Podcast Drop Date: 1/3/2024
On this episode of the Functional Medicine Foundations Podcast, Hailie Kuttler, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and Licensed Dietitian (LD), dives into the profound impact of proper nutrition on detoxifying your body from within. From exploring the science behind detoxifying foods to unveiling the benefits of a nutrient-rich diet, Hailie and Amber discuss practical tips for seamlessly integrating these changes into your daily life. Join us as we uncover the secrets of how the right foods can act as natural cleansers, supporting your body's innate detoxification processes. Whether you're a seasoned health enthusiast or just beginning your wellness journey, this episode offers insights, inspiration, and actionable steps to help you achieve a refreshed and revitalized version of yourself. Tune in, nourish your body, and let the detox journey begin!
Transcript:
Amber Warren, PA-C: Welcome to the Functional Medicine Foundations podcast, where we explore root cause medicine, engage in conversation with functional and integrative medicine experts, and build community with like minded health seekers. I'm your host, Amber Warren. Let's dig deeper. Welcome back everybody. I'm here. We are here with Haley, who's our newest dietitian nutritionist, galore.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: All the things, all things.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Healthy, healthy eating. Um, Hailie Kuttler is a Boise native, registered dietitian and board certified integrative and functional nutrition practitioner. She provides personalized nutrition counseling utilizing a food as medicine approach in preventing and reversing chronic health conditions. Haley recognizes that sustainable change rarely happens overnight, and strives to support and empower her clients on their path to better health. Haley exhibits a profound passion for understanding and nurturing the intricate world of the gut microbiome, and is passionate about helping her clients to achieve optimal health outcomes. Welcome to the podcast, my friend. Thank you. We're so excited to have you here.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: I'm so happy to be here.
Amber Warren, PA-C: You've been such a fun addition to this team. Thank you. And to our Eagle location. And we're just so excited. So I know we could easily come up with ten topics that we wanted to interview you on just in the world of nutrition, because it's such a complex and confusing and overwhelming and individualized approach type of topic with patients nutrition, right? Oh my goodness. And it's such an integral part of what we do. I to be honest with you, I never say never, but majority of the time I will say, I'm so sorry. If you're not willing to work with Hailie or see our nutrition team like I, you might not be a great fit here because it's so foundational.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: It's so foundational, healing and getting people where they where they need to be.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So today we kind of decided let's let's discuss detoxification through nutrition. Right. And maybe just detoxification in general because it's so important because we are bombarded in our country right now with an unfathomable amount of toxins. And it's such a common root cause of so many of the patients that we're seeing. Right. It is. And like I saw a patient today, I do a test. I know you're familiar with this test. You see a lot of them in these clients. That total tax burden, um, it tests it's a urinary test that tests our patients for mycotoxins. So mold, um, environmental chemicals and heavy metals. And I'm sure if you've seen I have, I can say never in this case never tested a patient that's been negative in all three categories. Um, um, majority of people have something in all three categories, and 90% of them have something in two of the three categories. So I was reviewing a test with the client this morning, and I could tell she was getting pretty anxious going over results because it was significant. And I'm like this. This isn't unavoidable. I see these toxins in almost everybody. We're gonna get you detox. But more importantly, the focus is, um, to continue to create detoxification in the body long after because one of her questions was, how do I how do I know it's I'm not going to be back in the same place with autoimmune disease and fatigue and brain fog and all these ailments. And I'm like, we focus on continuing to promote detoxification in the body. So I'm so excited to have this conversation. So, um, what drives you to be passionate about detox through nutrition?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Oh, man, don't even get me started. Um, so we can just I mean, even in my own life, right? It's very personal for me. Personal to my family. Um, we have those darn dirty genes, right? We're not able to detoxify efficiently. And so downstream, we see these adverse health effects. So for myself, mycotoxins for my mom, same picture. Um, um, and then on my dad's side, he has Comt, so he's not able to detoxify as efficiently. So we just we got it all going on. Yeah. Um, so for me, it's like this whole process of, you know, I started going to conventional providers for things like acne and IBS and all these things that there's just really not a great solution for that in the conventional world. Um, so it's been me kind of trying to figure out,
