Dr. Trevor Cates

How To Enhance Your Skin Microbiome… And Why You Should Care

September 22, 2020 by Dr. Trevor Cates Leave a Comment

Many people typically only think of their skin as it relates to beauty—but our skin’s health is essential to our overall health. After all, it’s the largest organ in the body and the major interface between us and the outside world. Our skin health can be affected by both the gut and skin microbiome – which are home to a vast array of microbes.

What’s A Microbiome?

The skin microbiome, or skin flora, is the term used for the trillions of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses – that live on our skin. There are 1,000 different bacteria species and almost 80 different types of fungi species. Some of these species even reside in your gut flora.

The skin microbiome changes depending on the location on your body or “eco-niche.” Each species has a preference for the amount of light they can be exposed to and whether the skin is dry, oily, moist, or hairy – so every “eco-niche” has distinct communities of microbes. Also, depending on if you are older or younger, and depending on your gender, certain microbiome species may prefer to live on your skin. For example, a sweaty adolescent male versus, an older postmenopausal female will have very different microbiomes.

The human digestive tract contains a delicate balance of microorganisms called the gut microbiome. The balance of gut microbiomes includes friendly bacteria that help regulate harmful bacteria, parasites, or an overgrowth of candida.” – From the best-selling book Clean Skin From Within, by Dr. Trevor Cates

Besides the obvious health implications, your skin and gut microbiome’s health should matter to you because healthy and balanced microbiomes will directly impact how your skin looks. Simply put, as we age, toxins, stress, infections, poor dietary choices, and certain medications can negatively affect the gut microbiome.

How does skin microbiome play a role in our health?

Influence Immune System – When we are children, our microbiota have protective influence on the immune system and keep it from under or over reacting. On the other hand, inadequate development or imbalance of the microbiome is known to affect the skin’s immune response in a way that causes children to be more susceptible to a number of immune conditions, including eczema and recurring skin infections. And this trend can continue into adulthood, if the underlying issues are not addressed.

Protect Against Infection – Healthy skin microbiota can protect against infection by overcrowding the pathogenic (harmful) species. Our skin prefers a relatively acidic environment, a pH around 5.0, which allows the perfect environment to protect against pathogenic species.

Reduce Inflammation – When the skin microbiota is not in balance, the immune system will respond by releasing agents to protect the body. This triggers inflammation and may weaken skin barrier protection. A healthy microbiome has the opposite effect by keeping the release of inflammatory compounds from the immune system more balanced.

Protection From The Environmental – The skin microbiota is an important component of the natural barrier function of the skin. It helps protect our body from the outside environment, including UV rays as well as toxic and pathogenic substances. When the skin microbiota is compromised, the skin is more susceptible to damage.

HOW TO ENHANCE YOUR MICROBIOME

Via The Gut:

Eat probiotic foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, pickled produce, yogurt, and kefir along with prebiotic foods like dandelion greens, garlic, onions, leeks, and chicory
Take a high-quality probiotic supplement daily
Cut back on excess carbohydrates and sugars

Via The Skin:

Support the proper pH on your skin by using high-quality, natural skincare products
Use pure, natural Argan oil and other natural ingredients that help regulate the skin’s acid mantle and impart luminosity, softness, and moisture to your skin.

There is no magic bullet when it comes to restoring and maintaining a healthy gut and skin microbiome. The good news is that with a few simple changes to your lifestyle you can change you can achieve better health and gorgeous, glowing skin.” – From the best-selling book Clean Skin From Within, by Dr. Trevor Cates

Would you like to learn more about the importance of the skin microbiome? Then, take a moment to watch three of my favorite, very insightful microbiome interviews on The Spa Dr.® podcast:

Healthy Skin and The Skin Microbiome with Dr. Trevor Cates
Leaky Skin & The Skin Microbiome with Dr. Raja Sivanmani
Skin Microbiome and Eczema with Skyler Stein of Gladskin

5 Ways To Remove Toxins From Your Home

September 15, 2020 by Dr. Trevor Cates Leave a Comment

Our homes are our safe havens — the sanctuary that rejuvenates us before we go back out and face the world.

Unfortunately, it’s easier than you might be aware of to subject yourself to toxic exposure unwittingly in your home. Fortunately, changing a few simple habits can improve your home’s health by creating a cleaner, healthier, and greener environment for everyone in it, and even the planet it sits on!

Minimizing our exposure to toxins can help your body naturally balance and function at its fullest potential. There are some simple steps you can start taking now to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals at home. Just follow these simple tips to keep your home toxin-free.

Leave Your Shoes At The Door

Remove your shoes before entering your home. This habit is so simple, and yet it will save your home from becoming a terrifying mass experiment in toxic exposure. Everywhere you walk outside your home, there are all sorts of chemicals and germs your shoes pick up. It’s typical at parks to track through pesticides and dog fecal particles. When you get out of your vehicle to pump gas at the gas station, petroleum products coat the ground.

When you go shopping, hundreds, if not thousands of people, have tracked through the store that day from who knows where. No matter how vigilant and thorough you are about wiping your shoes at the front door, they will still be tracking in all kinds of toxins and germs from the outside — so do your health and your home a favor and leave the shoes at the door.

Change Filters & Clean Ducts

Change your central-air filters, and have the air ducts cleaned. When you regularly have the air filters replaced and the ducts cleaned, you improve your home’s air quality. A good rule of thumb is to change the air filters once a month, and the air ducts cleaned once a year, but if you use your central air-conditioning often, it may be necessary to clean them more often.

Also, if you have allergies, or live in a major city, or live in a closed-up home during cold winter months, it may be best to consider installing high-quality air filters in your bedrooms and living room. The best filters on the market are high-efficiency particulate arresting (HEPA) and ionizing air filters, further reducing allergens and pollutants in your air. Some of my favorite combination home filtration units are Austin, IQ Air, and Blue Air.

As an immediate solution, you can use a HEPA filter in your vacuum to reduce contaminants in your house, while avoiding exposure by inhaling toxic chemicals released into the air by inferior quality filters.

Prevent Mold & Mildew Build-Up

Mold growth in our homes is more common than you may realize and can trigger several health issues, including allergies, asthma, and chronic skin problems. Making an effort to reduce the humidity in your home will help to avoid mold growth. Moisture can lurk in the walls, floors, and under sinks. Pay close attention to danger areas, such as the bathroom, laundry, and basement. Any leak, big or small, can lead to toxic mold growth over time, so be aggressive about reducing your home’s dampness.

Regularly check for plumbing leaks inside, and make sure outside irrigation lines are at least two feet from your home’s exterior walls. If you live in a dry area, and need to use a humidifier in your home, clean the reservoir twice a week to prevent mold growth. Older air conditioners and even dehumidifiers can also be a source of toxic mold, so check and clean them regularly. If you suspect mold in your home or have a history of water damage, take care — contact a specialist for mold testing and home consultation. By upsetting a mold source, you can send the spores airborne, exposing your home.

Ditch The Toxic Cleaning Products

Getting rid of toxic cleaning products is easier than you’d think — because natural cleaning products are just as effective as chemical-based products. Most popular cleaning products are full of harmful chemicals released into the air and left behind on surfaces as a toxic residue. When you use chemicals, you expose yourself and your family for days afterward every time you touch a surface or breathe the fumes.

Choose environmentally friendly alternative cleaners, which tend to be chemical free and safe for you, your home, and the environment. Or make chemical-free cleansers to disinfect, clean, and protect your home. For example, baking soda, lemon juice, and vinegar will clean everything in your home without exposing you to harmful toxins or chemicals.

Build & Furnish With Care

Be careful about what home building and furnishing products you buy and bring into your home. Building materials such as insulation, adhesives, composite wood, carpeting, rugs, and paint can contain VOCs (volatile organic compounds), vaporizing into the air at ambient temperatures, and releasing toxins into your home to contribute to indoor air pollution.

So, next time you shop for new home furnishings, look past the soothing appearances of the paint color you want for your walls, or the stylish look of a new rug, or the durability of PVC doors or flooring. Instead, look for items with natural materials and finishes that are made by “green” construction. Safe materials can typically be found in choosing solid wood products, formaldehyde-free insulations, and finishes. Be sure to ventilate your home well when you do any refurbishing to protect yourself from material off-gasses.

Healthy Living Resources

Thankfully, we are not left to figure all of this stuff out on our own. EWG’s Healthy Living: Home Guide explores potential toxic exposure sources within your home. Or check the many other EWG Consumer Guides to identify and avoid exposure to harmful agents every day.

We hope this list of five ways to reduce toxins in your home is user-friendly and will help assist you in making changes that will keep your home a non-toxic haven you can trust to revitalize and recharge away from the outside world.

Being a part of a holistic skin care movement — Learn more about how The Spa Dr.® book Clean Skin From Within can help you detoxify your home and body to support a clean body, mind, and glowing skin! The Spa Dr.® takes particular care to make all our skin care products and supplements safe and non-toxic, and has worked with the Environmental Working Group to make sure of it!

We’d love to hear from you! Are there any tips or tricks you use to protect your home from toxins?

6 Teas For Glowing Skin

September 8, 2020 by Dr. Trevor Cates Leave a Comment

Teas offer many health benefits inside and out — but did you know that herbal teas are also great for our skin? I recommend drinking the tea to see benefits, but some can also be applied directly to your skin or used as an extract. There are so many teas that support health, and each of these herbs work in their own unique way to keep your skin looking beautiful.

Here Are 6 Teas That Contain Properties Known To Support Healthy Glowing Skin:

1. Burdock Root

Burdock root is an herbal tea made from the root of the burdock plant. This ancient less-known root can do wonders in supporting your digestive, urinary, and lymphatic systems apart from offering a host of other health and skin benefits.

