Hi everyone, and welcome back to Airway First, the podcast from the Children's Airway First
Foundation.
I'm your host, Rebecca St. James.
My guest today is Raquel Norris, a nutritional therapy practitioner dedicated to helping
her patients reclaim their well-being and vitality through transformative nutrition
and lifestyle adjustments.
Raqi is deeply passionate about the intricate relationship between oral health and gut health,
recognizing their individual significance and enhancing your overall quality of life.
She's fascinated on how the condition of your gut can impact your oral health, and,
conversely, how your oral health can influence your gut.
Her primary objective is in guiding patients towards achieving balance within their body,
fostering holistic wellness from the oral cavity through the digestive system.
Over the course of her 15-year career as a registered dental hygienist, she has witnessed
firsthand the profound impact of gut and oral health on our overall well-being.
She believes that while there is growing awareness about the importance of gut health and its
influence on our vitality, not many people are aware of the crucial connection between
oral health and the gut, or how indicators of health issues throughout the body can manifest
in our oral health.
You can find out more about Raqi at ToothGut.com.
And now let's jump into my interview with today's guest, Raquel Norris.
All right, thank you for being on the show today, Raqi.
I appreciate it.
Thank you for having me.
Absolutely.
Great.
So, I'm going to jump in and we'll just start from there again because it kind of sets the
tone for the rest of the conversation.
What was it that led you to become a dental hygienist?
It's actually kind of a funny story.
So I was in the military prior and when I was stationed in Baghdad, Iraq on our volunteer
time, I volunteered with a dental medical team and I started to help out the dentists there
and I was like, huh, this is interesting.
I like this.
This is actually helping people instead of what I did in the military.
I was like a military cop and that wasn't the path I didn't want to go down now being
around the war and understand it.
I said I wanted to help people.
While I was stationed there, I looked into school and I was like, oh, I can be a dental
hygienist.
That's helping people get healthier mouths and preventing them from disease.
That's perfect.
Let's do this.
So, and that's what I did.
Then you did that right when you came out of the military?
So I didn't get out of the military until 2011, but I got into school.
I got back from Baghdad in 2006 and then I got signed up into college in 2007 and then
got into the program and did all that.
So, yep.
Nice.
So then what was it that caused you to switch from the traditional role of dental hygienist
into a more holistic nutritionist realm, area, facet?
Well, I'd always been earthly crunchy.
So I like to think outside the box.
The military, people knew that I didn't like to do certain things because I didn't want
toxins or I just always wanted to do things differently because I'm like, well, if this
is happening this way, I don't want that to happen.
So let's do it like our ancestors did.
I don't know.
I've always thought like that.
So then when I was in the modern-day dentistry, I started to notice my periopatients along
with family members that would have really good hygiene.
They brush, they floss, they come in every three months.
We reevaluate.
Sometimes we'd have to get deep cleanings, which is scaling and root planning.
And I noticed they were still coming back and I didn't understand why they were still
having trouble honing in on this gum disease.
And I'm like, there has to be more of a root cause than just what we're doing.
We're literally just putting a band-aid on something that's probably more systemic than
what's actually going on.
So that made me think.
And like I said, I had family members and I know their home care because I lived with
one of them, which was my mother.
I knew her home care.
But what I started to realize is, wait a minute, maybe it's not just their home care.
There's another component that's a very big component that isn't talked about and that's
nutrition.
And that's when I started to really do my own research and understand, oh my gosh, these
are just exposed bone talking about teeth.
And if the exposed bone in our mouths aren't healthy, then of course, how is the rest of
the body going to be healthy if we can't keep that exposed bone?
So then I got into, in 2020, I went back to school and became a nutritional therapist.
All right.
Then that makes complete sense.
So then that kind of ties into why we're here because I'm sure people are tuning in like,
why are we talking about this?
This is not airway.
This is not sleep apnea.
But it is.
Hold on.
It's all connected.
It is.
It's all connected.
It is.
So let's take into this now.
Now we've set the tone.
So now let's really get into how oral health is connected to our gut health, which is connected
to everything else.
So how does it all relate?
Well, we're not walking heads.
So we have a whole body attached.
And I think in society, we run around with dragging our bodies everywhere we go.
And even in modern day dentistry, which I love what I do, I love being a dental hygienist,
but we seem to sever the neck down.
Don't really correlate that there is a body attached to that mouth.
And I even tell my clients, your number one nutrition that we always should be getting
is oxygen.
