Beauty...
Be your own
kind of beautiful
Be your own
kind of beautiful
By Mollysims.com
Want to jumpstart your metabolism & become a natural fat burner? Meet Dr. Will Cole – the founder of intuitive fasting. Dr. Cole, one of the top functional-medicine and integrative doctors in the nation, is here to teach us the importance of being your own health advocate and is giving us insider tips to looking and feeling better. Listen as we discuss everything you need to know about fasting and the real reasons why it decreases inflammation and gives you the best natural energy. Get ready to hear what he eats in a day, the healthy alternatives to unhealthy snacking, and the RIGHT way to do keto.
Listen to the full episode here:
Dr. Cole starts the episode by explaining, “just because something is common doesn’t mean it’s normal. Through functional medicine, we judge optimal health not by just what’s normal or average. We get to the root of the problem.” His number 1 advice is:
“Be your own health advocate.”
He explains, through conventional medicine, “They’re diagnosing to give medication.” He recommends having several conversations, asking questions, and asking for your lab results.
“This type of fasting was born out of my own clinical experience. It is created for you to have an intuitive relationship with eating. Check-in with yourself. See how you’re feeling. Fasting won’t be intuitive at all at the beginning.”
“Fasting is a way to fuel your body. It also provides your body with clean fuel which will then give you increased energy”, explains Dr. Cole. “It also lowers inflammation. It gives your stomach an opportunity to focus on creating energy rather than digestion.”
Dr. Cole explains, “I’ve combined the Ketotarian food plan with intuitive fasting. And I don’t actually recommend ketosis full-time. I recommend it to be used as a tool. What I usually recommend is to do it for 60 days at a time. Not all the time. It’s really a matter of what works for your body. You can personalize it and do what works for you.”
Dr. Cole explains what a proper elimination diet looks like, and he recommends all his clients do the elimination diet to find out what their triggers are. “For example nuts and seeds are great, but some people flare up when they eat them. It’s the same thing with tomatoes,” explains Dr. Cole. He goes on to mention the inflammation quiz on his website, and his book titled The Inflammation Spectrum. “I can have a great food that works wonders for one person and then makes another person flare up. I try not to make too many broad sweeping statements,” explains Dr. Cole.
“One person’s food medicine is another person’s food problem”
“First you’d want to decrease the inflammatory ‘Core 4’ I have mentioned in my book,” says Dr. Cole. See below for the top 4 foods to decrease inflammation.
“You’re going to want to cut back on grains like wheat, rye, barley, and spelt. Researchers have found that our genetics haven’t changed for thousands of years but our food has. The grains we are eating now, are not the same grains they were years ago.”
“Cutting back on conventional dairy will help you determine if they are a trigger food.”
“Make sure you are reading labels for added sugar. Look at grams of added sugar and the quality of it. Anything ending in -ose you don’t want it. Be mindful of knowing what is in the food you’re eating. Also, look for fad words like coconut nectar or agave nectar. Those are all sugar too.”
“Industrial seed oils are high in omega 6 fats can drive inflammation levels up in the body.”
“Most people have really unhealthy guts. To get inflammation levels calm, add some soups or stews into your diet. The stomach is the home to 70-85% is where the immune system lives, so you need to take care of it.”
Dr. Cole explains it doesn’t have to be hard, “you just need to get better alternatives. Avoiding things that make you feel like crap isn’t discipline it’s self-respect. We all need to have a paradigm shift and find a different way to go through this.”
Emese interjects and says, “but what if I have gone wild?” Dr. Cole recommends for recovery to have, “activated charcoal and digestive enzymes. I think that having more soups and stews the day after, even a brothing day will give your body the chance to calm down and reset. You can also support detox pathways through sweating. Sweating can help clean things out. 95% of serotonin is stored in the gut. Supporting your gut with sweating it out will make you feel better and boost your mood.”
“I typically do an 18 hour fast during the day and my eating window is from 12-6. In the morning I love to sip on earl grey tea, which supports your autophagy pathway (AKA anti-aging). I break my fast at lunchtime, where I’ll have a ketotarian style meal with salmon or grass-fed beef, lots of greens, and olive oil or ghee. For dinner, I love this pesto zoodles bowl I have in my book with beef or fish, and avocado fries with chipotle aioli. I also love to have Zevia. I love that Cola taste and it’s a great alternative to soda.”
“Food is first. You cannot supplement your way out of a crappy diet”
“Supplements can fill the gaps as our soil isn’t as nutrient-dense as it used to be,” explains Dr. Cole. “Vitamin D is a great example. We aren’t getting enough Vitamin D on a daily basis. B vitamins you can get from food, but they are also good to supplement, and most people are deficient in Magnesium, that’s why I’ve created that supplement. If you have an autoimmune problem that’s a different story.”
Dr. Cole mentions that autoimmune conditions have been growing rapidly throughout the years. He explains that SIBO stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. “Hallmark Sibo symptoms are uncomfortable bloating that gets worse toward the end of the day, feeling like you’re 9 months pregnant, and having to change your pants throughout the day because you can go up a few pant sizes in a day.”
Dr. Cole has always taught his kids, “food is first. As parents, we kind of have to permit what our kids are eating, but it should be fun and not feel restrictive. I like to say, ‘look at all this beautiful food that we get to eat,’ and teach it as a blessing. We are gluten-free in my home, and we aren’t super strict but we do have some non-negotiables.”