Whether you have dry skin, acne, eczema, or psoriasis, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in burdock root may be a great choice to promote glowing skin! The bioactive antioxidant compounds in burdock root stimulate healthy blood circulation and fight the effect of free radical damage playing a role in cell death, premature aging, autoimmune disorders, and the body’s inflammatory response.

Free radicals are harmful to healthy skin and their damaging effects accumulate with increased age, so antioxidants, like those found in the burdock root, may help reduce inflammation, and support healthy, vibrant skin as you age.

2. Chicory

Fresh chicory root is composed of 70% inulin, a type of insoluble fiber that acts like a prebiotic, by feeding the beneficial bacteria in the gut. Beneficial bacteria play a role in gut health, healthy bowel movements, stabilizing blood sugar, and skin health. Chicory root is also known for aiding the absorption of minerals, such as calcium.

If you are a coffee-lover, chicory coffee is touted as a healthy alternative to the standard brew. Chicory coffee is made from the roasted and ground root. It is a caffeine-free alternative that has a flavor remarkably similar to regular coffee without all the caffeine to dehydrate your skin.

Chicory root contains beta-carotene which is known for it’s antioxidant and photoprotecting benefits (helping increase the skin from sun – from the inside out)

3. Fennel

Fennel contains valuable minerals like zinc, calcium, and selenium. These minerals are valuable nutrients to, supporting healthy glowing skin. A study on the benefits of fennel tea found links to skin-supporting properties, such as antioxidant, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory activity.

It contains many vitamins such as Vitamin A, E, C, and B, and several antioxidants. Vitamin A converts to retinol in the liver and stimulates the production of new skin cells. Vitamin B-3, or niacin, plays a role in promoting healthy new skin cells to improve skin tone and texture and may help reduce some signs of skin aging by fighting off free radicals. Vitamin C & E are potent antioxidants that can neutralize free radicals and protect the skin from damage.

4. Rooibos

Rooibos tea has a sweet, nutty flavor with hints of caramel, vanilla, and smoky essence. It’s health benefits are due to its high levels of health-promoting antioxidants, including aspalathin and quercetin.

Aspalathin helps balance blood sugar levels and reduces insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is associated with skin and hair issues, including acne, hyperpigmentation, skin tags, and hair loss. Rooibos tea is the only natural source of aspalathin.

Quercetin is a highly beneficial bioflavonoid indicated for possessing protective abilities against skin tissue injuries, such as age spots, spider veins, and wrinkles.

Because rooibos tea is naturally caffeine-free, low in tannins, and contains no oxalic acid, it’s an excellent alternative to coffee as well as black or green tea. Tannins and oxalic acid, natural compounds present in green and black tea, interfere with the absorption of certain nutrients and minerals that can negatively impact healthy skin function.

5. Chamomile

Chamomile is a silky, soothing, delicately floral herbal tea with gentle notes of apple and mellow honey-like sweetness. It contains apigenin, an antioxidant that prevents UVB-induced skin damage. The antineoplastic properties of apigenin help prevent and reverse abnormal skin formations. Apigenin also supports a healthy skin microbiome to enhance the skin’s barrier protection ability.

Apigenin also binds to specific receptors in your brain and aids sleepiness. Getting proper beauty sleep can combat those dark circles popping up beneath your eyes and help you look and feel revitalized. Topically, you can put chamomile tea bags on your eyes to reduce the puffiness and get rid of that tired look.

Chamomile also supports proper digestion, which is extremely important for healthy skin and overall health.

6. Dandelion

There are two common ways to drink dandelion tea — an infusion made of the plant’s leaves, or a roasted version made from the dandelion roots. Dandelion tea has antiseptic, packed with antioxidants and diuretic properties that can be a powerful weapon in maintaining healthy skin. The vitamin C dandelion contains a powerful antioxidant that can help rid the body of toxins, protect skin cells from damage, reduce inflammation, and speed the healing process.

Dandelions can also support a healthy digestive system by maintaining the proper bile flow and mineral absorption. Both vitamin and mineral deficiencies can lead to skin issues by breaking down a healthy microbiome, which leaves the skin vulnerable to the attack from harmful bacteria and the effect of environmental hazards.

According to research, all parts of the dandelion plant contain many natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds, and regularly drinking dandelion tea could promote better health overall by reducing inflammation.

How to Brew a Delicious Skin Loving Cup of Tea:

While boiling the water, add 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of fresh or dried herb to a tea infuser. Place the tea infuser inside your mug and fill with about 8 ounces of the hot water. Allow to steep 5-15 minutes, depending on how strong you want your tea and if it contains leaves or roots. More time is needed for steeping tea roots compared to tea leaves.

Tips:

Double the amount of herbs if you plan to make iced tea.
Add one or more of these herbs to your daily cup of green tea.
Infuse your drinking water with one or more of these herbs and sip on it all day long.

And here’s my delicious Coffee Substitute Recipe:

Print Recipe

Skin-Nourishing Coffee Substitute

Miss your morning cup of coffee? No need to feel deprived with this nourishing, warm drink, but without the overstimulating, dehydrating effects of traditional caffeinated coffee. I use dandelion root with added natural vanilla, but you can add natural vanilla yourself if you like.

Servings: 6 8-ounce servings

Ingredients

6 cups filtered water
1 tbsp granulated, roasted dandelion root
1 tbsp granulated, roasted chicory root
1 tbsp rooibos tea
Unsweetened coconut milk (optional)

Instructions

In a soucepan, boil the water.
Place the herbs in a tea ball, or loose in the water, and steep for 5 to 7 minutes.
Strain and serve plain or with coconut milk (if using).

Notes

For a richer option, add 1/2 teaspoon organic virgin coconut oil per cup, or 1 tablespoon per pot. For a creamier latte style, combine the tea with 1/2 teaspoon organic virgin coconut oil per cup and coconut milk, to taste, in a blender. Blend for 5 to 10 seconds. For sweetness, add a dash of stevia powder or ground cinnamon. Serve warm.

Enjoy the healthy glow!

Managing Hunger to Optimize Health With Dr. Katrina Ubell

August 27, 2020 by Dr. Trevor Cates Leave a Comment

My guest is Dr. Katrina Ubell who is a Master Certified Life and Weight Loss Coach and host of the popular Weight Loss for Busy Physicians Podcast. After completing her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Katina worked in a private pediatric practice for 10 years during which time she lost 45 pounds in 12 months without surgery, pills, unhealthy crash diets, or fitness apps. Now retired from medical practice, Katrina has leveraged her experience as a pediatrician and as a mother to help other busy doctors prioritize their health and achieve permanent weight loss.

In this interview, Katrina explains the difference between emotional hunger and true physical hunger and how people with busy schedules –from working parents to ER doctors — can stay healthy, focused, and energetic, even when they can’t eat 3 nutritious meals a day. And Katrina discusses pitfalls to look out for with intermittent fasting that most people don’t want to talk about. So please enjoy…

To Learn more about Dr. Katrina Ubell

Website: https://katrinaubellmd.com/

Social Media Links: Facebook: katrinaubellmd
Instagram:coachkatrinaubellmd

Catch my Podcast: Weight Loss for Busy Physicians Click Here:

To get your free copy of My Busy Doctor’s Quick-Start Guide to Effective Weight Loss, Click Here:

I provide you with just what your brain needs to start finding those solutions that will work for you in your unique life. I address common issues that most of my physician clients cite as barriers to achieving successful weight loss. You’ll find great, actionable material that you can put into effect immediately!

Managing Hunger to Optimize Health

Dr. Trevor Cates: Welcome to The Spa Dr. Podcast. I am Dr. Trevor Cates. Today we are talking about managing hunger to optimize your health. My guest is Dr. Katrina Ubell, who is a master certified life and weight loss coach and host of the popular weight loss for busy physicians podcast.

Dr. Trevor Cates: After completing her pediatric residency at children’s hospital of Wisconsin, Katrina worked in a private pediatric practice for 10 years. During which time she lost 45 pounds in 12 months without surgery pills, unhealthy crash diets or fitness apps. Now retired from medical practice, Katrina has leveraged her experience as a pediatrician and as a mother to help other busy doctors prioritize their health and achieve permanent weight loss.

Dr. Trevor Cates: In this interview, Katrina explains the difference between emotional hunger and true physical hunger and how people with busy schedules from working parents, to ER doctors, can stay healthy, focused, and energetic, even when they can’t eat three nutritious meals a day, because they’re so busy. Katrina also discusses pitfalls to look out for, with intermittent fasting. That’s because it’s so popular right now, but this is something there’s an aspect of this that a lot of people don’t want to talk about, and she shares some things with us today in this interview. So please enjoy the interview

Dr. Trevor Cates: Katrina. It’s great to have you on The Spa Dr. Podcast. Welcome.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Thank you. I’m so excited to be here.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Yeah. You have made an interesting transition. You went from being a doctor to being a health coach. Most people either become a health coach and then a doctor or maybe one or the other, but not that direction. So why did you decide to do that?

