Dr. Josh Axe: Healing Through Mindset, Thyroid Issues, Fertility, Hashimotos & PCOS

This episode focuses on the profound impact of mindset on physical health, especially in the context of chronic health issues like PCOS, thyroid problems, and fertility challenges.

1. Mindset's Impact on Health: Mindset significantly affects physical health, where positive thinking can enhance healing processes.
2. Power of Belief: Historical and personal anecdotes underscore the placebo effect's real impact, showing that belief can mimic powerful medications in pain management.
3. Comprehensive Health Approach: Healing should integrate mindset, dietary changes, and lifestyle adjustments, rather than rely solely on medications.
4. Specific Health Issues: Detailed discussions on managing thyroid issues, PCOS, and fertility emphasize the interconnection between mental and physical health.
5. Practical Health Strategies: The episode provides actionable advice on nutrition, exercise, and mental health practices to support overall well-being.

1: Introduction

Mari introduces Dr. Josh Axe, who will discuss the connection between mindset and health. Josh Axe: "Our beliefs significantly impact our physical health."

2: Deep Dive into Mindset and Health

Exploration of how a positive mindset can directly influence various health outcomes. Josh Axe: "Positive thoughts can actually help heal your body."

3: Discussion on Specific Conditions

Detailed conversation on thyroid issues, PCOS, and fertility, including personal stories and medical insights. Josh Axe: "Mindset plays a crucial role in managing chronic conditions like PCOS."

4: Practical Advice for Listeners

Dr. Axe provides actionable health tips and discusses the importance of dietary choices and lifestyle changes. Mari Llewelyn: "Implementing these health tips can lead to significant improvements in well-being."

5: Closing Thoughts

Summarization of key points and a call to action for listeners to apply these insights. Josh Axe: "Start with small, manageable changes to see improvements."

1. Adopt a Positive Mindset: Regularly practice gratitude and positive affirmations to enhance your mental and physical health.
2. Mindful Eating: Incorporate anti-inflammatory foods and avoid processed foods to support overall health.
3. Regular Exercise: Engage in moderate, regular physical activity to improve both mental and physical health.
4. Stress Management: Implement relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises.
5. Community Engagement: Build and maintain a supportive community to foster both mental and physical well-being.

Ep. #108 On today’s episode of Pursuit of Wellness, Dr. Josh Axe joins me for an inspirational episode emphasizing the importance of mindset. In the past couple years alone, Josh has overcome tremendous adversity and today discusses some of the ways he has maximized his healing, including utilizing the ABCDE Method and amplifying the placebo effect. We talk about negative self talk and how to overcome fear, worry, and any limiting beliefs that are holding you back. We also dive deep into topics like PCOS, fertility and Hyperthyroidism. Whether you're seeking relief from chronic pain or striving for greater happiness and fulfillment, tune in for invaluable insights for your journey toward holistic wellness.

People

Josh Axe, Mari Llewellyn

Companies

Ancient Nutrition, Draxe.com

Books

"Think This, Not That"

Guest Name(s):

Josh Axe

Content Warnings:

None

Josh Axe
I don't think people realize how much our mindset, the way we think about things, our beliefs, impact our physical health. This is the pursuit of wellness podcast, and I'm your host, Mari Llewelyn.

Mari Llewelyn
What's up, guys? Welcome back to the show. And today we have a very special guest, Doctor Josh Axe. I have to say, this conversation was almost like the universe giving me a sign. It was very in line with things that I've been struggling with recently in terms of my personal health, my sort of mindset around health.

I tend to be pretty obsessive and controlling about fixing my problems. And this was a really big wake up call for me about the negative spiral we can get into about different issues we have, whether it's acne and injury, stomach problem, hair problem, whatever it may be. So. So if you're listening and you feel like your mindset around your body or something you're struggling with is making it worse, I would highly recommend you listen. Doctor Josh Axe is the co founder of Ancient Nutrition and founder of Draxe.com dot.

He earned his doctorate from Palmer College and his master of Science in organizational leadership from John Hopkins University. He joins me today for an inspirational episode emphasizing the importance of mindset. He has gone through tremendous adversity, and today he discusses ways he maximized his healing by using his mind. I feel like the mind is so, so important, and we don't even realize it. We talk about negative self talk and how to overcome fear, worry, and limiting beliefs.

We also dive deep into topics like pcos, fertility, hyperthyroidism. Whether you're seeking relief from chronic pain or striving for a healthier lifestyle, this episode is for you. We cover so many different topics, and I think you guys are gonna absolutely love it. Also, guys, just a reminder, we just dropped our brand new product at bloom. It's our colostrum and peptides.

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You can add it to your greens, you can add it to water, your favorite beverage. It is amazing for immunity and gut health, hair, skin, and nails and so much more. Highly recommend you guys check it out. It is available on Amazon. Without further ado, let's hop into Doctor Josh Axe.

Doctor Josh Axe, welcome to the show. Maury. Thanks for having me. Excited to be here. I am so excited to chat.

You just released your new book, think this, not that, all about mindset. As medicine, which I feel like is so, so important. Having gone through my own health journey with acne and gut health and pcos, trying to detach from my diagnosis or my health problem has been kind of a struggle for me. So I'm really excited to get some advice from you today. What is your ethos around mindset and health?