That's the number one key nutrition that you need.
That's the one thing that's going to keep you alive.
And if that airway is blocked, or if you're not breathing correctly like your body needs
you to, then of course, everything else is going to fall apart.
So how is the oral health connected to the gut?
It's everything.
That is your second brain.
And honestly, I like to call it the first brain because it even tells your brain what
to do if you don't have everything in balance.
If you have everything in balance, then of course, your brain is one and then your stomach.
But honestly, if your gut's in balance, that's what's telling your moods, the way you sleep,
your energy levels, the way your body functions and tells your brain this is what's going
to be happening because everything's all out of whack.
So how does what we eat, obviously specifically I'm looking for, how does what we eat impact
not just our gut, but our sleep.
Obviously our moods, I think we all know sugar got that one.
But what are some of the other ways?
So other ways that sleep, sorry, you broke up a little bit.
I'm sorry, that's all right, that the food what we eat can impact our sleep.
Yeah, it has everything to do with it because your number one goal your body wants to do
is maintain blood sugar.
So like you said, if it's spiking all over the place, if it always has to maintain your
blood sugar, it's not going to make sure that you're sleeping properly.
It's not going to make sure your adrenals are functioning properly, which the adrenals
literally secrete hormones that make sure everything is kind of regulated and your moods.
And then everything's going to become second nature, it's not going to be first nature.
So your foods definitely impact everything you do from eating processed foods to eating
something from the earth.
It just depends on what you're gravitating towards.
And if you're gravitating towards more of the processed stuff, you're going to see a
decline in your sleep, in your blood sugar levels, in your energy levels to all the major
organs because your body or your gut can't process that and take the nutritionally dense
foods that you're supposed to have and absorb them.
They're just going to flush them out or they're going to absorb them and they're going to keep
them as toxin actually and that'll accumulate and again get you off balance and not be stable
like the body wants you to.
Because the body always just wants to be balanced.
Right, homeostasis.
Yeah, homeostasis, from your mouth to your gut to everything.
So kind of to that though, you're not just talking the dreaded happy meal processed food.
I mean, there are other things and I know this is a mom because I've gone through this
list and gone, ugh, because we've all done it.
But it's everyday things here have have a juice pouch, have a thing of crackers.
I mean, there's these little things that we're giving our kids every day thinking, no, no,
it's healthy.
It's okay.
It's a juice pouch.
Yes, yes.
Actually, that's just liquid candy, honestly.
Yeah, sugar.
It's just pure sugar, processed sugar.
I'd rather see a kid eat an apple than have those liquid pouches.
Even those veggie pouches, they are good.
They're better than that.
But still, it's still the way that they're processed.
It's like liquid candy.
So it's the same thing and you got to be really careful as a parent because I'm guilty of
it too, thinking, oh, this is healthy, but you got to think of it in a long term effect.
What does it do to their blood sugar?
How does this actually get processed from their teeth to their mouth to their down to
their stomach?
And are they able to let that funnel out properly?
Does it back them up?
Because that's a big thing too.
If a child's backed up, they're not going to sleep properly.
They're going to toss and turn.
And then it's going to cause all issues like ADHD or hyper, just very, what's the word
I'm looking for?
Very hyper.
Right.
Hyperactivity.
Yep, yep.
And it definitely takes away their childhood with just something simple as having an apple
instead of a juice pack.
Here and there, that's fine.
Like you said, having a child here and there, that's fine.
I give my kids happy meals too just because I'm a holistic nutritionist.
But do I do it every week?
No.
So, yep.
It is, it's about balance and this is the, I guess for this episode, this will be the
time where I insert because I do it every episode.
Let's just hang that mom guilt up over here on the side because you don't know what you
don't know.
We're all doing the best we can.
That's why we're sharing this information.
So, exactly.
It's all good.
So you mentioned that some of the foods, even the good ones, your body kind of hoards
and it can turn into toxins.
Yes.
So, explain that a little bit.
So everybody's bio individual.
So that just means that every person has their own individual way of processing foods that
we eat on a daily basis.
Everybody thinks an apple's healthy, but it might not be healthy for you, Rebecca, but
it's healthy for me because I know when I chew it thoroughly, you know, do the 20, 30
bites, then you swallow it.
I know my stomach's going to process it and it's going to go where it needs to.
But if I'm not going to the bathroom or funneling, I like to call it funneling.
I talk about stool a lot with my clients.
Love that funneling.