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Well, I really struggled with my weight for ever, as a young kid, not so much necessarily, but definitely in high school, I would lose a bunch of weight when I was on the swim team in the fall and then I’d gain it later in the year. I was definitely using food to make myself feel better. You know, I was definitely an emotional eater, even though I had literally no awareness that I was an emotional leader.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I really did not know that about myself. I just thought I liked food. And then I struggled in college. I went to a particularly challenging college and of course chose what everyone considered to be the hardest major. And then halfway through that decided to go to medical school. My senior year before applying to medical school, I was taking so many credits and I had some required classes that even overlapped.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I had to get special approval from the professors to let me run, halfway through this class, across the campus, then to this other class. I have been a pretty ambitious person and a high achiever and definitely used food to make that possible. Then with medical school, it really hit. It was just like, okay, now you don’t get to do any of the other things that you really like to do that are fun and enjoyable for you.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: All you can really do to make yourself feel better is eat. Because you really can’t do what your body is telling you to do. You can’t sleep when you want to sleep. You can’t eat, when you want to eat, you can’t go to the bathroom when your body is telling you, you need to go. It really just kind of became the one thing that I had that got me through.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I kept thinking, I just need to get to my attending life. Like I need to get out of my training. Of course residency was the same way. And I thought that was going to be the solution. And then I could always lose weight through Weight Watchers. I’m a lifetime member, but I could not keep it off for longer than honestly, like even a couple of weeks.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I was not willing to keep counting points the rest of my life. And I didn’t really understand how that could be a problem. I kept just thinking like, this problem will just solve itself. And then I will just eat a little more “normally”, and then I should be able to keep this weight off.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: And of course that never happened and then threw in some pregnancies and I always lost the baby weight, but then I would just go back to eating at night and eating before bed, and eating even at work to make myself feel better and then I’d gain it back again. What ended up happening was I was getting close to my 40th birthday and I think those milestone birthdays, we often have kind of a life reevaluation. And I was definitely doing that, rethinking everything.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I had lost the weight after my last child. I knew I was done having babies. I really swore to myself, I mean it this time, I am not going to gain this way back, except I did. I was like, crap. This is so hard. The thing about this is when you’re in practice. I was practicing as a pediatrician. I had a great practice. People can tell that you struggle with your food.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: They can see it on your body. It’s not like it’s a quiet thing, similar to skin issues. People can see that on you. There are things you can do and you can address it and you can whatever. But it is pretty obvious. There is this added layer of shame and humiliation for doctors who are overweight, because we kind of feel like hypocrites.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Here I am telling you how you should feed your child so that he or she can grow up healthy or how the family should be doing certain things. Then I know full well that I am not doing those things. It is like this misalignment, it just doesn’t feel right.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: At the same time, I found life coaching for a totally separate issue. I was struggling with a relationship in our family and I felt like I needed some help. I felt like it was probably me who was the problem, but I didn’t know what to do. And I had already tried therapy a number of years prior, and I had found it to be helpful, but I didn’t think it would be what I needed in this case. So a friend who literally had taught me Pilates years prior, she’d actually moved away.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: She had one time mentioned to me, Hey, I think I want to become a life coach, which I didn’t even really know what that meant. I just heard that term on Oprah when she would have Martha Beck on. I guess it’s just a coach for your life. But anyway, I thought, well, I should just reach out to her and see if she ever did that, because maybe that’s what I need.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: She just finished her training. She did two sessions with me and completely changed my life. She taught me some basic tools. This is the best thing ever. I actually considered becoming a coach right then. But we were in the middle of a massive house renovation. My youngest was 12 months old. It was just not a good time, and I thought maybe later.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: So fast forward a little bit longer. I was really just not feeling super satisfied with my practice anymore. I think in hindsight, I was really feeling very stagnant. I couldn’t have really articulated it in that way then. I don’t think I had the awareness around it, but that’s for sure what was happening for me. I just didn’t see opportunities for growth anymore there.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Not like I knew everything. Certainly not. Like I’m an expert in all things, pediatrics. I felt like, give me any baby who can’t sleep and I will get them to sleep. Give me any baby or young child with growth issues or eating issues. I can fix it. It just didn’t feel that challenging anymore. I just was dissatisfied for some other reasons.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: And I thought, you know what, I’m going to just take a break. And I am granted, walking away from a 10 plus year practice that I had worked so hard to develop and nurture and really train these people the way I wanted it to be like, and you can’t recreate that. There are no take backs on this. You can’t go back. But I really strongly felt like this is what I need to do.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: While I was waiting, I gave them six months notice, while I was waiting to leave, I was like, Oh, that’s right, I wanted to be a life coach too. Maybe I should do that. Never thinking I would ever have a business. I just wanted to know it for me and my kids and that kind of thing.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I basically signed up for coach training and an intensive seven months long weight loss program using the same tools, all at the same time. I did everything all at the same time left and became a coach and lost way more weight than I ever thought I could. Literally, I did not think it would be possible for me as an adult to lose that weight.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I just became obsessed with telling people about it and helping other people. I had struggled so much as a doctor. I literally had googled weight loss for doctors, weight loss for physicians. Certainly somebody must be helping the doctors lose weight and all that came up were medical, weight loss clinics. And I was like, I don’t need shots. I don’t need pills. I don’t need surgery.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I need something different that is going to help me. I felt like I had worked with a nutritionist and she just didn’t get my life. She was just like, okay, in the middle of the clinic in the afternoon, you have to stop and eat a snack. And I was like, never going to happen. I’m just, no. When I’m already behind, and you know, people don’t like waiting in the doctor’s office.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: When I’m already behind, I am not going to stop and eat something. I kept thinking it doesn’t have to be so complicated. Why does it seem so hard? Shouldn’t humans just know how to eat in a way that is healthy? Why is this so difficult? So anyway, I just learned all of this stuff and I thought, you know, there might be some other doctors who want help with this too.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Because I know I struggled so much. So I thought I could give a business a try. Why not? I’m so glad I did because I fell in love with entrepreneurship, which was fun, a little extra. But I have also helped over a thousand women physicians in clinical practice to lose weight, and to lose it permanently. We do that by working on our brains because that was the key part I was missing.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I kept thinking I needed better systems. I was vegan for five years. Maybe that’s what I need to do. I kept thinking it was about the food and I had to really learn that it actually isn’t about the food. I mean, yes, it helps when you eat food that supports your body, but it’s your brain.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: It is totally your brain and your whole experience of your life that you’re creating with your brain that determines how you’re eating, how you’re supporting your body. And so the weight loss is just kind of like this added extra kind of bonus result when you learn how to manage your mind. And so I’ve been doing that now for four years and I couldn’t love it anymore. I love it so much.

Dr. Trevor Cates: That’s great. Fantastic. Well in the beginning, I said health coach and you’re saying life coach and I’m sorry for saying the wrong thing. I think of them as very similar, but maybe you can explain to everybody what is the difference between a life coach and a health coach.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Well, I mean, the first thing you have to understand is that these industries are highly unregulated. Literally anybody can just put up their shingle and say, I’m a life coach. I’m a health coach and maybe have no training at all. Maybe they were just interested in reading articles online or whatever, just have their own opinions.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: So what that actually means, you have to look into it to see what does the person actually mean? I’m master certified as a life and weight loss coach. What that means is that I have gone through specific training programs for my regular certification, then my Master certification. I have learned life coaching tools and then I’ve learned specifically how to apply them to the problem of being overweight and overeating. So that’s what I think of when I think of a weight coach.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: My understanding, because I never really looked into health coaching, but my understanding is that most health coaching programs are focused more specifically on nutrition, healthy living, and things like that.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: While that is amazing and great, I think it’s variable on how much of a skill level a health coach will have in terms of helping you really dig deep into your beliefs and your thoughts and your emotions and that kind of stuff.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I often will do two hour long coaching calls with my clients and group calls, and coach eight or nine people. We don’t talk about food once. Because they are all trying to lose weight. Because it’s not about the food. The food is what makes our lives tolerable.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: So what we have to learn is how to make our lives tolerable using our brains, right? My brain is making my life intolerable in this area. So then I want to numb out or take a break. Or I was thinking of the easy button, hit the easy button, have a drink, get a snack, just so that I don’t have to feel it or think about it or deal with it. I can avoid it.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: And instead we’re like, okay, well, so what are you actually thinking and feeling? Maybe you want to choose to think differently about it. Maybe you can actually let food, just be there to nourish yourself and allow yourself to feel your emotions.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: We spent so much time on allowing urges to eat, reducing over desire, getting hunger to be at a normal level, but it’s actually not that hard to do that. Once you get the food squared away and stuff, the weight loss is easy. I would say that’s the least interesting part about what we do

Dr. Trevor Cates: You said some interesting things about how eating isn’t necessarily intuitive for most people like how to eat. We just think that it would be something that comes natural, but the emotional eating aspect of eating and food is what’s really troubling for people. How common would you say emotional eating is?