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah, you've been on your own journey.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: My own journey this whole whole time. So I'm so happy to have found you guys and this community and I. Before this, I was like, almost crying.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah, we were talking offline and we were both tearing up. We're like, let's save this conversation for after we're done filming.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Thank you. I love working here. Like, yeah, being over the top. So anyway, so yeah, it's kind of a personal thing. And then that makes me so much more passionate about helping the patients that we see here. Yeah. Um, I mean, I can really I'm going to cry. Oh my gosh, I okay, I cry, I empathize with them so much when they come in. Right. Yeah. Um, and they have this really limited diet and they're miserable. Yeah. And, you know, all in the name of healing. It's all a process. It's all a journey. Yeah. Um, sometimes the therapeutic interventions that we have, sometimes that means avoiding certain foods and certain things that other people that don't have those genes, they can, you know, go to all the parties and have all the fun. And not to say that we can't do those things, but we kind of do it in a different way. That's a. A little bit smarter, right? And I heard this quote the other day that was like, you either have to be sick or smart to care about things like this. Yeah. And it's so true, right? So true. I mean, so many of us can kind of go through go through life and it doesn't really impact us at all. But for the for the others. Yeah. You know, we have to be a little bit more vigilant and know the ways that we can empower ourselves and take care of our bodies.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Absolutely. So what's what's your approach? How do you educate people on why we should be focused on detox all the time.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Mhm. Yeah that's a good question I would say. There's that constant bombardment of the things in our environment, right? We can't escape it. But it's like, how can we fortify our body's response to those chemicals, the mycotoxins, whatever it is. Right. And so our bodies have this very natural built in process for detoxifying. And there are things that we can do in terms of our nutrition to kind of support that process. So, um, just to give a little bit of background. Yeah. Um, as you know, these toxins come into our body. You know, it's, um, they're fat loving. They're stored in our fat cells oftentimes. So when we see someone who maybe they're going through a weight loss journey, right? And all of a sudden these toxins are being mobilized into circulation. Um, they go to the liver and they undergo a couple of phases of detoxification. So kind of that first step is, um, a nutrient requiring process. Right? We need to have B vitamins. We need to have iron in order to kind of change that fat soluble toxin to something that we can excrete and get rid of. Okay. So that's step one. It changes it to something that's water soluble that we can get out of the body. Um, but it is more toxic at that time. So we move on to phase two. And then for people who have that com t genetic variation, they're not as efficient as then taking that toxin that's been, you know, changed and altered to actually get it out. Yeah. So sometimes there's a little bit of a build up. So that's where we need antioxidants. We need high quality protein. We need those non-starchy vegetables um to help our body to kind of move through that process.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So man I that was gold. Everything you just said. Pure gold. Um, I want to break it down a little. Please do. Um, iron b vitamins. I, I would love to know as a nutritionist and dietitian, your concern with the vegan lifestyle, not having those nutrients on board to adequately detox. Because I see these patients fairly often and I have a hard time, I often just say, you're going to visit with Hayley about this. Yeah, because I get concerned, um, especially when I look at their labs and see their B vitamins or folate, their, their, um, levels of serum iron, um, and just their inability to, to detox and what those nutrients are doing for thyroid health and brain health and overall cellular health. Totally. So how do you work with vegetarians or vegans to help facilitate that? Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So especially if someone is vegetarian or vegan and they have that genetic concern there, we want to make sure that they're supplementing. There's kind of no way to get around that at the end of the day.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Have them all supplement. Yep.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah definitely. So especially like you said, the B vitamins, vitamin D, omega threes those are all going to be crucial pieces of the puzzle. Um, and I can speak from experience again I was vegan and I got myself into some health trouble. I was I was a part of a very. Yeah, kind of, you know, thinking it, the plant based life was going to just kind of and there's.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Some tremendous benefits, but definitely some shortfalls.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Totally. Yeah. So I think somewhere in the middle, right. Including all of those really important plant foods, so therapeutic, so beneficial. Absolutely. And also thinking about, you know, the high quality proteins and some of those quality fats that might be a little bit hard to get otherwise.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah. Um, genetic testing. You have some specialty training in a really cool genetic chest that I keep test that I keep recommending for patients. What is that test? And tell us a little bit more about it.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yes. So, um, it is the 3X4 genetic test. Um, I absolutely love it. I try to sell everyone on it. And how much is it?