Josh Axe
Well, you know, I. And by the way, I'm excited to talk about everything today. I know we'll talk about mindset, hypothyroidism, you know, infertility, all kinds of things, you know, in natural healing. But I. The thing that I always say about mindset is it ties into all kinds of things, our identity, our purpose.

And I don't think people realize how much our mindset, the way we think about things, our beliefs, impact our physical health. Ill give an example of this. I mean, if you go back all the way back to sort of what founded the way we do blind placebo studies today, like a lot of western medicine, back many years ago during one of the world wars, one of the practicing physicians ran out of morphine. And we all know morphine is an incredibly strong drug. And so because he ran out of morphine, he's like, I have to call.

I have to take care of these fallen soldiers. I have to give them something. And so he essentially gave them sugar pills. Well, the crazy part was about 30% to 40% of them saw almost the exact same pain relief from these sugar pills as they would have given morphine. And that's my.

I mean, think about that, that your own body can produce the same neurochemicals to numb pain as morphine. And so, and I, and I. And so I think when it comes to our physical healing, whether somebody's trying to heal from autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, no matter what the condition is, a big part of it happens in the mind. And I can tell you from working with tens of thousands of patients, one of the most important parts of healing is your mindset and the way you think about your condition, about healing in the first place. And I think there's a combination of things that happen.

One, I think that you actually do help heal your body through positive thoughts. I mean, there's something called neuroplasticity, too, where your body will start creating new neural pathways in order to repair itself. I think your body will send new growth factors, stem cells, everything to that place that needs healing, whether it's the thyroid or the liver, the reproductive organs. And so all that being said, if we're just talking about health alone, again, I don't think people realize what a big impact our thinking has on health. And I think current science today proves that.

I also think if you go back and look at what some of the wisest sages and saints and, and philosophers and practitioners have said throughout history, for instance, the Bible talks constantly about your faith or your beliefs or your thoughts will heal you. And so it's something I'm very excited about because I think it helped save my life. I mean, I almost died about two years ago, and so that's really what sort of ignited in me this awareness about mindset medicine, and just really how important it is for us to be able to heal. But I think that my like, to answer your question, I know I've kind of, um, kind of alluded around it, but I think we have to start with the end in mind. I think that's the big thing.

Mari Llewelyn
What do you mean by that? So there's something in, uh, that was oftentimes talked about not as much today. And I'm going to use the latin frame. It's called the sunum bonum. And it's the greatest good.

Josh Axe
And so some of this ties into our identity and purpose in terms of, and I think it's actually very important for our health. And so if you want to be as healthy as possible, you also have to know, what does your ideal life look like? And be in tune with that, and then create a plan in order to make that your reality, you know, like, so for somebody. And I think that this is all part of God's design. If you are living in tune with the way God created us, then that is going to lead to the optimal level of health.

I mean, God created fruits and vegetables and animals and these sort of things. And if we're eating real things, if we are enjoying and spending time in nature, if we're living out our purpose in life, I think it's going to lead to happiness, fulfillment, better health, but if you're not doing that, it's going to make you sick. So I think for most people, and I think a lot of people go through their life without actually thinking, this is actually exactly what I want in life, and also making sure it aligns with, as much as possible what truly will fulfill them. Because if somebody goes and says, I just want to have a lot of money and a big house and a Lamborghini and a second home, and they get there, most people are gonna end up being disappointed, you know, versus saying, you know what I see the people that have lived the best lives that are the happiest. They actually.

The people that sacrifice themselves the most, they give the most to others. They are using their gifts to make earth a heavenly place. And so I know that kind of seems kind of maybe a little far reaching, but I do think even our mindset and our house starts with thinking about the end. Yeah. How do we overcome limiting beliefs we have about ourselves?

Mari Llewelyn
Self sabotaging thoughts, negative thinking in general. Yeah. So I had this life altering experience in high school, and by the way, I think everybody's gonna relate to this. I'm sure you will. I'm sure every person watching and listening to this will relate as well, because we've all had somebody in our life say something destructive, and somebody say something that helped save us, in a way.

Josh Axe
And so I was a freshman in high school, and I was a terrible student. Absolutely terrible. And I had a. My freshman english teacher. Her name was Miss Noble.

She said, josh, can you stay after class? And I said, yes. And she said, hey, what do you want to do when you graduate? I'm sorry. Actually, she didn't say this.

She said, what do you want to do after high school? And I said, I want to be a doctor. And the reason I said that, mari, was that the year before my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, she had a mastectomy. She went through rounds and rounds of chemotherapy. I mean, I remember this day, my mom losing my mom, being bald.

I remember her taking a pit, like, a comb through her hair and all the chunks of hair coming out, and just as a kid, just crying. And I remember remembering. There's two things I thought at the time. One, I want to help people, like my mom. That's why I want to be a doctor.

And also, there's got to be a better way. Like, this is the way we help heal people is through cutting off her breast and losing her hair and being 13 years old and thinking, I want to be a doctor. Well, the teacher asked me, what do you want to do after high school? And I said, I want to be a doctor. And she laughed out loud.

And she goes, Josh, listen, with your gpA, you'll never get into med school. She said, my own daughter had a 3.8 gpa and barely got into med school. She says, you got an f on this paper. You're getting a d minus in my class. She said, you need to try harder or you're going to fail.