I've never heard that.
Oh, I'm so using that.
Oh, take it.
Take it.
Funneling.
If you're funneling properly, like apples, I can't funnel.
They back me up so I can't run out.
And it's trial by error.
But just watch your children, watch yourself and say, I know I can't process that.
So don't have it every day.
So if they can process that or funnel that, then that food is good for them.
So like we're even talking about McDonald's and I joke around, if you can process McDonald's
and I'm talking like there's a stool chart and one goes to little pellets is number one
and then seven is like liquid, right?
We want an individual between three and four, right?
And that's usually like a sausage shape.
Soft and solid.
And you should have no problems going to the bathroom.
But if it's like that and you're having McDonald's, then I would say, okay, you can process that.
I don't know how much nutrients you're getting out of that McDonald's food, but at least
you can process that.
You're not bloating, you're not burping, you don't have gas.
Those are signs and symptoms that your body can't process that food.
If you don't have any of that, by all means, have the Happy Meal.
I'm not going to judge you if you can process that.
But if you're having bloating, gas, burping, you have to run to the bathroom or you don't
go to the bathroom for a couple of days, I would be more mindful of that because like
I said, your body will hoard that as toxins.
And when your body starts to hold onto those toxins, then your body's not going to properly
balance like it is.
And it's going to over accumulate with bacteria, fungus, more toxins, parasites, you have the
whole gamma.
And it's these toxins and parasites that are causing or can cause a lot of the oral health
problems.
And I was just going to link that because most people, and I don't like hounding on modern
dentistry, but modern dentistry, what I've been taught is that grinding and clenching
is because you're stressed.
No, no, it's not.
It's parasites.
So yes, post nasal drip, parasites.
So I had post nasal drip back in, well, my whole adult life, honestly.
And I thought it was because I'm from California and I moved to Massachusetts.
And I'm like, oh, you know, it's damper here.
It's just how it is.
And I've always had post nasal drip.
Then I started taking these supplements.
Of course, I've changed my whole diet becoming, like I said, I was earthly crunchy before,
but like now I'm in the deep end, right?
And I started taking these supplements and it's amazing what came out of my system.
I thought it was pretty healthy.
And I'm kid you not, for a year and a half, I have not had post nasal drip.
Wow.
Yeah.
And I'm an abode grinder too.
So and I used to blame it on the military, right?
And being overseas.
But I don't grind and I don't have post nasal drip.
It's amazing.
That is amazing.
That is wild.
I'm a walking, you know, and I had parasites and I didn't believe it.
Like, literally I didn't believe it.
And then when I started doing the protocol for it, I was like, this is mind blowing and
all my.
This is that oral biome though that we hear people talk about, right?
Oh yeah.
Yep.
Oh yeah.
Those little suckers get everywhere.
Oh wow.
Wow.
And you know, shout out by the way to Massachusetts, it is wicked awesome and has my heart as they
say.
So I saw that on there.
Yeah.
Thank you.
You moved to a great place.
Let me just say.
Yep.
All right.
So you kind of touched on a little bit about modern dentistry and I'll just second it.
We're not bagging on that.
That's not what we're saying.
No.
But for so long as with just traditional medicine in general, let's, you know, let's put a bandaid
on it.
Let's treat the symptoms.
Why aren't we going for, I mean, we have this knowledge.
It's out there and there's people like you out there practicing it, sharing it.
Why are we still bandating things?
Why is this happening?
I think a lot of people are starting to wake up honestly, like listening to this, you know,
your podcast and understanding that wait a minute, there's more to the story or more
than.
I think it's definitely stirring people, but they still tend to do it in their own way
because that's what they know.
And but people are starting to question because and not dogging on even modern day medicine,
but they're starting to question doctors like, wait a minute.
So if I have to take this pill, what does this lead to?
Why can't I just do this and that instead of taking just this pill?
You know, if I take this pill, then I'm going to have to take this pill and then this pill
and then age is leaked.
So they're starting to question.
I definitely noticed and even in dentistry, they're starting to question like, well, if
I have to get scanning and root playing done, I'm going to have to do this the rest of my
life for three months, right?
I can't get bone back and they're like, yep, there's nothing you can do.
And it tells me because I'm like, no, there is things you and people are starting to say,
oh, my body can heal itself and I think that's what people need to understand.
Even with airway, you can heal yourself 100% and have your airway expand even in, I don't
know the research or and I don't want to quote it, but it can be less than, you know, a couple
of years, right?