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Well, I would say pretty much everybody does it at least a little bit because my husband who I thought wasn’t an emotional eater when I went through my whole process, I would say he lost 25 pounds through osmosis. He wasn’t really doing any of the real work, but just by kind of paying attention to what I was doing and things like that.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: We didn’t even know you had weight to lose. We were like, Oh, look at that. It just fell off. And I remember saying, you’re not an emotional eater. And he’s like, Oh yeah, I am. Because he’s a doctor too. And they keep snacks in their office. They go to Costco and get the big, you know, those peanut butter filled pretzels and peanut M&M’s and things like that just for the staff.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: And he’s like, Oh, I totally have to go finish some notes and I’ll grab a handful of peanut butter pretzels and eat those or a patient will not show and I’ll think, Oh great. I’ll just go get a snack now. That is not because he’s hungry or because his body is needing food. I always think of it like emotional eating is eating for any reason outside of fuel for your body.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: We could probably include it there, the occasional preplanned pleasure. Because it’s normal for humans to get pleasure out of their food. Our brains are literally designed to reward us for eating because if we eat, then we get nutrients and then we’re more likely to be able to get through an illness or more likely to make it through the winter, not starve to death.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: It is normal for us to like what we eat. But what’s happened is that, which really, it has only been about the last hundred, to hundred and fifty years, humans have figured out how to concentrate the pleasure that we get from food in the form of flour, in the form of sugar and then adding it to everything. Our brains now are totally confused.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: They are like, Oh my gosh, I thought those berries were important, but this candy, Oh my gosh, this is the thing. Because it is dose dependent. Then what ends up happening when you’re eating food like that, that gives you so much of that pleasure.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Your dopamine receptors are so flooded that the brain starts thinking we need to downregulate our dopamine receptors. This is the same thing that happens with drug addiction. Downregulates your dopamine receptors. So that eating all that sugar doesn’t make you feel as good as it did in the beginning.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I was thinking about if you have ever seen a one year old child eat cake on their birthday for the first time, the first time getting sugar, their reaction, typically at first they are very tentative and not sure. And what is this? And it ewe it’s sticky. Then they taste it and their faces just light up. They’re like, Oh, what was that? I need more, it’s so good.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: That is what our brains do. But then when we don’t down regulate those dopamine receptors, then what we end up finding is, it’s not enough. We need more. We feel like we have more urges to have more. And if you stop eating it, you actually feel pretty bad for a little while.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: The good news is that your brain will repopulate those dopamine receptors. But going back to what you were saying about are some people just emotional eaters? I don’t think anyone is born that way. I think everybody is born knowing how much food to eat. Can you overfeed a baby? Yes, you can. But it requires effort.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: As a pediatrician, people would ask me this all the time, especially when they had really, really chunky fat babies, which is a healthy thing. That is what we want to see, but babies, when they’re done, they’re done. And if you really encourage them, they might take a little more. And then they’ll usually spit it up or vomit a little bit.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Because it was too much. They know. And toddlers too, if they are left to eat whatever they want, they will stop. This was a big eye opener for me as I was losing weight, like this last time I had all three of my children at different ages and to be able to watch them having a cookie or something for dessert and then stopping mid cookie and saying, I’m done, I’m full. I don’t need anymore.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I found that to be so fascinating because there’s always room for the rest of the cookie, in my mind. What do you mean? Of course you can find a crack in there for that cookie to fit. Just watching them be totally done, in the middle of the ice cream, I don’t want any more. That’s healthy. That is normal to be so in tune with your body, to know I don’t need any more.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: But if you were raised, like I was to be encouraged to finish your food, that clean plate club don’t waste that. I mean, that was a huge part of my upbringing. You learn at an early age to ignore your signals. You learn to, do I want to eat this food? Well, what am I going to do with it? If I’m not going to save it, I’m gonna throw it out.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I better eat it because that’s what the messages that I’m getting from the people me. I think for those of us who were raised in that environment, we just have to basically re educate herself. We have to unlearn those patterns. I mean, and I will tell you, it’s taken me awhile. I still work on it. Because I still have little nuggets of it that come up for me from time to time.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: But I have had to really work on wasting food, throwing, quote unquote, wasting it, like throwing it away and really believing, eating extra food is also wasting it. It’s just wasting it on my body. Because it’s not like, Oh, later I’m just not going to eat for two weeks while I allow myself to utilize all that extra energy. No, you still are eating all your normal meals. It’s too much food.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I really check myself in terms of how I respond to what my kids are doing. Like the other day, zucchinis is in season now I made a chocolate zucchini cake for the family and I didn’t even have any of it, but I knew that they would enjoy it. My daughter was eating it and she said, Oh, it’s so great.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Then she left, I mean, it was probably three bites left and I remember thinking to myself, okay, yes. Okay. Today I’m winning as a mom, but she just left it. She said she was done. She’d had enough. Because growing up I would have totally been encouraged to eat that. Just finish that up. It is really becoming aware of those habits that just, you’ve probably been doing them so long that you don’t even realize that’s what they are.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: They really are habits. They encourage you to overeat.

Dr. Trevor Cates: So how do you know when to eat? And when that hunger, that feeling is more of an emotional need. We still need to eat. Right? We need nutrition. And of course what you’ve talked about sugar being as addictive as a drug, it’s basically really addictive and that is a huge issue. But beyond that, how do we, how do we know? How do we regulate that?

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Yeah. Well, so here’s what happens when you are eating sugar and flour containing foods on a regular basis. Honestly if you’re eating anything, that is pretty processed or premade for you. Probably you are consuming it on a regular basis because sugar is in so many things in particular, it is under all kinds of different names.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: You literally have to just Google the list because there’s so many of them. When you’re consuming flour and sugar on a regular basis, it really does kind of mess up your hunger signals. Meaning that when you feel hunger, it’s an inappropriate amount of hunger. If you’ve ever felt hangry, you know, the combination of hungry, and angry, or if you’ve ever been like, my stomach is going to eat itself.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Or I feel like I’m going to faint. Like that intensity of hunger is abnormal. Because if you think about the vast majority of human existence, food was scarce, for sure in the winter it was scarce. And certainly there was not food around available for you to snack on every two to three hours. That is just not normal for humans.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Except the snack food industry has now convinced us that it is normal. So we think if we’re not eating all of the time, then it’s going to be a problem. But when the human body is functioning normally it really feels great when it doesn’t eat. It would not make sense for you to feel like you wanted to die. If you haven’t eaten after a couple of hours, when you need to go out and kill an animal or find a tree with a root or like something that you can eat, like you need energy, you need to feel good.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: When you’re eating sugar and flour on a regular basis, your body, rather than accessing your fat stores, willingly or happily to create energy for you, it will just basically make you feel like crap. It will just make you feel like you want to die. We respond to that like, Oh my gosh, I feel bad. I need to eat right away.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: And usually what we grab is something that contains some easily digestible form of energy, like something containing flour and sugar. And then the cycle just continues. When you take a break from eating those foods regularly, what you find is that your body becomes more what’s called fat adapted, which just means, I mean, your body always knows how to access your fat and turn it into glucose for yourself. But it’s just more happy to do it essentially.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I always think of it as when you’re fat adapted your hunger signals are like a little wave, just lapping at your ankles. It’s just little suggestions, like a little whisper, like, Hey, you know, we would like to eat right now. That would be cool. If it’s a good time and if it’s not a good time, because you’re busy or you’re just not wanting to snack or whatever, then it’s fine.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: The hunger goes away and your body, I always say it does eat it just dines in and eats the extra meals that you have stored on your body. Right. So it just happily does that. But when you’re a sugar burner, it feels like you’ve got this massive wave, just crashing over your head. Like you’re getting clobbered by that hunger. And you’re like, Oh my gosh, I don’t know.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I have to solve this.This is a problem that needs solving and food is the solution right away. So when you can get yourself to that place of being fat adapted, your energy is so even you feel really, really good. So it’s not like, Oh, you’re not eating and you’re suffering. It’s like, you’re not eating and you feel amazing.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I always think if you could just pay attention to the signals your body is sending you, that’s so helpful. When it comes to hunger, when you’re fat adapted, what you find is that, first of all, you’re not hungry very often at all because most of us are overeating. right? We are being confused into thinking we need more food than our body really needs. When you’re fat adapted, your hunger signals are recalibrated. Essentially you can listen to them when your body is telling you I am hungry.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: It’s probably a good idea to eat, but you just find that you’re just not that hungry. Now, emotional hunger is very similar. I always say what it feels like to be hungry, but if you really get to know your hunger and what it feels like in your body, I find with myself, with my clients, that emotional hunger is slightly different. It’s a little bit different. If you learn to pay attention, you can tell the difference.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I will describe to you how it’s different for me. When I am physically hungry, it just kind of comes on. Gradually I start noticing, Oh, I’m a little bit hungry. And then, Oh, you know, I could definitely eat. Okay. It’s probably going to be time soon. I think I’m going to prepare some food.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Now it kind of gradually comes on. Emotional hunger is like, boom. I’m so hungry right now. It just hits me very quickly. It doesn’t build up. On the flip side of that, it also will go away very quickly. I have found sometimes like, Oh my gosh, I’m so hungry. And then five minutes later it’s gone. I’m like, yeah, that’s not real hunger at all.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: And often this comes maybe an hour or two after you just ate a nice meal. So it really doesn’t make sense. Why am I hungry right now? I mean, I just ate. Well, probably not because you need food, probably because your body is just sending you signals to try to get at you, to eat in order to not feel an emotion or to soothe yourself or comfort yourself in some way.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: So when you’re open to exploring that and not judging yourself for every single sensation that you have, you can start to explore that and figure that out and start going, you know what, I can tell the difference here when it’s like the real hunger and when it’s emotional and it’s important to know the difference for sure.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Yeah, absolutely. And I can tell it too. Sometimes if I record a podcast and I have a little time and I’m like, I wonder, it’s not necessarily that I need food, but I can just get this. It’s a different kind of feeling. I don’t even know how to describe it.

Dr. Trevor Cates: But for me sometimes, if I just get some tea or maybe, I mean, tea is one of my favorite things because I’m in the kitchen. I get something, it tastes like tea. I like herbal teas. It tastes kind of sweet. So it’s that feeling, but I’m not putting honey or anything in there to affect my blood sugar.

Dr. Trevor Cates: I think it is important. I talk about it in my book, Clean Skin From Within, when you can do some sort of reset. In my book I have a two week program and it gets people off sugar for two weeks. When they stop eating sugar and they take it out, they realize that it’s amazing how different your hunger is.