And that was it. And when I walked out of that room, what I thought to myself was, again, being a junior high kid, I thought, I cant be a doctor now. Im not going to get good enough grades. Two weeks later, my mom brings me to a physician, who then talks about me like, im not in the room. And he tells my mom, I still remember today, he says, your son has a learning disability.

He has really severe adhd. Im going to write this drug for Ritalin. It should help, but hes going to have trouble learning his whole life. And then I remember thinking, well, gosh, not only am I, not only can I not be a doctor, but there's like something wrong with me. I have a disability, like with my brain.

I can't learn right. And so throughout high school, because of that reason, I thought, I'm just barely gonna try. And so I barely graduated high school. The only reason I graduated was I knew my dad would be irate if I did not graduate high school. So I graduated with a c minus, applied to a bunch of colleges, got denied by almost all of them.

But one college I really wanted to go to, probably because I had a lot of good extracurricular stuff, they sent me a letter back and they said, here is the gist of it. You're not in, but if you come and take summer school, we'll let you in if you average above a 3.0. So I thought, okay, I'm going to do this. I'm going to go. I'm actually going to try.

And the first class I had to take was English 101. Biggest first assignment was a paper. So I went, wrote the paper, felt good about it, turned it in. And a few days later, the teacher said, josh, can you stay after class? My heart sank.

I was like, oh, my gosh, not this again. Deja vu. And she asked me, she says, josh, what's your major? And I said, I haven't chosen a major, misses Williams. And she said, well, I want to let you know that I think you should consider being an english major or journalism major because you're a great writer.

She said, you got the highest grade in the class in this paper. I can tell you're really talented. Great job. And I walked out of there, and I went through high school believing the thing that kept ringing in my ear. I had this narrative of, you're not smart, just over and over and over again.

And so I literally believed I was just dumb all through high school. And then I had one teacher tell me, you could be a great writer. You're good at this. And it radically changed my confidence in the way that I felt about myself. I mean, from then on, I got well above a 3.0 throughout college.

Much later on, when I went to Johns Hopkins University, I graduated there with a 3.9 gpa, you know, eventually became a doctor. And the reason I say those things is not to boast about any of it. It's to say, like, if I would have held onto the one single limiting belief of what that teacher said, none of that would have happened. I wouldn't have gone to John Hopkins, wouldn't become a doctor. You and I wouldn't be having this conversation now.

And there are so many people today that have had a teacher, a parent, a coach, a pastor, whoever it is, say something to them, and then they. It becomes part of their identity. They believe it wholeheartedly. So then they don't write the book, or they don't start the podcast, or don't go to the, you know, try and do the triathlon or whatever it is, this thing they've dreamed about doing. And I saw this a lot in my practice.

One of the most common things I heard when patients came into my functional medicine clinic in Nashville was my doctor told me, I have to be on this drug the rest of my life, or my doctor told me this condition is irreversible. I can't tell you how many type two diabetics and people with certain types of autoimmune disease had come in and told me that. And then after care, especially type two diabetes, that's a great example of one. We reversed it almost every single time. And so, that being said, there are so many limiting beliefs people have, and what we really want to do is adopt new, empowering beliefs, and there's really a few ways that we can do this.

One. One thing you need to do is, of course, identify. Now, there's a Yale professor that did a really good job of this, and it's called the ABCDE method. And so he said, number a is activate. When was the first time that you had this negative memory about yourself?

It could have been, you're not smart, you're not beautiful, you're not fast enough, you're not smart enough. You don't have this certain skill set that someone else has, whatever it is. So identify. But when did it start? B, identify.

What's the exact belief about yourself that you have? C. Here's where it starts. Really becoming powerful is what are the consequences if you continue to believe this false narrative about yourself? Like, for myself.

Okay, if I believed I wasn't smart, I wouldn't even apply to John Hopkins. You know what I'm saying? Like, I wouldn't even have thought about. Like, I wouldn't even have applied to, you know, becoming a doctor. I wouldn't even have thought about it.

So that's gonna be the consequences. I will not live out my dreams. That's the consequence. Okay. And then d is dispute it.

Why is that not true? Why is that a lie? Well, okay, in high school, I did get an. A few times, and I actually, it was the times that I tried is the issue, really? I'm not smart.

Is it that maybe I'm not learning in the right way? You know, maybe I needed a mentor or a tutor or maybe it's. It's a different subject that I'm. Maybe I'm just. My mind isn't as good at math.

It's better at science and in writing. So, you know, so you have to dispute. And then e is exchange. What is the thing? You need to exchange that lie for the truth, and then you want to start reinforcing and building around that truth.

And once you know the truth, ideally you want to do everything you can to read books, listen to podcasts, do things to prove it out to yourself, because what you can't do is you can't just start saying to yourself, I'm smart. I'm smart, I'm smart, I'm smart. I'm smart. Or I'm trying to think of the old. You may not have ever watched this, the old Saturday night lives, but there's this guy who said, I'm good enough.

I'm smart enough. And gosh darn it, people like me. I'm trying to remember the guy's name. But I've heard that somewhere. Yeah, but the thing is, your nervous system doesn't fully.

I don't. It doesn't fully believe you. If you're the only one that just does that all the time, you need to prove it out to yourself by going and getting small wins. Okay? I wrote this paper, and I got an a.