Somebody that has blocked airway, they can see a big, big, what's the word, come back.
Yeah, and improvement.
Then when they used to or how they used to breathe, it's incredible what the body can
do once you start understanding or being aware of what you need to correct to do it.
It's just because we've been taught a certain way and we're like, oh, this is the way.
Like people think, I've been breathing my whole life.
I know how to breathe.
Yeah.
No, we didn't.
No, no, no.
And I'm one of those people, I wasn't a mouth breather, but after talking to Patrick McEwan,
I was like, oh, oh, I'm doing it all wrong.
Oh, you know, and I have spent months practicing the breathing and making sure my tongue is
all the way up and and humming.
Yeah.
Humming is huge, huge.
Yeah.
No idea.
Yep.
No, nobody does.
And then yeah, we're starting to like, yes, yes.
Because we're talking about things like airway specifically, what are some of the things that
we could do to help it?
I mean, obviously I know for some people, inflammation can impact it, right?
Because it's going to, it's going to tie things.
I mean, I'm not talking about the high arch palates here.
I'm talking about some of the other things that I know we can control.
You know, as a mom and you're looking at your child that has, like you said, the constant
running nose maybe or severe allergies and we're having which translates into sleeping
issues.
What are some, where can you start as a mom?
What are some of the foods I'm supposed to look at it maybe from inflammation or something
else?
I always, and I don't want a dog on it, but I always look at dairy first.
Our dairy and that one hurts.
Yeah.
Our dairy in the country has been turned upside down.
It's not the dairy that your great-great-great grandmother grew up on.
And I see signs and it kills me and it's like, drink your milk.
I'm like, no, don't do that because it literally will fill your system with pus.
It's like crazy toxins.
What about like almond milk or coconut milk or things like that?
So that's the alternative and those are great.
I personally use almond milk.
I love coconut milk too to make certain dishes, but I always tell all my clients and anybody,
read the ingredients.
If you can't pronounce the name and you can't actually make it in your kitchen, do not use
it because that means your body can't process it.
It really means it's man-made and stuff that's man-made, your body can't process.
Even like we talked about McDonald's and stuff like that, it's nutritionally not dense food.
Your body can't absorb it.
So over time, if you're not having that dense food, your body's just going to break down.
If you're giving it the dense food that it needs, your body will actually thrive and
won't survive.
It'll actually thrive and heal itself and you'll see it over and over again.
But with that being said, dairy is the number one thing I always go to.
Most people that have, especially children, I've noticed they, when they have a lot of
dairy, they have really high dairy in their system.
They usually have allergies, asthma, upper respiratory and skin conditions.
That's what I've noticed.
Skin condition, okay.
Like eczema or...
Eczema, yeah.
Or you know that like chicken skin that the kids get?
Yeah, that too.
Wow.
So start with dairy.
Yeah.
And if you're going to have dairy, raw.
Because we still need dairy.
Really raw.
Raw.
So raw milk, raw cheese, you get it from your local farmers.
Another thing, being a holistic nutritionist, I say you need to know your community.
And that means the farmers in your community.
Once you get to know the farmers, you get to know how they feed them, how they're raising
them and where you can pick up your meats, your vegetables, your fruits and your milk.
Just like what your great-great-grandmother did.
She didn't go to Costco or, I don't know what stores you have, but she'd go to the store
to get stuff and they got it from the backyard and then they got it from their farmers.
No stock in shop.
No exactly, no stock.
Exactly.
Because another thing that people forget is when you literally eat from where you live,
you're getting the microorganisms that your body needs.
You're not getting them from Mexico.
You're not getting them from Texas.
You're not getting them from Canada.
That's where some of our food is from, California.
I live in Massachusetts.
How is that going to help my microbiome?
If I live in Massachusetts, if I'm eating blueberries from California, they have different
microorganisms than they do down the street where I should be eating.
Just like you should have the raw honey in your town because that helps with all the
allergies that you have because those bees pollinate from these.
I was about to say it's the bee thing, isn't it?
Because I've always heard get your honey from wherever you live and you take a tablespoon
of it a day and it will help with your allergies.
Exactly.
Yeah.
It's the same concept.
I did not realize that it translated to everything.
Yep.
It translates to everything from your meats to vegetables to your fruits to your dairy.
So get to know your local farmers.
That keeps them in business, of course, too, but it's kind of a share and take thing.
They share with you, you take, and then you're helping them.