Amber Warren, PA-C: Like three something.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: It it's about 400 ish between 3 to 400. Okay. Um, but that one's amazing, right? It goes upstream. It looks at, you know, genetic variances that can play a role and kind of what you're currently experiencing. So for instance, I had a client that came in the other day and she was talking about, um, her vitamin D being really low and how she couldn't replenish that. Okay. And then her husband was like, I've been giving her about 10,000 IU's. I don't know if I'm supposed to be doing this. And then we saw in her test that she had decreased, uh, receptors for vitamin D, so she was not absorbing all the vitamin D that, that she was being given. So you just kind of had to saturate. And it makes sense at that high level. Right? You know, she needs a lot.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah. Basically a lot of vitamin D. And there's a fair amount of patients out there. Yeah. Or the SNPs where they can't get it from the sun, but they're like, oh I don't I don't think I should spend my money checking vitamin D. It's July and I spend a ton of time in the sun and I'm like, yeah, you might be surprised. You think you're getting a good amount from the sun, but you might not have. You might have a genetic snip where you can't actually absorb that vitamin D from the sun. Yeah. So those are other people that do need to supplement with a lot. Totally. So back. Two. Phase one. Phase two.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Mhm.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Um can we go over maybe foods that optimize. So with regards to iron and those B vitamins, what are foods that are high in those nutrients that will help optimize that phase one detoxification.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Sure. So um, one of my favorites that will actually cover your bases for phase one. Phase two, um, that a lot of people don't like this answer. But liver is so nutrient dense.
Amber Warren, PA-C: It's such a power food.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: It's such a power food. It's so rich in so many vitamins and minerals, has good protein.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So do you eat liver?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So great question. I get that from clients all the time.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I'm sure you do, I do.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So what I typically do is I go to McIntyre pastures. I don't know if you're familiar with them at all. No. Um, so they're local, they're organic, pastured, all the things. Um, and they have this really great blend. And so it is there, the ground beef, but then it also has the liver and heart blended in as well.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I love it. So like what percentage.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Like probably just a very small amount of liver percentage.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Okay. Sure.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I'd be curious because that's what I do at home. I'll do like a little bit of blended liver and try and put it in with like spaghetti sauce, like something easy to hide.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah, yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: I'm almost there. I'm gonna. I have it on my list of To-Dos.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Is to just order the liver and just, I mean I think for, for generations. Right. It's so new that we don't eat liver. Right. You hear of at least my grandparents. I'm talking about liver and onions. And that was a really common thing. Right. So that is a a great meal for detoxification. Liver and onions I.Know.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Again not what you want to hear today.
Amber Warren, PA-C: What about supplementing liver capsules desiccated liver. Most of my clients are like nope, just give me the give me the supplement. I won't I won't eat the liver. I think it's sufficient.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: I mean, to be honest, I haven't looked into a ton, a ton of the research behind it, but I think as long as you're getting really high quality version of that supplement, I don't see why not. Right. If it's freeze dried encapsulated. Yeah.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Good source.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I think a lot of it is. Yeah. Um, other foods that you, you would recommend for someone who's like, no, taking a supplement. What else? You know, they're coming to you. I mean, my concern with a lot of my patients that need a detox is the mycotoxins. You know, that's the more deep, intensive detox. And those patients are tough because not only do they need to be on some of our detox food plans, but they also need to be most of them on a low mold, low histamine diet. Right? So that's where I do get concerned. And a lot of them are already have some nervous system imbalances because of their chronic illness. So we're trying to balance the nervous system. We don't want to put them too restrictive on a diet. So that is where I'm like, hey, Lee's got you. Yeah, this is very complicated. Hailie's going to support you through this.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Those are the complicated ones for sure.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: And at the end of the day, it's like, um, for those people we really like to focus on. This is short terme, right? This is therapeutic. Yeah. Um, I.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Love it, but.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: We think of, like, low salicylate, low oxalate, all of those things as kind of a side. Right? These are the things you're avoiding. But also what are the foods that we can focus on that are going to nourish your body to detoxify these things? What's going to help you to move bile? Are there bitter grains that you can include? Right. Um, yeah, it's it's a whole process. It's very complex. But, um, those are some of my favorite clients, to be honest, because near and dear to my heart, of course. Yeah. Um, but also the therapeutic benefit of the foods is, is massive. So. Yeah.
Amber Warren, PA-C: That's so awesome.