Okay, now I got a. In the whole class. Okay, now I did that. And so you need to kind of have a plan for both learning and building up. And one of the.

One of the hardest things to have happen, but one of the most important things in reinforcing your identity is having somebody that you admire confirm that truth. There's a quote that I love. Actually. It's out of the book, the Lord of the Rings. It's a quote by Jared Tolkien.

It's this. The praise of the praiseworthy is above all rewards. So when you have somebody that's praiseworthy, somebody that you admire, respect, somebody that's maybe ahead of you in life, could be a teacher, a mentor, pastor, those sort of things. And they tell you, hey, you're good at this, and they affirm you. It's really powerful.

I mean, we're relational beings, and so we can affirm ourselves some, but we really also have to have affirmation from others. This is why our inner circle is so important. Like, the people we spend time with, we become who we spend time with. And so picking your mentors, pursuing mentors, having those people around us, I think that's another thing that people need to be conscious of in order to help start to build a stronger. A stronger identity and overcome these limiting beliefs.

Mari Llewelyn
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I think so many people listening will relate to this, and I think a lot of us walk around not even realizing that we have limiting beliefs about ourselves. Yeah. Like, it almost becomes a part of your identity to the point where you don't think of it as something holding you back. Like, I've always struggled identifying with my acne that I've struggled with for ten years. And when I get an opportunity to go to an event or to speak or to be on camera, my first thought is, oh my gosh, but my skin.

But that's not even the limiting belief. It goes beyond that. It's like, well, what's underneath that? Is it that I'm afraid of the judgment or the rejection of the people I'm about to be around? And every time I push through that and go anyway, I get the affirmation that they're not rejecting me, they're not judging me because of my skin.

If anything, I'm being more vulnerable and putting myself out there. So just as an example for people listening, you may not even realize that you're walking around with these limiting beliefs. That's so true. Yeah. And that's the case most of the time and part of it, we're just so busy in life.

Josh Axe
But it's really important. I'd encourage everybody to go and write down what are your top three limiting beliefs in ranking order and start addressing those, and it'll help you create just an amazing, amazing breakthrough in your life. I know you mentioned you had a life threatening diagnosis happen to you about two years ago. Yeah. Can you talk us through that story?

Mari Llewelyn
And how did mindset help you get out of that? Yeah. So a lot of people don't know this, but I. So I injured my back lifting weights about three years ago and well, actually it was before that. And then it got a lot better.

Josh Axe
And then I had injured my back and so I wanted. I tried a lot of things and I was still having a lot of back pain, so I decided to go and get stem cell done. Um, it's where they take your bone marrow concentrate, ate it, and then they inject it back into an injured area. So I had bulge, had severe bulges in my l five, s one and l four disc. And I got it done and it helped me tremendously.

Like unbelievably. I couldn't even believe it. And I probably got back to 80, 85, 90% with that. I still had this little nagging ache, though, in the left side of my back in my kind of QL area. And so I thought im going to go get this done one more time.

And I went and got it done. And again, this was about a year and nine months ago and I just didnt feel right afterwards. I kept feeling worse and worse and worse. Finally it was so bad, I started having. I wore a back brace a few days.

Well, then finally one morning I woke up, I couldnt walk. The pain was absolutely excruciating. I had to call an ambulance. My wife and I were living in our daughter, we were living in Puerto Rico at the time. Had to call an ambulance to come pick me up, bring me in to get an MRI.

The MRI came back and it said I have a spinal infection. I had to then get on a medical flight from Puerto Rico to Florida, sat down with an infectious disease specialist and he said, here was his exact words. He said, josh, here's your prognosis. He said, best case scenario for you is that you're going to have chronic pain the rest of your life and you'll be the first person to know when bad weather is coming. He said, worst case scenario is this could kill you because it's really spread.

He said, it's not only in your disc, it's now in your bones, throughout your entire l five vertebra. And there's also an abscess now that's outside by the spinal cord of the infection. And he said, there's a really good likelihood you could be permanently disabled from this now. Mari, I just went from a few months before, deadlifting, squatting, swimming, biking, running, throwing my two year old, you know, two year old daughter, you know, 8ft in the air. And so for me to hear, like again, you know, I've been teaching people about health my whole career.

I mean, I've been sort of leading the charge with, with a lot of other people with this. And I thought to myself, this can't be real, that I could, you know, this doctor, if he was betting, it seemed like he was telling me, you're gonna be permanently disabled. And he said, you know, you might have to eventually go and have rods put in because this infection is so bad and a number of things. And I had about 48 hours of just absolute despair. Like, there are emotions I can say I'd never experienced before.

I had never experienced despair and hopelessness, but I did. And I spent a couple days just mourning and praying and just having just incredibly hard time and just thoughts that were like crippling. And then after 48 hours I thought to myself, you know what? This is not serving me. And I also realized, and I'm a person of faith in God.

And so I just said, you know what? I just need to. I'm gonna, I'm just gonna pray. I'm gonna pray and see what God says about this. I think what was really put in my heart is that God is bigger than any diagnosis and I'm going to do the best that I can to heal and to allow myself to experience a miracle because, you know, we read those stories about people who were told, hey, you have, you're paralyzed and you'll never walk again.