Dr. Trevor Cates: I know it’s not always easy to make that change to just give up sugar. What are some tips for people to make that shift? Do you work with people processing these emotions? Tell people what the process is.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Yeah. Over the years I have seen people try to do it in all different ways. I actually just recommend the cold Turkey rip off the bandaid. Just stop having it. But that doesn’t mean you stop having it. You are trying to intermittent fast and start a new workout regimen and all these other things. This is all we are working on is just doing that.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: What I tell my clients during that time is you can eat as often as you need to. Right? Because often when we’re coming off of it, we feel so hungry. We have those cravings. If you feel like you need to eat something, you can eat it. So you can have all the snacks you want. I think that actually allowing some 85% or dark chocolate for some people can actually be really helpful. Usually, I say up to two squares a day.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Really not a ton, but just a little bit can help. I remember when I first tried that I was like, eww this is disgusting. It’s so bitter. But as your taste buds adjust, you actually can learn to like it. You don’t have to have it, but it can help some people.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I also find that when you make sure that you’re having plenty of healthy fat during that time, not eating a whole bunch of bacon necessarily, but having a lot of avocado and olive oil and olives or things like that, it really helps you feel nicely sated. So you aren’t feeling like I’m dying, I’m so hungry. You are just really dealing with that weaning off. I have had people try to go gradually. I think it’s just in everything, I don’t know that is the best way to do it.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I don’t actually think it’s easier for them. I think they just make it take longer and I don’t think they get a better result. I usually just say, let’s just do it. We support them. I always tell people, yeah, you may not feel great for a couple of weeks and that’s okay.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I usually find the first week is the worst. For women depending on where their cycle is, if they are having their period during week two, that maybe is less than ideal, just because that can be when it’s harder anyway. But usually by week three week four, they are like, I can’t even believe this. I am barely ever hungry. My energy is so much better. I’m sleeping better. They start to see immediate results and it makes that week or two, that was hard worth it for them.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Yeah. As someone that has had this crazy busy schedule as a pediatrician, and the people that you help, what are some tips that you can give people that are super busy? Obviously not everybody can change jobs. What other suggestions would you have besides changing careers?

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Yeah. Well, the thing that I really pride myself on is I work with all of these different doctors who have all different kinds of specialties and all kinds of different jobs. And now in COVID time, even more so, they can’t eat if they have all their PPE equipment on. Many have all kinds of shift changes. Some of them are surgeons and they are going into a nine hour surgery, you know, my nutritionist just said, you need to eat a snack.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: She is not going to scrub out in the middle of her surgery to go eat a snack, unless literally she cannot make it right. I pride myself on saying, I’ve never worked with a doctor that we couldn’t come up with some sort of solution that worked. This is where time restricted eating or some people call it intermittent fasting can be super helpful.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Which is so much better to do when you are already fat adapted. I always ask, get yourself fat adapted first and then your body will automatically move toward that anyway, where you find that, I’m just so not that hungry. It’s really not that big of a deal to push back a meal. What I do is I help each individual client to create their own plan.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: And I think this is important for weight loss, no matter who you are, but especially when you have an unusual schedule or an unpredictable schedule, which, you know, these days, I feel like that’s actually most people.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: What that means is looking at, what are your options and then looking at your life, looking at the foods you like and just eating those. I can’t even tell you how many healthy quote unquote, smoothies I’ve had and Healthify this, that, and the other thing. And none of those things even tasted good to me. I made a rule for myself a few years ago.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I don’t eat food that I don’t like. If I don’t think it tastes good, I don’t care how healthy everyone says it is. I’m just not doing that. I’m just not going to do that. You look at your schedule and you figure it out for yourself. For some people they might be you know what, my days are so busy, I really would rather have a solid breakfast and then be able to fast all the way through until dinner.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Great. But what most people find is they are like, you know what, I’m so busy in the morning. I was usually skipping breakfast anyway. Or I was just grabbing something sugary, like a breakfast bar or something like that. Are you saying it’s okay for me to just skip breakfast and not eat until lunch? I’m like, yeah, it is actually okay.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Especially if that’s what your body naturally wants to do. So then planning out what you can eat. Here’s an example, like if you have a really short lunch break, you know, bringing like a massive salad is probably not a good idea because you can’t eat it fast enough. It takes time to chew that all up. You have to think to yourself, okay, what foods are on plan for me? Meaning not containing sugar and flour and supporting my body, tastes good to me, helps me to feel satisfied until my next meal.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: If that’s going to be five hours, six hours, seven hours experimenting with that to figure that out and then eating that. I think that having a ton of variety in your eating, especially when you’re trying to lose weight is not a good idea. It just adds complexity to something that already feels challenging. Not that you eat the same thing every day, but you don’t have lots of options.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I usually say for dinners and stuff, come up with 10, maybe 15 that you have that are perennial favorites that your family generally is happy to have. Then you just repeat those again and again, and again. You just make it so simple for yourself, by keeping it really constrained and dialed in, and then you have to experiment.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: This is the part that a lot of people don’t like to do. They are like, especially my clients. They are like I want to get the gold star. I want to get the a plus, what are the rules? I want to make sure I lose three pounds that first week on this plan.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I want to make sure this works and I’m feeling amazing. And really it’s going to be to a certain extent, anyone’s guess. Some people will hit it right on the head right out of the gate. But some people will find you know what, that didn’t last me long enough. I was really having a hard time at four o’clock. I need to re sort out my lunch or I’m feeling great, but the scale is not budging.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: So okay. What do we need to do? Where do we need to look at things? I always say though, if you’re losing weight for the last time, and what you’re figuring out about yourself is what’s going to help you to keep your weight off and maintain that weight loss.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Then what’s the rush? If we were in a hurry, we can do any of the commercial diet plans out there and get the weight off only for you to still not be able to make it work in your life and gain the weight back again. So why not just go ahead and sort it all out. And then it truly is an individualized plan that you’ve created for yourself with guidance, but for yourself.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: And you’re so much more likely to want to follow that when you’ve created it. I would sign up for some diet thing and they would give you three or four weeks of meal plans and recipes. Maybe I would have eaten those things, but every recipe would take me so much longer to make, because I never made it before. I would look at things and go, I would eat that.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: My husband probably would, but there is no way my kids are going to eat that. So now am I signing up for like the short order cook, making everybody different from the same thing, when I tried counting macros. I would literally make the family a whole meal, they’d sit down to eat. And I go back into the kitchen to make my weird cobbled together meal to make the macros fit.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I was like, no, this is not going to work. I really push my clients to make it so that it works for everyone in the household. Maybe not everybody’s eating exactly the same thing, but with some minor modifications. This is how you make it sustainable and easy for yourself. Anybody who’s busy, you just have to get into that solutions focused mindset.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: What most of us do is we like to just sit around and see why there’s all these problems and can complain about them. But what instead I suggest is that you ask your brain to find the solution. Your brain really wants to close that loop. It will do whatever you ask it to do. If you ask it to help you to figure out how to make this work, it will come up with good ideas for you.

Dr. Trevor Cates: That’s fantastic. I think it is important to individualize it, to realize where you are, if you’re alone, or if you have family members or other people. If you have been eating healthy or this is new to you. I know what we know about the microbiome, the research around the microbiome that eating diverse foods and eating different fruits and vegetables and getting plenty of fiber is really important for the gut microbiome.

Dr. Trevor Cates: But you don’t necessarily have to start there, just get into a schedule. You are talking about where you are eating at the right times and you are finding that balance. Then you can start adding in the details that some other health experts talk about.

Dr. Trevor Cates: I love what you’re talking about. I really appreciate it. Before we end, I wanted to ask you what are some of the mistakes people make with intermittent fasting? Because there are some unhealthy habits that you talk about.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Yeah. Thank you for bringing that up. Yeah. Because some people ask, isn’t that an eating disorder? No, but it can be. So let’s talk about the differences. That is why I think some people like the term time restricted eating better just because fasting, people get hung up on that.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: The way I like to think about intermittent fasting is what you’re doing is you’re eating all of the food you would typically eat over a whole day, just over a shorter time period. You are still nourishing yourself in a really good way, you’re just eating more food over a shorter time period.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: That doesn’t mean you’re like stuffing yourself. Okay. You are not totally overeating. Like you are so full, overly full. It’s not that. It’s allowing your body to access the fat stores that you have on your body. And doing that to create the energy that you need for a longer period of time, which keeps your insulin levels lower, which is good for making you more insulin sensitive.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: The more insulin sensitive you are, the easier it is to lose weight. And the more rapidly the weight comes off. Also lowers your weight set point so that your body really wants to stay at a lower weight versus like the old way of losing weight.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Calorie reduction where you barely eat anything. And the minute you have one cookie, you gained five pounds. You are like wow, how is this possible? That is intermittent fasting. If you haven’t eaten for a while, when you eat, you’re eating a beautiful, nutritious varied meal with food that tastes good to you and you are eating to a healthy satiety level.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Where it turns into an eating disorder is when you don’t eat for an extended period of time. Then you have like an egg white and half a Clementine or something. That is not how this works. If you don’t eat for awhile and then you definitely eat and nourish yourself. I have definitely found that fasting is not a good thing for anybody who has a history of binge eating.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I definitely have clients who binge and I tell them there is no intermittent fasting for them until the bingeing is done. Even then still fasting may not be good. Or like what I have seen is a big trend right now is the one meal a day kind of trend people call it, Omad, one meal a day. What people then do is they literally eat just dinner and then that’s it.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: So they’re basically doing a 24 hour fast every single day. In my mind that is the total diet mentality. Because if you do that, yes, you will weigh faster probably. But I think anybody who has any kind of history of emotional eating will have a very hard time keeping that up for the rest of their lives.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: It puts a lot of pressure on that one meal to be delicious and satisfying enough. Sometimes, and we all know this, you eat a meal. And you are like, that wasn’t really that good. Or you go to a restaurant, and it’s a little disappointing. So when that’s all you get to eat and you don’t get to eat again for another 24 hours, I find that people really do end up overeating.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: They convince themselves they need more food at that meal. It really messes with their minds or they find they are totally binging at night. So okay, we’ve got to dial this back. You need to be eating three meals a day for sure. You have to let your brain and body know it is totally being fed well.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: It is not for everybody. It’s just for us, particularly for people who have very busy and unpredictable schedules. It’s amazing. I remember one time being in clinic, wrapping it up with a patient thinking, okay, now it’s lunchtime. As I was about to say goodbye, the child was in the mom’s arms and he totally started seizing and had a first time seizure ever.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: I was just like, okay, well there goes lunch, right? I mean, this is not going to be, oh, let’s send her on her way, this was a big deal. When you are able to fast, even if you had planned to eat lunch, but you’re just really not going to be able to, because you need to be doing something else.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: It’s not a hardship. You feel fine. Oh, okay, cool. And if later I’m hungry and I have time, I can eat some of my lunch or I can wait until dinner and have a bigger dinner. You have to make sure that your brain is in the right space for that. Many of my clients find that it’s just the best news ever for them.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: It’s such a great answer. Many of them will overeat at the end of the day because they feel so sorry for themselves, for not having the chance to eat during the day. I was in this long case, I needed to go to the surgeon’s lounge and eat whatever junk they have laying there to reward myself, as a treat. When you are fasting, it just changes your whole mindset.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: You’re like, Oh, I don’t even need that. My body just totally accessed the fat that I have on my body. And that’s cool. It is important to be real clear on that. If you feel like you have any kind of weirdness around it, then it’s a no. Yeah.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Well, thank you Katrina for all this information. I know we didn’t talk about the emotions behind why people eat. We didn’t talk about how to help heal those. The reasons why people emotionally eat or have that emotional hunger, but definitely that is important. Do you have any resources or direction for people to go? We have had some people on The Spa Dr. Podcasts or talk about how to look at those emotional issues, underlying issues.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: On my podcast, which is called Weight Loss for busy physicians, there are multiple episodes on all kinds of different emotions and how to feel them urges all of that. That is free. You can find that on any platform. And then I also have some free resources that can be really helpful as well that people can find on my website, https://katrinaubellmd.com/ You can put forward slash resources or just the resources tab.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: And then I’m also always on Instagram posting things that could be helpful. My handle there is: Coach Katrina Ubell MD.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Perfect. All right, thanks again, Katrina for coming on today.