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Amber Warren, PA-C: What is your recommended servings of plants a day? What should most patients and do? You increase that a lot with patients that are trying to detox? Do you have them go up on the colorful fruits and vegetables?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: That's a good question. So colorful is super duper important. So eating a rainbow, right? Um, I mean, it varies based upon how much you need in a typical day, generally of calories, um, on the lower end, about five servings in a day, but all the way up to 12 servings in a typical day. Um, sometimes it's a little bit hard for clients, right? To kind of okay, count and keep track of things. Um, but a really good rule of thumb is when you sit down and, you know, make your plate, whatever it is, try to aim to make half of that plate non-starchy.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Vegetables, plants I love it.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Make it colorful. Yeah.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Um, so we touched on liver. What are your other superfoods that we would like? I love broccoli sprouts. I try and teach my patients to sprout their own broccoli sprouts because it's easy. It's affordable. But what else are you encouraging and what else should we just be telling our our community trying to eat these foods several times a week, um, for health, but also for adequate detoxification?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Totally. Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So just for general health, I think foods that are going to support detox are going to be, like we said, colorful plants, high quality proteins. Um, and when you do think of, you know, whatever protein that you're choosing, let's say it's an animal or a fish, think of what that what it was consuming. Right. Was it having that high quality grass that's organic or that algae out in the wild? Um, because that's going to be reflective of the nutrient content in the tissues. So it's going to be a much higher content or ratio of omega threes to omega six versus if we're doing the farmed fish or we're doing the conventionally raised beef and all of that, um, we're going to have higher omega six. It's going to be a little bit more inflammatory. And then also back to the mycotoxin picture. The grains that those animals are fed. Right. Have some.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Moldy grains.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Moldy grains.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Mark Hyman wrote a book. Food. What the heck should I eat? Have you read it? It's. It's older. I think it's like 8 or 9 years old.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: I love him, but I.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Haven't read that. Yeah, it's really good.
Amber Warren, PA-C: It's a very good intro. If people are just really overwhelmed, just, hey, you know, people that like to read. But in it, he tells a story about, um, a truck that overturned on its way to a feedlot and it was damaged. Skittles. Oh, my. So yeah. So Skittles that they couldn't package and have people consume. They send to feedlots to feed the conventionally raised meat.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: There you go.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So you get a little bit of skittle in your ground beef.
Amber Warren, PA-C: It's crazy. Like so we're we are what we eat. We hear that all the time. Right. But it's like but we also are what the food we eat eats totally. So it's it's just creating that awareness.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Mhm.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Um so let's break down good quality protein because I think it's easy for you and I to say oh clean clean protein. But I think for the average person, the average client maybe it's not as straightforward. So good quality protein I mean we just did kind of explain make sure they're eating but right. Eating healthy good foods that the product is. But what are other good sources of quality protein.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Um, so if you're not sensitive to them, eggs are a really great source of protein. Um, they have so many nutrients that, again, support detoxification, sulfur, all the protein, all that good stuff. Yeah. Um, and again, thinking of what, you know, what were those, those chickens eating.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Or how were they raised. How were they raised? Are they.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Living. Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Totally. Yeah. Were they happy? Is the is the yolk a really vibrant kind of almost orangey color. Does it have more flavor. Mhm. Um, or is it kind of that, you know plain Jane sort of egg that you might get just. Yeah. Standard. That was kind of from a factory farm. Yep.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Right. Absolutely.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Um and then when it comes to fish, there are ways to kind of, um, make different choices that are going to be supportive of reducing your toxic burden. So, um, we know that mercury is something that bioaccumulates. Yep. And so when we're eating really, really big fish, you know, all the sushi that has the tuna and all that really tasty, fun stuff, um, that fish has had so many tiny little fish. And then the mercury kind of accumulates in its tissues. So it's a big deal. Yes. And so the smaller fish are thinking of the ones that are going to be rich in the omega three fatty acids, low mercury. So that's going to be more like again, you probably don't want to hear it. But the sardines, the anchovies I.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Agree sardines is probably another another food we should add to the superfood.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: List. Yes. It's so.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Important. Yeah. Um, how about, um, consuming beverages that upregulate detox?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Um.
Amber Warren, PA-C: A lot of our clients love to have, like, yummy. Or there's just things to drink. It's kind of part. It's kind of part of society, right? Tea dates, coffee dates, the Stanley mugs that everyone has. I mean, everyone's drinking everything all the time, right?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Something fun to have.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah, yeah. Um, so in terms of supporting detoxification, there are different teas that are actually super duper supportive for detox. So, um, green tea is one of them. Honeybush tea.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Honeybush.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Honeybush. Yes. Is that.
Amber Warren, PA-C: All? One word.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: All one word. Yeah.