And then they do. And so I thought, I'm going to be one of those people. And so I, I decided I'm going to do everything I can to heal. And now the doctor was recommending, he said, we're probably going to do about six weeks on iv antibiotics and another six weeks of oral antibiotics. So that's twelve weeks of antibiotics, that's three months of antibiotics.

And I had not taken a medication really truly since high school, like 20 years. I was 40.

And so I started doing all this research and say, okay, I want to do everything I can to heal to where I don't have to do these antibiotics and I maximize my healing. Well, I came across a study in hyperbaric chambers and there was a study on, if you take antibiotics with hyperbaric chamber, it drives it deeper into the disc. And people were able to get down their time on antibiotics down to four weeks. So really shorten the time. And so I got in a hyperbaric chamber, a hard chamber at 2.5 atA, just about every day for a little over a month.

So every day and, well, about five days a week. And then I extended it to about 40 days and then a little bit after that too. And then I started doing IV's of things like, if you've heard of something, methylene Blue, Jensen Silver, doing a lot of nutrient, IV's, super high dose probiotic. I got these things called bacteriophages. They're actually proviruses.

They're used a lot in Europe for antibiotic resistant bacterial infections. So I started doing a lot of this phage therapy, and I went and I just said, I'm going to do everything I can to maximize my healing, and I'm going to believe I'm going to heal as well. This is interesting, too. We talked about this earlier, the placebo effect. But I read this article by a researcher and he said you can amplify the placebo effect.

He said, I found that when you have a very clear vision about what you want in life, that that amplifies the placebo effect. Like knowing I want to be pain free or I want to walk again, or I want to throw my baby girl up in the air in the pool again. Right. So you got to visualize and be clear. This is what I want.

And the second thing they said was, is that you want to tie emotions to it. Like, you want to feel it physiologically and emotionally. Like. Like you're in that place already. Like I.

So I started picturing myself throwing my two year old in the air and her laughing and giggling and me hugging her and, like, just feeling strong, feeling excited, feeling full of joy. So I started just feeling that and visualizing that on a regular basis. And the third thing is, is that you have a plan, a very, very detailed, strategic plan in order to how that's going to be your reality. So I started picturing myself one year from now doing all those things. And so I followed this plan, and after about two weeks, I started feeling about 1% better and then a little better and a little better.

Now this infection was so bad and the pain is so severe. I didn't walk for ten months. Wow. And I couldn't sit in a wheelchair either. So I was literally in bed on my back for ten months.

Now I could crawl after a couple months, and I would crawl out and get into a pool where I. Where I could move some. And then I was on a walker for a couple months, but I didn't walk on my own for a year. And so I now, at this point in time and probably about close to 90%, I think I'll be 100% by the end of this year. One of my prayers, by the way, a limiting belief I had was.

And I had to. I mean, this was a internal battle. I kept thinking, well, I can heal some, but I'll never get back to 100%. Maybe I could get back to 80, but I'll never get back to 100%. And I had to say, no, I will be back to 100%.

And I pray during this time, too. I say, God, refine me. And, lord, I pray not only that I get back to 100% physically, but that I grow spiritually and mentally far greater than who I am right now. And I really tried to lean into that and lean into my suffering. I'll give you an example of this.

It is so tempting for people to get in a victim mindset mentality and say, you know what? Because I had these thoughts creeping in of like, the doctor made a mistake with my injections. This is unfair. This never should have me. What if I wouldn't have done this?

Could I go back in time? And I realized that's not serving me. And so I realized also I need to be serving others and showing other people how to walk through suffering. And so I was very conscious of my wife, my daughter, who was then, by the time I was going through, a lot of this was about to turn three. And my parents, my in laws, my family, my friends coming over, that I would walk through this nobly.

And so I didn't complain the whole time. And I said, I want to show my daughter what it's like to live in a state of joy, even during suffering. And so there were a lot of opportunities I had. I'm really grateful. I mean, it's hard to say.

I mean, one, I still wish it wouldn't have happened because there's a lot of healing, healing that I still have to go through, I believe in terms of even physically. But I learned I grew a lot through the process. I'm definitely better than the doctor said, the best I could possibly be. And so that was my past year and nine months.

Mari Llewelyn
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Do you think you would have ever have written this book or had this ethos on mindset had you not gone through that? Well, here's what I'll say. I was already going to write a book that was more mindset related before this happened. Wow. And the reason was, is I used to notice in patience again, mindset was one of the most important parts of healing, and so I did want to get into it.

Josh Axe
Now, the book radically changed because through this condition, and I think it came out better than it could have ever come. I mean, this is by far the best book I've ever written, times ten. Like, when people get it, I think they're gonna be like, wow, this really is a life altering book. So I think the book came out very different and much better because of it. It's almost like your pain became your purpose.

That's right. I think that's such a powerful statement and so true. I want to ask your thoughts on mindset for fertility. I'm talking a lot about fertility lately. I'm trying to have a baby with my husband, and I feel like mindset has played a really big role in holding me back a little bit.

Mari Llewelyn
And I've heard you speak about, I think you called it ancient medicine. I heard you mention worry, and I resonate with that a lot. So how do you approach mindset with fertility? So I've worked with a lot of women on fertility, and we've seen really good results and one of the things I have to address, and by the way, this is true for fertility, more so than other conditions, but it's also true with a lot of other conditions, is that if you overthink your condition and focus on it too much, youll stay sick. Its a form of stress.