Dr. Katrina Ubell: Thank you so much.

Dr. Trevor Cates: I hope you enjoyed this interview today with Katrina. To learn more about her, just go to TheSpaDr.com, go to the podcast page with her interview and you’ll find all the information and links there. And while you’re there, I invite you to join The Spa Dr. Community, so you get our information, valuable tools such as the skin quiz, which you can go directly to the skinquiz.com, find out what your skin personality type are you an Amber, Olivia, Sage, Emmet or Heath, because there can be some hidden information in there about what that might be revealing about your health. So just go to theskinquiz.com. I also invite you to join us on social media. The Spa Dr. Is on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube. You could join the conversation there. I hope you enjoyed this podcast. See you next time.

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How To Choose A High Quality Meal Replacement Shake

August 25, 2020 by Dr. Trevor Cates Leave a Comment

A high quality clean meal replacement shake can be an excellent addition to a healthy diet, providing extra nourishment with ease. But not all meal replacements are created equal. There are many meal replacements on the market that claim to be healthy but are packed full of ingredients that are unnecessary or some that can actually be harmful for your health and skin.

Here are 7 things you should NEVER find in your meal replacement shake:

1. Casein + Whey Protein

Casein and whey protein are proteins sourced from dairy. Casein makes up 80% of the protein found in milk, and whey protein isolate makes up the other 20%. Casein, in particular, breaks down slowly, causing it to be poorly absorbed by the body. Casein and whey protein can cause bloating, flatulence, and gastrointestinal distress in many people. Casein is similar to gluten in its structure and can cause adverse cross-reactions in individuals that are sensitive or have allergies towards gluten.

2. Soy protein

Many soy proteins come from genetically-modified sources and often use pesticides in their production. Eating soy protein, for many people, can create bowel hypersensitivity, increase inflammation, and damage to the intestinal lining, and pesticides contain chemical compounds that are endocrine disrupting and can cause hormonal disturbances in the body. Soy is a goitrogen, which means it may interfere with thyroid function. Additionally, soy protein contains phytoestrogens, which act similarly to estrogen in the body, so there are some concerns this may create hormonal imbalances.

3. Gluten

Gluten is a protein found primarily in wheat, barley, and rye. Studies indicate that recurrent adverse reactions to foods can be attributed to wheat/gluten intake. Food sensitivities to gluten can elevate inflammation and cause a range of health problems, including hormonal imbalances that have adverse effects on the skin, bloating, abdominal discomfort, abdominal pain, fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, lack of wellbeing, and headaches. Even if you don’t have a sensitivity or an allergy, there is still cause for concern. Gluten has been linked to mood disorders, and in one study, gluten elimination alone was an effective treatment for mood disorders in some individuals.

4. Artificial Sweeteners or Corn Maltodextrin

Common unhealthy artificial sweeteners used are sucralose, Splenda, aspartame, Equal, NutraSweet, or saccharin. There are several adverse side effects from ingesting these sweeteners, including headaches, migraines, and gastric issues like bloating, acid reflux, and weight gain. Corn Maltodextrin is a low-quality sweetener typically made from genetically-modified corn that often sneaks its way into processed food.

5. Hydrogenated Oils

Oils and fats are often added to meal replacement powders to increase the richness and make them taste creamy. However, to increase shelf life and improve consistency, these fats typically hydrogenated. Hydrogenation has the unfortunate consequence of creating a product that is both calorie-laden and full of trans fats. Trans fats are the worst kind of fat — they are more harmful than saturated or unsaturated fats. Trans fats raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels while lowering your HDL (good) cholesterol levels. High LDL levels, along with low HDL levels, can cause cholesterol to build up in your blood vessels, increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke.

6. Unnecessary Thickeners

Generally, gums, emulsifiers, and thickeners undermine the quality of food. Thickeners and gums, including xanthum gum, are manufactured from soy or corn and can cause bloating, constipation and gas. They can act a little like glue in the digestive system. Carrageenan is a standard stabilizer and thickener listed as a natural ingredient in meal replacement powders to help preserve the product. Carrageenan has been quietly causing chronic health problems such as ulcers for many years and has been linked to colon cancer, chronic inflammation, and digestive disorders.

7. Sugar & Fillers

Sugar is a favorite filler of manufacturers that is exploited for its taste bud appeal. Unfortunately, your meal replacement becomes a sugar bomb that causes your blood sugar to spike — making your meal replacement only slightly better than drinking milkshakes or eating candy bars. Many fillers used to decrease costs to the manufacturer and consumer end up not worth it, especially when they cause gastric distress such as constipation, bloating, and acid reflux in sensitive individuals.

Ingredients Found In A High-Quality,

Clean Meal Replacement Shake

CLEAN PROTEIN

Protein is essential to your body, which requires adequate amino acids to perform well. Choose a meal replacement with the right protein to suit your needs and support your health. You want a protein that is un-denatured and is free from both chemicals and additives. Instead of choosing cheap and dirty proteins like soy, egg, casein, and whey — choose a meal replacement shake that uses a clean protein source, such as pea protein. Pea protein is my favorite for a fantastic balance of amino acids. It’s also low allergenic – unlike soy, whey, and egg protein. And it’s easy to add to smoothies.

SWEETENER ALTERNATIVES

Choose a meal replacement with artificial sweeteners such as erythritol, allulose, and stevia leaf extract that are safe and have a low impact on blood sugar and insulin.

Erythritol: Erythritol is found naturally in fruits like grapes, peaches, pears, and watermelon. Sensitivity to erythritol can vary among individuals, so choose a meal replacement with a mix of sugars with only a small amount of this sugar alcohol (no more than 15 g) to avoid digestive upset or nausea.

Allulose: Allulose is present in only a few foods, such as figs and raisins. Allulose resists fermentation by your gut bacteria, which minimizes the likelihood of bloating, gas, or other digestive problems.

Stevia Leaf Extract: This extract is made from a Stevia leaf related to popular garden flowers like asters and chrysanthemums. Stevia does not increase blood sugar, and has antimicrobial properties.

The Spa Dr.® All-In-One Daily Shake* is a dairy-free, gluten-free plant-derived protein shake. This formula offers a comprehensive blend of added nutrients to promote glowing skin and vibrant health!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease

Naturopathic Sleep Tips With Dr. Catherine Darley

August 20, 2020 by Dr. Trevor Cates Leave a Comment

On today’s podcast episode, we’re discussing how to reset your sleep habits for physical and emotional wellbeing.

My guest is Dr. Catherine Darley who is internationally recognized as a leader in naturopathic sleep medicine. She is the director of The Institute of Naturopathic Sleep Medicine in Seattle. Her clinical work focuses on the treatment of sleep disorders in adults and children using behavioral and naturopathic medicine. She also trains corporate employees and emergency personnel on a variety of sleep, performance and safety issues. She regularly writes for professional publications and has appeared in the media. Currently she is adjunct faculty at Bastyr University, and National University of Natural Medicine. Dr. Darley’s volunteer efforts have focused on Start School Later – both in Seattle and nationally, and she has served on the Board of the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

In today’s interview, we discuss how poor sleep impacts your physical, emotional and social wellbeing. Dr. Darley shares how to know you’ve gotten the right amount of sleep and tips for you to design a sleep healthy lifestyle.
So please enjoy this interview…

To Learn more about Dr. Catherine Darley

Website: www.naturalsleepmedicine.net

Social Media Links:
Twitter: naturalsleepdr
Facebook: naturalsleepdr

Naturopathic Sleep Tips

Dr. Trevor Cates: Welcome to The Spa Dr. Podcast. I am Dr. Trevor Cates. Today we are talking about how to reset your sleep habits for physical and emotional wellbeing. My guest is Dr. Catherine Darley, who is internationally recognized as a leader in naturopathic sleep medicine. She is the director of the Institute of Naturopathic sleep medicine in Seattle.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Her clinical work focused on the treatment of sleep disorders in both children and adults using behavioral and naturopathic medicine. She also trains corporate employees and emergency personnel on a variety of sleep performance and safety issues. She also is adjunct faculty at Bastyr University and National University of natural medicine. Dr. Darley’s volunteer efforts have focused on starting school later.