Amber Warren, PA-C: What is it? Is it good? I've never even heard of it.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: You know, I.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Have yet to try it. Okay. I kind of learned it in the last month or so. Cool. Um, but apparently it is a little bit on the sweeter side. Oh, cool. Um, but it is caffeine free. Okay. Um, I think it gets the name from probably a little bit sweet, like honey.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So. Yeah. Cool.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Um, supports detox, and then, uh, rooibos is another one that does, um, and then coffee. So that can be super beneficial unless you have a genetic variance where you're sensitive to coffee. So if you're finding that you're someone who you need to stop drinking coffee very early in the day or you're very easily affected by it. Yeah. If you are metabolizing that slowly, that actually contributes to your toxic burden. And so we want to choose something that's going to be, um, a little bit more supportive of your overall health. Right. So, um, purity coffee is a great option. And they do have a decaf one. So it's called calm. Um, that one is Swiss Water. Um, process. So a really clean way of getting that caffeine out. Um, so that's the one that I kind of go to. And it's also in terms of being clean, right? It is third party tested for mycotoxins.
Amber Warren, PA-C: That's the best coffee.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah. So good I.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Agree there's some other good ones out there. But I do love purity. I really trust that brand.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Um, that's.
Amber Warren, PA-C: That's great advice. How about just general hydration? What are your roles there on just staying hydrated to support detoxification and cellular health?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah, totally. So I think just a general easy rule of thumb is to aim for about half of your body weight in fluid ounces water each day.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah I agree.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Um, and then thinking about, you know, adding some electrolytes. Right. A lot of us are really, really deficient in different minerals and electrolytes. So what can you add to that to help you get even more hydrated? So can you add a little bit of lemon or, um, some Redmond's real salt or, um, you know, different things like that. So and there's here we have element. So that's a great one a great option actually tastes good. Yeah. Um, that one I would say can be a little bit of a concern if someone has like really high blood pressure or something like that. Just dilute it more. It does have some sodium in it. Yeah. Um, and especially if you're an athlete, right. If you are really active in your sweating or you're doing sauna as you go through detox, definitely be.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Replenishing. Replace those please. I'm begging.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: You.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah, yeah. Another really good electrolyte mix I've come across is, um. Be good. You seen that one? It's a lemon. It's all organic. It doesn't have any of the natural flavors. I've the element I trust the natural flavors in that. It's all non-GMO, but, um, it's it's just a little for people that don't really like the intense salty of the element. Um, the the be good, um, lemon electrolyte powder. It's got pink Himalayan salt in it, and it's it's, um, it's a really good one. Oh, I'll have.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: To try that one, try.
Amber Warren, PA-C: That one and recommend that one as well. That we can't ignore the importance of the microbiome in the role of not only well in the role of detoxification. So what are your recommendations there?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So, uh, a healthy gut is crucial for detoxification, right? It's one of our first lines of defense as these toxins kind of enter our body. Um, so how do we how do we nourish a healthy gut microbiome? So, um, that's going to look like a variety of fiber and colorful plant foods. So when you think of an individual food, take an apple or something like that. It's going to have really, really unique fibers and a variety of polyphenols. And so you can totally take supplements and that's, you know, amazing. If you're not able to eat a lot of like, you know, red fruits or vegetables, that's great. Um, but there are synergistic aspects that we just can't encapsulate.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Right, right.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: And so there are so many types of I mean, there's just so much. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So it's like, just keep it simple. Just know that that's like taking your medicine is biting into that apple and just keeping a rotation of different plant foods that are really colorful just to kind of, um, fortify and protect your body.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: What are your what are your, some, some of your favorite prebiotic foods?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Ooh.
Amber Warren, PA-C: To help feed those good gut bacteria.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Totally. So and this is a good question too, because so many people who have IBS and Sibo are avoiding those foods. Be careful with those foods. And to be honest with you, to me, I've been doing this low Fodmap diet.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yourself for?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: For myself.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Right? Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: It's not meant to be a long time, right? Don't do as I do.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Please don't. Um.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: But in terms of what I see for clients, being really useful is going to be Jerusalem artichokes. Um, legumes are super, super beneficial. Yeah. Um, cooked and cooled starches. So you can make your rice or you can make your potatoes. And then the act of cooking and cooling them, it creates this sort of, uh, yeah, resistant starch to where it's fuel for your healthy gut bacteria.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Love it. Yeah.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Um, I don't always like to focus on the things to avoid, because I think it just leads to, like, restriction. Totally. But I think on the topic of detox, it really is important to know, like top five, like we're really trying to be in that therapeutic window and really facilitate detoxification of mold or heavy metals or whatever is we're aiming for. What do you say? We really should just lay low on this for now.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Um.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: In terms of.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Specific, sorry.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Just food types or drinks, right? I'm thinking alcohol. Um, or just just different types or brands of food.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Totally. Yeah. So I mean, in terms of supporting healing as much as you can limit processed foods, that's going to be the ideal. Yeah. And I know in our culture and our society, it feels so radical to be the one who's mostly eating from the earth.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah, right. It does feel. Yeah. And it's.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So silly because that's evolutionarily that's what we.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Do. Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: And so now in our society that is just convenience foods are the norm. Right. It feels a little crazy. Yeah. And it's not right. So um, avoiding the processed foods as, as much as you can. Right. There's going to be those times when you're in a pinch and, you know, you probably have a busy life, like most of us. Like all of us. Right? So, um, with additives, there's so many different things, so many synthetic chemicals and things that that we just need to steer clear of, right? Things that we just don't know enough about.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Or our bodies can't.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Recognize, our bodies can't recognize.