Josh Axe
Its a form of stress. I mean, I see this a lot. I saw this a lot with my Lyme disease patients. I saw it a lot with certain autoimmune patients, inflammatory bowel patients, and infertility as well, is that you get this vicious cycle where all you think about your condition, its all you think about. And I truly believe that it actually keeps you, keeps your body from healing and keeps your body in that sick state.

And so even though it's one of the hardest things to do, one of the things I encourage people to do, is that do everything you can to take your mind off of being sick. Now, listen, you want to do your due diligence and sort of learning some things and how to heal. You want to do your due diligence and being practically creating a plan in order to do some things to heal. But outside of that, don't think about your condition. Do you know, in chinese medicine, they never diagnose anyone with a condition?

Mari Llewelyn
Wow. And I don't believe ayurveda did either. They would diagnose you with a pattern that say, hey, you're out of balance. So, for instance, chinese medicine, your body's too hot internally, okay, so maybe there's inflammation, or it's too cold, like in hypothyroidism, right, IBSD. Or there's too much movement, or too little movement, like constipation, or your body's too damp, there's too much moisture, like phlegm and mucus and candida, or it's too dry.

Josh Axe
Like that can happen in menopause. And so rather than giving you a label, they would diagnose you with a pattern. And it's a lot. I mean, if I just told you, if I told you you have this condition versus, hey, your body's too warm, let's start doing some cooling foods. Let's just bring your body back into balance.

Yeah, it's a lot less intimidating in a way. I actually think it's breaking the hippocratic oath. Oftentimes when we, when we diagnose people with these medical conditions because it's doing harm, you're taking hope away from people. It's actually harming them first, do no harm. And so I think really, chinese medicine, ayurveda, these ancient forms of medicine, biblical medicine, had it correct in that way.

So I do think the mindset of fertility, here's what it is. And again, my best references. I spent most of my career studying ancient asian medicine. And there's really two main reasons when it comes to fertility that somebody, well, the first is conception, and the next is carrying, okay, conception has to do more with, from a western perspective, cortisol caring has to do more with insulin. And so conception is really focusing on those adrenal glands, and that's tied more to the emotion of fear.

Here's an example. Fear you won't get pregnant. Fear of letting down your spouse, fear of letting down your parents, fear of failure. What if this never happened? So you're thinking about your, and it's disrupting your future.

And so that really can limit those. Or, and so in chinese medicine as well, every emotion impacts an organ. And it's not just chinese medicine, it just does. So if somebody has the thing about if a kid gets really scared at night, they can wet the bed. Why?

Well, because being frightened, that type of fear impacts the bladder. We know anxiety can cause your blood pressure to start to go up. Anger. If somebody drinks a lot of alcohol or becomes an alcoholic, it can cause anger issues as well. So we know anger and the liver are connected.

Grief, if you've had something bad happen to you and you're still living in the past, that tends to be immune system or you're going through a divorce or you lost a loved one, so different emotions impact different organ systems. Worry is what affects the pancreas, spleen, and typically affects caring, which can also cause infertility. So really it's typically the emotions of fear and worry that most impact fertility. So now if you can go and say, okay, I'm going to work on becoming, on facing my fear and reducing my worry and focus on the opposites of those, then it's really going to support fertility in a pretty significant way. And so, for instance, if you have fear of letting down your spouse, well, then maybe, maybe there's a conversation saying, you know what, I just, I have this fear of letting you down.

And like, what I would tell my wife if we would have been in that situation was, listen, I love you no matter what. No matter what. We can adopt kids. You know, God's will be done, it's okay, you know, and so I think that there is, you know, those conversations relationally happening. So maybe some of those things can, can subside.

I think also one of the greatest things that in my own life that I think has helped me overcome fear and worry is faith in God. Knowing that God is for me, not against me, that he has got a future and a hope for me. And so knowing that the most praiseworthy person of all is for me, that's really, really empowering. And so I think if you can have a positive outlook on the future, you can build and grow in your faith. You can have those great people around you that are supportive and loving.

In chinese medicine, there are ways to actually build those organ systems. And so the fear one, you want to overcome that and say, actually, in order to overcome fear, the best way to do it is face it. So you can't push it in the corner or slide it under the rug. So you need to say, this is my fear. How can I naturally conf, you know, overcome it?

And it's through minor confrontations. And so, and a lot of times, with this particular infertility, it's a lot of times there's a relational thing going on there. And so, you know, talking it out with your spouse, your parents, or whoever is around you is very helpful. But in chinese medicine, also to overcome it is you want to go deep. It's really tied to going deep in life.

If you're spending time being busy and doing a lot of superficial things, it actually weakens that channel in the body, versus if you spend some time in prayer, reading books that go deep, having deep, intimate conversations with people, it actually really helps build that. And then the other one is worry. And what worry is, it's a lack of safety and security. It's a lack of comfort. And so you know, what your body wants to feel like in order to carry a child, and they call it the earth element in chinese medicine, is you want to feel like you're on a couch.

Couch. You got a nice fireplace in front of you. You got a nice warm blanket around. You got a cup of hot cocoa or tea. You're reading a book.