It's very important and it's key, especially from oral to gut.
I suddenly feel like going to my farmer's market this weekend.
Please do.
They'll appreciate it and it'll be good for you.
Yeah, I'm horrible.
I never go.
Yeah.
You're listening to Airway First with today's guest, Raquel Norris.
You can find out more about the Children's Airway First Foundation and our mission to
fix before six on our website at childrensairwayfirst.org.
The CAF website offers tons of great resources for parents and medical professionals, including
videos, blogs, recommended reading lists, comprehensive medical research, podcasts, and so much more.
Parents are encouraged to join the Airway Huddle, our Facebook support group, which
was created for parents of children with Airway and sleep-related issues.
You can access the Airway Huddle support group at facebook.com backslashgroups backslashairwayhuddle.
Are you a medical professional or parent that's interested in being a guest on the show, or
perhaps you have an idea for an upcoming episode, then shoot us a note via the contacts page
on our website or send us an email directly at infoatchildrensairwayfirst.org.
As a reminder, this podcast and the opinions expressed here are not a medical diagnosis.
If you suspect your child might have an airway issue, contact your pediatric airway dentist
or pediatrician.
And now let's jump back into my interview with today's guest, Raquel Norris.
So again, you kind of touched on it, you're making this very easy for me, because how can
this holistic nutrition then actually heal something like gum disease?
Because even kids have it.
Oh yeah, yeah, I see genivitis all the time, like it's crazy, even in young kids' mouths,
but it's inflammation.
That's all it is.
Okay.
And so your mouth is literally just like your body talks to, your mouth can talk to you,
your teeth can tell you what's going on.
And you know in Chinese medicine, each tooth is connected to a system.
So your wisdom teeth are connected to your heart.
What do we do in this country?
We extract wisdom.
We take them out.
And then what's the number one killer in America?
Heart disease.
Wow.
And your teeth tell stories and your gums do too.
And when they're inflamed, that means that your bacteria in your gut is inflamed too.
So what we got to do is cut down on that inflammation.
We have to get nitty gritty and see what you're eating, what's causing that inflammation.
Going right back to that foundation, what can you digest?
And like I said, the first thing I do is pretty much dairy and then of course gluten, because
the gluten here in the States is totally different than in other countries.
I've had clients come with me on a protocol and then they go to Spain or Europe and they're
like, it's like I was healed.
But their restrictions for food is totally different than ours.
We have such a low standard and they have a higher standard.
It's incredible.
Just night and day.
Yeah.
So you can hear it.
It's so clear.
It's just crazy.
It's sad.
It really, really is.
I feel like we're in a war.
Yeah.
With food.
Well, yeah.
And as a carb addict, I'll admit it, that's kind of a hard one.
Oh yeah.
I love my carbs too.
No.
I'm not going to cook this.
It's just, you got to, I would be mindful of like where's that carb coming from?
That's where, you know, is it from the ground?
If it's from the ground, so at it, you know, but if it's processed, that's where I'd be
a little because there's higher sugar.
Your body's trying to maintain balance, right?
With your glucose.
If you're eating a ton of sugar, it's doing that roller coaster thing and it's hard to
keep up with.
So in this case, um, you're comparing something like I'm a baker.
So comparing something like, you know, your regular bread flour to like an almond flour
or a potato flour.
Is it better to go this way?
Or are they, they just as bad because they're processed and they, you know, that's how they
got into my kitchen.
Um, yes and no.
Okay.
Um, because like I said, our flour in the States is different than the flour that you
would get in France, right?
Okay.
Um, it's just how we process it.
Um, and how we get it into that bag.
Um, I would lean more towards the almond and like potato or cassava flour or any of that
because it's lower glycemic index.
Um, then the standard wheat flour.
We'll spike it right up.
And what gluten does is it mimics your tee three cells or the proteins in your thyroid.
So that's why a lot of people that have, um, Hashimoto's can have gluten because it literally
is mimicking those T-cells, um, or the protein in your thyroid.
So it over accumulates and then that's why, um, their thyroid gland is so off or off balance.
that's why people can't have gluten.
See, you're kind of mindful of that.
And then-
So then as a mom, I mean, okay,
now we've established farmers market, good,
stop and shop, selective, got it.
What about some of the more holistic stores?
I mean, not to name drop here,
but we're talking like Whole Foods or Fresh Time
or whatever you've got in your area.
What about these kind of places?