Dr. Trevor Cates: This program is both in Seattle and nationally, and she has served on the board of the Washington association of Naturopathic physicians. In today’s interview, we discuss how poor sleep impacts your physical, emotional, and social wellbeing.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Not only does it affect you physically and the way you feel, but also how you appear, how you look and your emotional health and your ability to interact well with others. Dr. Darley shares how to know you have gotten the right amount of sleep and tips to set you up to design a sleep healthy lifestyle. So please enjoy this interview.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Catherine is so great to have you on The Spa Dr. Podcast. Welcome.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Great, thanks. Glad to be here.

Dr. Trevor Cates: So we are talking about sleep today and sleep is so important, especially when we’re stressed and then when we’re stressed, we have harder time with sleep. And so we definitely want to figure out how we can sleep better, but first, before we talk about ways to improve our sleep, let’s talk about the real issue of what lack of sleep does to us.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yeah. I would like to dive into that. I think about it in five domains, Trevor, that you have your physical health and your mental health. In adequate sleep raises blood pressure, it makes inflammation worse, on that physical route. We have the emotional piece, anxiety, depression, worse with sleep problems.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Then I think about the two domains of performance, our physical performance and our cognitive performance, everything from simple memory, remembering someone’s name through really more complex problem solving, what am I going to do about this challenging situation that the whole broad range of cognitive performance is impaired. Then of course, physical performance. Typically we think about drowsy driving, right?

Dr. Catherine Darley: Many of us drive, and if we are not getting adequate sleep, we are more at risk. Then the domain that I want to focus on the most today is how sleep impacts our emotional intelligence and our ability to get along well with others, which is such a key part of our quality of life and sleep can really have a big impact on that.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Yeah, it’s so true. I think all of us have experienced those days where we don’t get enough sleep and we tend to be a little bit more irritable, a little less patient. We may notice it while we are driving or we notice it with our kids or with our partners or at work.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Certainly it is not something that we know that it’s not our best self that is showing up. Let’s talk about more of this and absolutely physical health is an important part of sleep, but right now we’re focusing really on the emotional aspect of it.

Dr. Trevor Cates: I am wondering what are the warning signs that you typically tell people to look for and knowing that this is definitely an issue for you?

Dr. Catherine Darley: I think what you shared about the experience that many of us have had, we haven’t slept well and we can tell we are just a little bit more irritable. The research really actually plays that out and there is a lot of a growing area of evidence. One of the things that happens is that if I’m sleep deprived and I look at your face, Trevor, I can’t tell if you’re happy or angry.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Think about how that is going to manifest then, if I can’t tell if you are happy or angry, I can’t necessarily respond appropriately. And so that is going to have a negative effect on relationships and just your overall wellness.

Dr. Catherine Darley: The other thing that we know is decision making gets much more rule-based so a person isn’t able to necessarily take in the nuances of the situation. They’re just like X equals Y and that’s it, there’s no A, B or C that we are going to take into consideration. We also find that when people aren’t getting adequate sleep, they rate their bad experiences as much worse and their good experiences as ho hum. Just even your enjoyment of life gets worse.

Dr. Catherine Darley: You asked about red flags. I think if you are feeling irritable, if you find yourself snapping or having an out of character, negative reaction, like flying off the handle, that would be something, if you’re finding you feel that Eeyore feeling like nothing’s good. Think about that Winnie the Pooh character, Eeyore, those would be some red flags.

Dr. Catherine Darley: You find in the workplace, there is lots of evidence that when people aren’t getting good sleep, either sufficient sleep or they have sleep disorders, they’re not able to regulate their interactions. They are more likely to write an email that is not appropriate, or sit at their desk and yes, they are physically at their work station, but they are just not getting their work done.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Yeah, absolutely. Then there is the occasional difficulty getting a good night’s sleep and then there are chronic sleep problems. Even one night’s sleep, even one of those can make a difference in your day, but if you’re having an ongoing basis, it becomes a chronic problem. Anything that you want to talk about as far as that’s concerned, and then the other question I have just to kind of play into that is what is a good night’s sleep?

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yeah. A good night’s sleep can be elusive for many people. And that’s a great question. What makes a good night’s sleep? I think falling asleep within about 30 minutes or less, is one of the features of a good night’s sleep.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Sleeping through the night we think of as a good night’s sleep, with the exception of maybe one bathroom break, but it shouldn’t be more than one, regardless of your age actually.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Then waking up feeling refreshed and restored and ready for your day. Because of our circadian rhythm, it is typical that a person would have a little dip in their alertness about one to three o’clock in the afternoon, but otherwise your energy should be pretty good until close to bedtime.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Right? For people who say, I have to take a nap in the afternoon, that’s not a good sign.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Right. I think that there are certainly situations where a person may develop a nap lifestyle where they are regularly taking a nap. Maybe they have to get up super early for work, four o’clock, five o’clock in the morning for work. And they are getting off early in the afternoon. In that case, having a nap lifestyle may make sense. It’s when people say they have to, or they are falling asleep unintentionally, those are more red flags for us.

Dr. Trevor Cates: And so then that other part of what I was talking about is that we occasionally will have these difficulties with a night’s sleep, but then there are the people who basically every night they are struggling with one or all of those things that you mentioned. In particular, that key part is that how you feel when you wake up, you might be, Oh, I slept through the night, but I still wake up feeling terrible.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yeah. We really encourage people, if they have had sleep difficulties for a month, then it’s time to get help. One of the things that we see in the literature is that often people will wait sometimes years to get help from a professional for their sleep.

Dr. Catherine Darley: I encourage you, if you do see that you are having this problem, even if it hasn’t been years go and get help from your primary care physician, from a sleep specialist, from some licensed healthcare professional. Just so that it doesn’t linger on and on. Unfortunately people’s baseline of awareness of how impaired they are by sleep can decline.

Dr. Catherine Darley: If you are sleep deprived or have a sleep disruption for very many days in a row, the first couple of days you are aware of, I don’t feel good. I’m not cognitively snappy. I’m a danger on the road, but after about three nights of not sleeping, well, your baseline gets adjusted down.

Dr. Catherine Darley: You just lose the sensitivity and you suddenly think, Oh, well I guess I’m doing okay on this amount of sleep. But really if we measure your performance, you are impaired. I think of it kind of as similar to alcohol, right? The first drink, the second drink, you might be sensitive to how it’s affecting you, but after the third or fourth drink, many people lose their awareness of how impaired they are.

Dr. Trevor Cates: And how much sleep do you think people need?

Dr. Catherine Darley: I think that adults need somewhere between six and 10. It’s a bell curve where we think most adults need somewhere around eight, three to four percent of adults need only six. Then one to two percent of healthy, normal adults need 10 hours. It is really important for a person to calibrate to how much sleep they need.

Dr. Catherine Darley: If you are someone who needs nine hours and you’re getting eight, it may sound like you are getting plenty to your friends and family, but that means you are an hour sleep deprived every night. And having all those performance and emotional intelligence problems because of that.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Also it can change your physical appearance too. If you are not getting a good night’s sleep.

Dr. Catherine Darley: It really does. There’s been some really interesting studies where they ask people to look at photographs of folks when they are well rested and when they are sleep deprived. And interestingly enough, when a person is sleep deprived, raters will say that they are less intelligent, they are less attractive and they look tired.

Dr. Catherine Darley: We do see that because of an increase in inflammation. Actually not getting sufficient sleep or having disrupted sleep causes an increase in inflammation, which can result in reddened skin. It can result in black circles under the eyes, bloodshot eyes. We also see that our appetite is very sensitive to sleep deprivation and it’ll actually change our appetite hormones.

Dr. Catherine Darley: So we eat more calories. Women will tend to eat about 320 more calories a day if they are sleep deprived and men a little bit less around 280 calories more each day when they are sleep deprived. That can have a cumulative effect. Many people are struggling with their weight and sleep could be one piece of the solution there.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Right. It certainly affects us socially too. This is particularly a concern right now because of all the stress that we have on our lives and the limited social interactions. But then having to go back to some of that. Anything else you want to mention about that?

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yeah. I want to mention that there is an emerging body of knowledge about sleep and loneliness. When we are lonely, we do not sleep as well. Years ago, when I was first in my practice, a couple of years into my practice with patients, I came home one day and I said I was going to change the name of my business. The family was really curious about that.

Dr. Catherine Darley: And I said, I was going to change it from sleep center to sleep and dating center. Which is obviously not true, it was a facetious comment. What I had observed is that when we were talking about people’s sleep problems, and I would ask what are you thinking about at night or what’s troubling you at night, many times people had those really big questions about social connections.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Am I ever going to find a partner? Will I ever have children? How can I find people who just really clicked with me? And a couple of years after I made the observation, there started to be this research coming out, showing that when people say that they are lonely, they don’t sleep well, it is correlated with insomnia symptoms.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Even right now in this pandemic, there is some new research looking at the sleep of healthcare providers in China. And those who say that they have high levels of social capital social connection actually sleep better than those people who are healthcare providers.

Dr. Catherine Darley: They are very stressed. They have high demands right now, worries with this pandemic and the ones who don’t have high rates of social connection and social capital are actually sleeping worse than those who do.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Yeah. I think it becomes such a big problem for us. We definitely want to improve our sleep. So many people struggle with sleep. Let’s talk about the solution to this. What are some of the things that people can do? Obviously, this is a problem. So let’s talk about the solution right now.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yeah. No use talking about a problem if you are not going to get to a solution. The most common sleep disorder, there are many. There are six main classes of sleep disorders. The main sleep disorder that we see most commonly is actually insufficient sleep. Even just in the first quarter of 2020, we see that the percent of people, adults in America getting sufficient sleep has actually declined by 5% currently.

Dr. Catherine Darley: We are at about 49% of adult Americans getting seven to eight hours, which is considered really the very minimum for most people. That means over half of us are not getting the sleep that we need. I would like to suggest to your viewers that they do an optimal sleep challenge. What I mean by that is simply back to a time that you were really well rested.