You've got your family and loved ones there, and you're just absolute comfort, relax, safety, protection. If you can get your body into that state and your mind into that state, boom, your fertility just goes up dramatically according to these ancient forms of medicine. But a lot of times, people don't think about that part of it. We think about, is there a supplement I can take or a medication or I need to do more, more, more, more. The reality is you need to do less.

You need to get yourself in a comfortable state where you're at peace. Now, there are some foods and supplements and we can talk about all those that are really good for fertility, but the mindset portion of fertility is more than 50% of it. Wow. It's a huge piece. Wow.

Mari Llewelyn
I mean, that really resonates with me because I feel like I check every box when it comes to exercise and health and supplements. I can follow all the instructions, but the worry is what takes over. So I think that's really powerful. I think two words I heard you say when I was researching you was peace and purpose when it comes to fertility, and I feel like that really resonated with me. Yep.

I love those two words. Yeah. That's my goal. Yeah. To switch to the functional medicine lens a little bit.

What food and supplements would you recommend for women listening who want to get pregnant? Yeah. So in chinese medicine, you want to build what's called the. It's basically you want to strengthen the adrenal glands and reproductive organs, and you want to strengthen the pancreas. Again, think about, you need to get cortisol and insulin.

Josh Axe
Those are the two primary hormones we have to get balanced. We know cortisol's fight or flight state, that's fear. I mean, it's that sort of, or it's not. It's fear. But most of the time, it's not the sort of fear people sometimes it's not exactly what they think of.

It's also so it's getting out of the fight or flight state, busyness, rushing around all the time. In a way, that's a type of fear. And so dietarily, you want to consume foods that are blueberries and blackberries. That dark purple would be very nourishing. Wild caught fish like salmon is going to be very, very good.

Bone broth, it's going to be very, very good. So those are more for that adrenal channel. Lots of mushrooms, shiitake, maitake, reishi, cordycep. So, I mean, that's probably one of the best of all. Rice, long cooked.

Ideally something like a congee. You could make that with, like a basmati or a jasmine. That's also going to be very nourishing for that channel. And so, and then even beans are okay, but doing some of those in chinese medicine would be very good for that channel. And that's conception.

And then also carrying, which also is tied to conception. Those are foods that you think of when it comes to fall weather, thanksgiving, even typically the color is orange. I mentioned black and blue earlier. This is more orange foods. It's sweet potato, it's pumpkin, it's butternut squash.

It's going to be grass fed beef, it's going to be herbs, like cinnamon, you know, and so it's building the blood, it's warming the body, and it's doing a lot of soups. Okay. Like, raw food is what you absolutely do not want to do. Raw food. Okay.

You want to do mostly, again, just chicken vegetable soup, beef stew, you know, things that are warming internally, sort of that. Again, think about it's winter. You got a nice bowl of soup, like what warms you and fills you like that. That's the sort of feeling you're trying to create with the food you're eating. Now, of course, you want to keep insulin balanced, so you're not eating, like, 17 sweet potatoes.

But again, if you're doing a sweet potato, a little bit of rice, a lot of organic meat, steamed vegetables, baked vegetables, a lot of root vegetables. Carrots are fantastic for this as well. And beets. That's sort of the ideal diet. And in terms of supplementation for fertility, I really like ashwagandha.

Again, if we're building up those adrenals, I like ashwagandha a lot. I like cordycep mushrooms a lot. I like vitex. And then on the other side, though, I think we really need to focus on insulin. And so there, I like, you know, it could be bayberry or berberine, but really cinnamon, chromium, picolinate would be good in terms of a mineral.

I think those would probably be the top ones in terms of really supporting fertility. And acupuncture is amazing for fertility. Okay, I've got it. Absolutely amazing. I've been going, and I'm laughing because you're speaking about how important warmth is.

Yes. And I was cold. Plunging. Not every day, but I was doing it like, twice a week. And I told my acupuncturist, and he was like, no, no, no, no.

Yeah, you need to be doing infrared sauna. Okay, I'm doing sauna, but I have a traditional sauna, so I would say. A traditional sauna is good. What a traditional sauna will do, though, is you'll sweat a little bit more. And in a way, sometimes it can actually cool your body a little bit more versus an infrared, the heat goes deeper, and that's what we're trying to do with you.

We don't want the superficial heat. We want to get the heat as deep as possible in your system. Okay. So all about the warmth. And he said, yeah, he recommended warm foods as well.

Mari Llewelyn
I'm doing acupuncture maybe every three weeks. Right? Now, I mean, I would kick it up to once a week or every other week. Wow. Why is acupuncture so effective?

Josh Axe
You know, when I first learned about acupuncture, when I first heard acupuncture, so I grew up in a household where my mom, you know, my mom thought, you know, everything that wasn't, you know, part of the Judeo christian faith, that it was evil. So when I first heard acupuncture and some of the words like chi and yin and yang, and I was, you know, I didn't know what to think. And then I started studying it, and I thought it's just a different language and it makes so much sense. And so what acupuncture is, is it's going to areas of the body that are connected to organ systems. So if somebody's having a heart attack, let me ask you this.

Do you know where they have pain? I would imagine the chest. Yeah. It's actually left shoulder. Oh, but it can be, it can be the chest, but it actually can be in the left shoulder.