I, so especially living in Massachusetts,
you know, it gets cold here.
So yeah, I definitely, you know,
Trader Joe's and like Whole Foods.
And then I get frozen, even though they're coming from
California or Mexico or Florida or whatever.
And I freeze them and I have to use them in the winter time.
I don't, you know, have pineapple in the middle of January
because that's not seasonal.
And it's not gonna help anything internally
because my body is not custom to that.
If I lived in Hawaii all year round,
of course I could have a pineapple
and my body would love that.
I think we have an overabundance
of we can get whatever we want when we want it.
You gotta think primal.
So back even, you know, 100, 200 years, you know,
you couldn't find a pineapple in the middle of Massachusetts,
you know, in the middle of winter, you know,
it's gonna be more squash, potatoes,
that kind of thing, corn.
And that's what they ate accumulation of in the winter time.
So I kind of, my comfort foods, which are, you know,
potatoes and sweet potatoes and all that.
So I have more of those in the winter time
and then less, you know, the summery foods
like the blueberries or strawberries.
And we go, my kids love that stuff in the summertime.
Not to say that we don't have those in the winter time
because I have frozen, you know, strawberries and blueberries,
but we don't go as much as we, you know.
You limit it.
So I like your explanation of thinking primal too.
It does, it makes it.
It's, to me, that's easier than seasonal
because seasonal is kind of,
especially with everything almost, I mean, you know,
living up north, it snows in May.
So seasonal does not help me.
So I like primal, I like that.
And stick more with farmers.
I like that.
Yep, yep.
All right.
So why then, well, I mean, I guess I kind of already know
this going back to the basics of nutrients,
this nutrient dense food.
How do we do this basically to jumpstart our health
and our kids, right?
So you want to get them now, lay young,
let's set the precedent and give them the optimal health
span, because that's really what we're trying to do.
How do we do this?
You want to incorporate them in the kitchen.
You want them to help out with dinner, with breakfast.
And I know we're always on the go.
I get it.
As moms are always just like,
we got to do this, this and this and this.
But I think we need to slow down.
Our kids are very present.
We're not very present.
Sometimes it's moms.
But it's so easy just to be like, no, I'm going to get this done.
It's going to be done in 30 minutes and then
dinner's on the table.
But if we actually incorporate our children,
they see how we're making the food.
And it's very basic.
Like I was telling you, primal stuff is very basic.
It doesn't have to be this fancy thing.
It's just one of the favorite things that my kids like to make
with me is shepherd's pie.
And that's something that we have in the wintertime.
Now, mind you, it's not an actual pie.
I use potatoes.
But it's very basic.
I mean, do mashed potatoes on top with vegetables on bottom.
I even stink in like Brussels sprouts.
They don't know.
They still eat it.
So and I incorporate, you know, they do the potatoes with me
and they cut them and then they put them in.
Getting our kids invested in how to prepare foods.
I think as a society, we've moved away from that
because we want everything on the go.
And we don't do that anymore.
So that really shows our kids like, oh, mom's doing this.
So I should be doing this to make my body healthy.
They actually can value that growing up
so that they start doing it with their kids.
And like that can be passed down.
Because generationally, I think we've missed that.
I think you're right.
I have such amazing memories of my grandmother
and cooking with her, my great-grandmother,
and just the smells and just, yeah.
Yeah, but you're right.
We are too busy.
How are you going to do it?
We don't have to. Oh, it's six already.
Let's just go pick something up.
Yeah, yeah.
And that doesn't help.
So you've heard of the sympathetic nervous system
and the parasympathetic, right?
So the sympathetic is your stress and like, you know,
survival mode.
And then the parasympathetic is relaxed and relaxed and digest.
And for kids and us adults, like I said,
we don't relax enough anymore.
We're always going.
And that's, you know, the fight and fight, you know,
or the survive and go.
And when we're about to eat, if you're not
in that parasympathetic state, you're
not going to digest anything.
So even though you do the 20 bites and you swallow,
you're still on the go and your body hasn't adjusted yet.
So when you're preparing foods, you're actually
going into that parasympathetic state
and you're not in sympathetic, you know, the stress state
or the go state, you're in the digest and relaxed state.
OK, that's why preparing it gets it literally starts,
of course, in your brain, but then it gets your saliva going
because you couldn't like you were saying about your grandmother
smells, you can smell it, it gets your saliva going.
So it's flowing and you're like, oh, that's going to smell so good.
And then you start thinking about that and you start savoring.