Dr. Catherine Darley: And those five domains that I talked about, physical, mental health, cognitive, and physical performance and emotional intelligence, all of those five domains were going really well for you. And come up with your ideal sleep number, how much sleep do you really do best? And you’re at the top of your game. Then try to get that amount of sleep for 10 nights in a row and see how it pays out for you. And if it’s worth it.

Dr. Catherine Darley: I think many people can tell you if you ask them, they can say, well, I think I do best with X number of hours. Maybe they do best with nine hours of hours of sleep at night, which would not be unusual. The other part of the coin that I think people don’t necessarily think about, is if you’re programmed for nine hours of sleep at night, that means you’ve got 15 hours in the day.

Dr. Catherine Darley: So if you are going to go from being sleep deprived by an hour or two every night, and you are going to increase your sleep to what you need, that means you are going to have to shorten down your day of commitments. You are going to have to intentionally decide not to do some things that you have been spending your time on.

Dr. Catherine Darley: You will have to maybe delegate some tasks to other family members or people in your life. It is going to have to be well thought out to be able to shrink your daytime commitments, to enlarge your sleep, to the amount that you need.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Yeah. That makes sense. I think that making that adjustment and planning your schedule around that does make sense. And of course there is going to be some time of adjustment, but then in the long run, it is going to provide some great benefits.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yes. Right. So then there are other components of a sleep healthy lifestyle. That’s how I think of it. If you want to design a sleep healthy lifestyle. One of the things that’s really different for us in modern culture is our light exposure. I like people to really think about our ancestors 150, 200 years ago.

Dr. Catherine Darley: How much light were they getting during the day? How much darkness were they getting at night? I think we kind of can take for granted, how very different our light exposure is to what people lived with throughout most of human history.

Dr. Catherine Darley: What I would say the modern light experience is we get a little bit of light during the day, and we get a little bit of light during the night instead of getting a lot of light during the day and tiny little bit of light, maybe a candle light at night.

Dr. Catherine Darley: That really actually makes a huge difference in your sleep because of your physiology. If there is enough light that you can hold your hand out, arms length and see your fingers wiggling, that is enough light to suppress your melatonin. Melatonin is a sleeping hormone that we want to have increasing, even before we hit the sheets, in that sunset period. Our melatonin will start to rise so that we are sleepy when we get to that.

Dr. Trevor Cates: That is a great one. I have never heard that one before, but that’s great. And then of course, no extra lights on. A lot of people will have their TV or the alarm clock or various things throughout the room that have little bits of light emitting, that can add up.

Dr. Catherine Darley: They really do add up. And a hack that people can easily do is you can look up a Lux meter on your phone. It is just a free app on your phone that you can easily download called Lux meter and it uses your phone to measure light levels. And so you can check how light it is in my bedroom. We want it to be three luxs or less at night.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Interesting. I think it’s hard for people who live in cities because it never gets really dark at night. Even in Park City, Utah, I have lived here for 11 years now. When I first moved here at night, you could see the stars. It was really, really dark. And now I absolutely have to pull my curtains closed, because in the neighborhood and nearby businesses, the lights are still on.

Dr. Trevor Cates: So it just creates more light outdoors. And so we don’t see the stars as much as we did here. I think it’s something to be aware of, how dark is it naturally where you live?

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yeah. Then the other thing to think about is how much light are you getting in the morning? We want people to get at least 20 minutes of bright outside light, as soon as they can, after they get up. Using light in that way, actually causes kind of a Teeter totter effect on your melatonin.

Dr. Catherine Darley: By that, I mean, when you first wake up, your melatonin is still a little bit elevated and that bright light will suppress it. And as it’s suppressing your melatonin in the morning, it’s also going to cause a higher pulse of melatonin at night and a little bit earlier, which is going to help you feel sleepy at bedtime.

Dr. Catherine Darley: So daytime light exposure is also equally as important as getting darkness at night. Then you want to be getting pulses of bright outside light every two to three hours, at least 10 minutes.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Some research has looked at office workers and their sleep. The office workers who are in a room that doesn’t have any windows and has a relatively dim indoor light. They don’t sleep as well as their colleagues who are next to a window or go outside on their breaks.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Right. That is a great tip for people who work indoors primarily, to get outdoors. Especially if you don’t have windows in your office. Or a school, allowing kids to get outdoors and get some sunlight too.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yes. The other thing that I want to say, is during this time, when many of us are working from home and space might be crowded, it is best to insulate your bedroom as a place just for sleep. That can be challenging. I know even in our household, we now have four out of five people who are a hundred percent working from home all the time.

Dr. Catherine Darley: And it is challenging to have enough space to separate work areas and sleep areas. One thing that you can do, if you need to have a work area in your bedroom is to have maybe a decorative cloth or something that you put over your workstation when you are done with it. Just as a visual cue that you are off duty. That is important.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Then the other challenge that people are having at this time is that our routines are off. We have talked about sleep. The other aspect that feeds into our sleep health is the circadian rhythm.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Having your meal times at a regular time and getting up at the same time every day, and having your main task of the day, whether it’s homemaking or work or school or whatever it is that you’re focused on. Having that happen at the same time each day is really going to help your sleep and mental health.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Do you have other suggested adjustments for different times of the year? I think when we talk of days being shorter, longer, do you suggest people adjust depending upon how much light there is outside?

Dr. Catherine Darley: We do see that melatonin levels are somewhat higher during the winter. Some people find that they need a little bit more sleep. Otherwise, no main adjustments. As you get further North, you are not necessarily going to be able to get bright light outside right when you wake up. And then in that season, you might consider using a light box at home in the morning. That is if you find that you are really benefiting from the light.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Yep. Great.

Dr. Catherine Darley: I would like to end this Trevor with a strategy to put your thoughts to rest. So the tip that I would like to leave your listeners with is for people who are ruminating at night, thinking things through. Which is a really common problem for people to have thoughts that are intrusive.

Dr. Catherine Darley: The first step with this is to really think about your daytime and your nighttime as very different purposes. And give yourself permission to be off duty at night. We have a lot of roles and responsibilities, doctor, mother, friend, daughter, community member.

Dr. Catherine Darley: To really think, okay, well, I’m going to take care of these roles and responsibilities during daytime and night sleep hours are going to just be for restoring and being ready for the next day, ready to be my best the next day. I think that is a novel idea for people that you don’t have to take your roles to bed with you.

Dr. Catherine Darley: The second thing to help with that is to spend 10 minutes, about an hour or two before bed, just dumping those thoughts onto paper. Whether it is a narrative full sentence diary type journal, or if it’s just problem solving, brainstorming or a to do list, or whatever you need to do, put your thoughts onto the paper and then put those thoughts to bed and you are done with those thoughts.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Then if you start thinking in the night, you tell yourself, I already thought about that? I will have time tomorrow. Now’s my time to rest. Which is a limit setting skill that we can use with ourselves. I encourage people if they are thinking about stuff in the middle of the night to do this practice for 30 days, it’s a skill and like any skill you get better with time.

Dr. Catherine Darley: I think that will be really helpful. Some of the strategies people sometimes hear about is to keep a pencil and paper at your bedside and in the middle of the night, jot your thoughts down.

Dr. Catherine Darley: I’m actually not a fan of that because it’s reinforcing that you should be thinking things through in the middle of the night. What you really want to do is make enough time in the middle of the day or in the evening to think things through and say, okay, I’m going to sleep now. I’m not going to be vigilant to my thoughts.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Yeah. I agree with that. I have done it some. I have a journal beside my bed anyway. And there have been a couple of times I have woken up and then thought, I don’t know that I’m going to remember tomorrow, so I will write it down. But typically when I wake up and I have a thought, I think if it’s really that important, I’m going to remember it tomorrow, right now is my time to sleep and I’m going to do better tomorrow. Getting that thing done.

Dr. Catherine Darley: That’s perfect self-talk to get yourself back to sleep. Prioritize your sleep as the restorative effects you have.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Well, these are really fantastic tips. I do love that you talk about getting a reset and that you have to follow these things for 30 days to really train yourself how to sleep, because we forget, we just get busy and with all the electronics and the lights and the busyness and especially with what has been happening with people working and doing their school at home. We have lost this sense of rhythm and respect for boundaries and routine, and to give yourself 30 days to get a reprogram, I think is a great idea.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yeah. I think that sleep is one of those things that increases your happiness. And I think it’s worth doing therefore.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Yeah, absolutely. Happiness and of course, health too.

Dr. Trevor Cates: Catherine, It has been so great having you on the podcast. Will you tell everybody where they can learn more about you and follow up with you if they want to reconnect.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yes. So my website is, naturalsleepmedicine.net. That is a great way to just learn more about my work. I’m on Twitter at naturalsleepdr and Facebook.

Dr. Trevor Cates: All right. Well, thanks again, Catherine, for coming on. So appreciate it.

Dr. Catherine Darley: Yeah. Great. Thank you very much Dr. Cates, and it was a pleasure to talk with everybody.

Dr. Trevor Cates: I hope you enjoyed this interview today with Dr. Catherine Darley. To learn more about her or to get the links to her clinic, you can go to thespadr.com, go to the podcast page with her interview and you’ll find the information and links there. And while you’re there, I invite you to join The Spa Dr. Community. So you don’t miss any of our upcoming shows and information. And since the skin is an outer reflection of inner health, it’s important to know what’s behind that.

So if you haven’t taken the skin quiz yet, you can go to theskinquiz.com and find out what messages your skin might be trying to tell you about your health and what you can do about it. Just go to theskinquiz.com. Also, I invite you to join The Spa Dr. on social media. We’re on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest. You can join us there and I’ll see you next time on The Spa Dr. Podcast.