Amber Warren, PA-C: We don't know what to do with high fructose corn sirup. We don't. We just don't.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: We don't at all. Yeah, yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So if you can. Right. Just choose something else. Yeah. Um, and then kind of eliminating the top inflammatory foods. So for most people that's going to look like gluten dairy, refined sugars. But that's going to vary a lot. So um, either you do maybe an elimination diet or maybe you do a food sensitivity test or something like that, just to get a feel for what does this look like for you and kind of individualizing the things that we need to remove in order to promote gut healing.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yep, I love it.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So wonderful.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Um, and then otherwise another side. I'm just the bearer of bad news today. Right. So alcohol. So alcohol.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Is I know.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: And you know, it's a social thing, but really it's hard on the liver. We want to love our liver in order to support good detox. Yeah. Okay. And then with the gut microbiome it's really disruptive to the gut.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Really disruptive to the gut. Really.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So right. So like alcohol is an antiseptic. It kills bacteria. What's in our gut. Bacteria.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So yeah. And then it's just it's really hard to find clean alcohol without the additives and the sugar and the food dye. And yeah that's where I think you also get into trouble. So I'm like, how about tequila and soda water with a fresh organic lime.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Love it.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Let's like if when we do choose to want to enjoy a spirit, let's choose that spirit. I feel like 75 year old grandmother saying that. Enjoy a spirit.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Your spirit of choice. Spirit of choice? Yes.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Clean tequila.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Tequila is pretty clean. Mhm. Um. So amazing. So informative. Informative. Are there any other just detoxification tips that you recommend to our patients that come and see you for these detox protocols.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So I mean one of the biggest things that I'll tell people is like it's not just food, right? I'm here as the dietitian talking to you today, but also it's not just food. So thinking about how can we move our bodies, right. Move our lymph around. So, um, that's going to help us to kind of excrete the things that we're detoxifying. Um, things like dry brushing or saunas, drinking water, just those really basic boring things.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Sweating every day. Sweating. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So easy. Free things that you can just do every day. I agree.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Not expensive at all.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah, yeah.
Amber Warren, PA-C: That's great exercise. That's great for just moving lymph and sweating. There you go. Kill two birds with one stone. That's great.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Easy.
Amber Warren, PA-C: You know, I like to end each one of my discussions, interviews with, um, a question on this topic of nutrition and detoxification today. What's one piece of advice that you feel like moves the needles the most? Moves the needle the most for your clients you can share with our listeners?
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Yeah.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: So I think having said all of that, right, like, don't eat these foods. You have to eat these things. Life is about balance. Yeah. And if we're getting. Stress out about this, it's going to contribute to the toxic burden. We're going to create our own internal toxins. So take everything with a grain of salt. Um, do what's realistic for you. Take whatever first step you can manage and go from there. Yeah. You don't have to change everything overnight.
Amber Warren, PA-C: That's so good.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: And then we're here to support you along the way in that journey. So if you come back to us and you've done something that you feel is so small and insignificant, that's amazing. Yep. And we're going to be here to cheer you on.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah. Three steps forward, one step back or even two steps back. Oh, but the point is, you're still moving forward.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Totally.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Progress is not linear.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah, absolutely. Not at all.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I love it. Foundationally, we're just on the same page. And that's why you're such a good fit here. Because we all, we all think alike. It's so great. Thank you for your time, Hailie. We're so grateful for you.
Hailie Kuttler, RDN, LD,IFNCP: Thank you. You're welcome.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Thank you for listening to the Functional Medicine Foundations podcast. For more information on topics covered today. Specialties available at the FMI center for Optimal Health and the highest Quality of supplements and more. Go to Funmedfoundations.com.
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