And then it gets the the soft, I guess, going and then your stomach
starts to turn and it is getting ready to eat.
When you're like, oh, my gosh, it's six o'clock
and you're going to, you know, McDonald's, it's not preparing you.
You're still in that go.
Your saliva hasn't gone.
You know, you haven't started to think about it
and you're not relaxing in it and your body's not ready for processing
because it thinks you're in survival mode.
So it's shut down everything.
So it just pushes the food.
It's not really.
Yeah. And you have no nutritional value in that at all.
It says that's awesome.
So OK, so let's let's kind of shift gears then and think as a parent,
you know, you're going to have soccer practice and baseball practice
and rugby and whatever else.
So. What are some things we can do to prepare?
I mean, I'm sitting here thinking about, all right, what if I dehydrated apples?
There's a great snack. Let's throw it and go.
I mean, it doesn't make a difference if we do things like that.
If we you want to give them the occasional cookie or something after school,
something sweet, what if I make it at home versus buying it in the store?
I mean, are these kind of changes?
Will they make enough of an impact is a great place to start?
Is it just if you're not doing everything, it doesn't work?
No, I think you just hit something big.
Yes, it does.
It makes a huge impact on from, you know, your kids' moods to how they interact
to how they sleep to, you know, their whole body developing to their nervous system.
Because if you're giving a cookie that you bought from, I don't know, the local.
Biggery, you don't know what kind of ingredients there are.
So there can be chemicals in it.
There can be guys, there can be hydrogenated oils, all of that.
And then if you're making the cookie, first of all, you're putting your energy
into it and you put that love into that cookie, right?
They can feel that just like you you've smelled your grandmother's cooking.
It's the same thing.
It's these are grandma's cookies.
Well, these are mom's cookies.
And then on top of it, you know exactly what ingredients are in there.
So if it's chocolate chips, which are, you know, just chocolate, sugar and vanilla abstract.
And then whatever flour, just basic flour, sugar and butter, that's it.
That is much better than what you bought down on the bakery.
So doing these little, little things are huge impact on on your kids.
It's growing value from, like I said, from their moods to their
nervous system to their their oral health.
And then we're always to drinking a lot of beverages that probably shouldn't go
in our bodies. Even I've seen young children drinking Dunkin Donuts Starbucks.
Me with my dunks that that one hurts.
There's just can't.
And that's okay.
I'm not saying because I love my Starbucks, but but but I'm saying like, you know,
they get these frappuccinos and if you only knew what was in them or the energy drinks.
Oh, the energy. Oh, oh, right now what they do want to like, you know,
because I got kids too and they love those tiktoks that show them about
prime energy drinks and like I'm like, what are in these?
So just shifting and being like drink water or I know it's not flavored,
but drink water or if you are going to have some type of energy drink,
please drink water afterwards just to rinse your mouth out to get that balance
back in. There's a lot of sugar.
Honestly, I guess what I'm getting to is there's a lot of sugar that we can't
account for a lot of ingredients have sugar.
It's going to spike everything.
But if you're making, you know, let's say sandwiches and on the go,
when you have practices after school, it's much better than picking up McDonald's
or pizza, let's say for that.
Because you know what's actually in that.
And it's easier on your wallet too, because that stuff starting to add up.
It does. It's happy meals are just they're not happy anymore.
They're expensive.
It's sad.
It is.
And I heard something, I think it was yesterday on the news and it kind of
startled me.
So I'll bring it up here going into this holiday weekend.
Because, you know, they're talking about right now, you know, the East Coast
and the North, we're getting hammered with all the smoke from Canada.
And they're talking about all of, you know, migraines, summer migraines,
and it's making this worse and our allergies are worse and blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah.
And oh, by the way, if you're going to be outside grilling for fourth of July
and you're sensitive to smoke, stay away from the hot dogs.
And because something's in them and I thought, OK, first of all, I'm not a big
hot dog person anyway.
But kids are.
Yeah.
Okay.
Aside from the fact that it's just hot dogs are gross.
I'll just leave it at that.
Kids love them.
And as a mom, when mine were little, we hotdogged it up.
Now I'm hearing.
Is it titrate?
There's something in hot dogs now that.
Yeah.
The nitrates.
Nitrates.
Okay.
Yep.
So it's a preservative and like the additive and preservatives.
I mean, they throw anything that they don't want in their factory into hot dogs.
So, I mean, I've never been into a hot dog factory.
