation.
God, it's so hard to just
pick one cuz they're all so.
The starting point.
health is multifactorial
the starting point.
Get rid of gluten,
thank you.
Ah, . It's my favorite.
stop eating wheat, period.
That's it.
That's the number one thing.
Okay.
And then, you know, try to get rid of
dairy sugar, but, but stop eating wheat.
Okay.
And, you know, um, and, and read,
I mean, I could say, and, and, and,
and, but , I mean, I have so much
Nope, I'm cutting you off.
Okay.
That's okay.
Well, next time,
But you are gonna come back, um, because
we have a, we have so much more to talk
about, but I'm going to be excited to
have you back on in the fall when you
are launching your new book, and we
Thank you.
We can take that in any of
the million directions of the
things we like to talk about.
Um, so I, Rob, thank you so, so much.
This was so much fun for me and,
and so much gold for listeners.
Um, and again, it, it's just
been such pleasure to have you.
Well, thank you.
It's, it was really, really nice to
meet you and talk to you and get to
know you a little bit more as well.
And, and again, I wanna commend
you and celebrate you for
what you're doing and helping.
How you are helping because,
You're reaching so many people
through what you're doing, and
again, this is the grassroots, the
great reset that we need is us.
It's not, you know, the medical big
pharma, big food, industrial complex.
We need this.
And so thank you.
I wanted to say celebrate you for that.
My, my pleasure and my
mission, so thank you for that.
And for everyone listening, remember, you
can get the show notes and transcripts
by visiting Inspired Living Show.
I hope you enjoyed this
episode as much as I did.
I will see you next week.