This is what I've been.
But literally that's what has been taught to me.
Honestly, my kids fathers, it would be his uncle.
He passed away when he was four.
And it's because he choked on a hot dog.
They thought it was because he choked on a hot dog.
Personally, I think it's because he was allergic to the nitrates in the hot dog.
So then his airway.
Close because he had anaphylactic shock and he passed away.
But this was back in like the 60s or the 50s.
So when hot dogs were really big, right?
So, and, and I've heard numerous times that people will choke on the hot dogs.
And I think it's not because it's too big or gets trapped in your airway.
I think it's the nitrates or the preservatives and the additives that they add in there closes your airway.
And you get a food allergy.
Honestly.
So yeah.
Yeah.
And it's interesting that they're saying stay away from the hot dogs on top of what are you using?
What are you using on that grill?
So yeah, what's what's causing it to become alive?
And that makes you say, don't eat the hot dogs.
You know, that that'd be like, why would I eat it if it wasn't grilled?
You know, because you can't eat hot dogs.
They say it's safety hot dogs that aren't grilled because they're already.
Yeah, because they're already on.
What's the word?
They're basically cooked.
Yeah.
They're basically cooked so you can eat them.
Hmm.
So, so maybe this holiday weekend, we prepare our food inside and we just eat outside.
Yeah.
I think what I'm hearing.
Yeah.
I know that it has been pretty drastic.
What's coming down from Canada.
I know a lot of people are having a hard time breathing.
It definitely has picked up the allergies that everybody's had.
And it's funny because this cough, I don't know if you've had other listeners,
but they seem to have a dwindling cough that hasn't gone away.
So yeah.
Me and my thing would say, or me and my, what I believe in the supplements,
but it's just parasites.
Honestly, we're so inundated with so many toxins that our bodies accumulated
that it doesn't know what else to do.
And so it shows up in different symptoms now.
So like the coughing or having like the post nasal drip to grinding to all
these different nerve it like nerve endings too.
And people are getting like little zings.
So it's it, it links back to parasites or not just parasites.
I shouldn't just say that, but any toxins that have accumulated in your body.
So yeah,
flush them out water, water, water, water on a binder.
I always tell people binders.
So I don't care what supplement you take, but a binder and what I mean by binder.
It's not like fiber.
I'm talking it's a binder that clears out toxins in your body.
So yeah.
So there's different herbs like that the ones that I use,
use different herbs that will literally, it's like a sponge and it cleans out
your from your oral cavity.
Cause I have my patients swish it around in their mouth,
especially if they have gum disease and they swish it around and then you
swallow it.
And it's literally like taking the scum out of your intestines and then
flushing it out.
Oh wow.
Yeah.
And then you can take all the, whatever you got fungus,
you know, from radiation to on any type of poison or any type of toxin that you
have in your body, bacteria.
I can't even, there's so many that you could mean, but it takes a lot,
a lot out of there.
Are these things we could make ourselves or are these things we would get at the
end of the day?
Yeah.
You can get them any Amazon. You can get them not, you know,
like we were talking Whole Foods.
I'm trying to get the foot out.
Yeah. Yeah. You can get them off the internet. So a binder,
a binder.
Yep.
We check on that out.
Yep.
Awesome.
Well, so at the end of every episode,
I always like to hand the floor back to the guest and so that you have the
first thing you would like to do.
And so if you didn't cover anything you would like to emphasize or just,
you know,
something you'd like to leave parents with.
I always do like the 1% role because like you were saying in the
beginning with the, the gilts,
you got like parents, you were rocking it, like literally rocking it.
And just remember like you are there.
They are for your kids a hundred percent. I know it.
But if you're not sure what you're doing,
you're just going to do that.
And you're going to do that.
So just do that.
20% just do that 1% and that'll be it.
So even if it's, you know,
instead of having the cookies from the store and making homemade
cookies, that's the 1% or, you know,
making sure when you check on your kid at night,
see, make sure that their, you know,
their mouth is closed by their breathing or whether sleeping,
not breathing.
And that's the only way that you can help them.
You know,
you can help you cook maybe once a week,
just that 1% that I love the 1% role.
Cause I think we're hard on ourselves as parents.
Oh, I think so. I absolutely think so.
Thank you so much for being on Rocky.
This was amazing information. Thank you so much for sharing.
No, thank you for having me. It was great to be on here.
Absolutely.
Thank you for sharing her medical insight into each of you for
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