If somebody's having a gallbladder attack, they can start having pain in their right shoulder. And this is true with actually quite a few different conditions. You can start having pain in different areas of the body that aren't that exact area where you're having issues. Well, the reason is what they found in chinese medicine is that different areas of your body, this is true with reflexology or chinese medicine, that they are connected to the organ system. And so they found that if you go and stimulate the area, and so you needle the area, and what needling does is it brings blood and energy.

It sort of activates an area. It will then impact that organ. And in chinese medicine, the big focus is on typically tonifying. So activating or calming an organ. And what they'll try and do typically is move blood to the area.

And so, for instance, you've got a gallbladder issue. Maybe there's some points in that right shoulder they're going to go to, and that's going to help calm the gallbladder or activate it to start, you know, functioning better, get more blood flow there, working on it that way. There's a lot of points around your belly button for the stomach. There's a lot of points in your upper back for the lungs. And so there's a lot of points all over your head and feet as well for numerous organ systems.

But that's what acupuncture is. It's really them going to different areas externally on the body, on the skin, and needling those areas in order to drive blood, nutrients, oxygen, to drive energy to those areas so they can better function and heal. Something about it puts me right to sleep. Oh, yeah. What is that, doctor Justin?

Well, you know, so my guess is they're typically probably doing the channels that are in your upper neck, and so those are really connected to your vagus nerve. And so what you can do with acupuncture these needles, is you can go and take most people, again, we talked about this high sympathetic state, and you can go and do those needles in that upper neck area specifically, and that will allow your kick on your parasympathetic, which then sort of brings your body into harmony and allows you to actually rest, turn your mind off. Yeah, he, last time I went, he was helping me with implantation and he put it in my scalp, hands, womb area, feet, I don't know, something about it. So calming, I just fall asleep. Yeah, same with my husband's doing it, too.

Yeah. One of my best friends is an acupuncturist. His name is Doctor Gilbonami. I mean, I learned so much. He's amazing.

He's israeli acupuncturist, and I think the best in the world guy is just phenomenal. But, yeah, it's amazing. I want to talk about hypothyroidism. There's two types of it, right? The fast one and the slow one.

Well, I think there are multiple causes. I mean, it really depends on. There's probably more than that. My point being, I think there can be several root causes. And then, of course, there's Hashimoto's.

Mari Llewelyn
What is Hashimoto's? So Hashimoto's thyroiditis is where your body, it's really sort of hypothyroidism meets autoimmune disease. And what happens is your body starts creating antibodies to the thyroid, and so your body starts attacking your thyroid tissue. That's what happens in autoimmune disease, which is also interesting in chinese medicine. They believe emotionally, if you're a person that attacks yourself emotionally, like, like, you know, self talk, like you're not smart, you're not good enough.

Josh Axe
Oh, you shouldn't have done that. That's so stupid. That actually can make your autoimmune disease worse because you're attacking yourself. So. But, but anyways, it's, so if you, when you look at chinese medicine, hypothyroidism is known as a qi and yang deficiency.

Qi is really tied to, in western medicine, that would be considered tied to your adrenals. And it would also be, if we're talking about cellular energy, be tied to your ATP. So your. Your cell is creating energy, your mitochondria. And, um.

And and the other thing is, is it's a Yang deficiency, which means your body's not being anabolic enough if we're talking western medicine. So it's really not regenerating enough. It doesn't have what it needs for proper regeneration. And so if we're getting to the root cause of this in chinese medicine, we need to boost chi. And chi is, again, like your battery.

If you have your phone battery, if your battery's down at, uh, you know, 20%, your body does not have enough juice and energy to regenerate the tissue. I mean, what's crazy, when you look at the body, so many of your organs are completely new and regenerated every year. I mean, your liver is regenerated every 150 to 500 days. So about every year, your liver is completely new. Your thyroid is completely new every year.

Most of your glands and organs. Um, now, your brain takes a lot longer in certain other areas, but for the most part, most of your organs are and your bloods every four months. And so why aren't you healing? You know, why don't you know, why is your thyroid store not normal? Well, again, we need to go and address this cellular.

This energy problem and this issue with this Yang deficiency. And so, like ashwagandha, for instance, it's a qi yang booster. Hmm. Okay. That's what it is, is an herb.

So is rhodiola rosea. So are cordyceps mushrooms. So is ginseng. So those are typically qi and yang boosters that help people with hypothyroidism. If I'm comparing the way that conventional medical doctors take care of hypothyroidism, most natural.

But also those people that really focus on root cause, they're very different. Conventional medicine, they're gonna say, here's synthroid, here's just a conventional medication, and it never actually fixes the root of your thyroid issue. Natural doctors will tend to say, maybe, let's go gluten free, or, let's take a few of these supplements. And it's way better. I mean, you'll see good results with that.

But if you want to fully reverse hypothyroidism, you really need to address all causes. And so you have to address, again, the qi deficiency, which is going to be tied to your purpose in life emotionally. If you have a strong purpose, you know what you're called to do that. Will help that organ system also if you have the right nutrients. Now, I just covered this on my podcast and I think this is absolutely mind blowing.

Did you know that if you've taken birth control for ten years, your chance of having hypothyroidism goes up by 283.7% according to one large scale study. Wow, wow, wow, wow. And I've known this for years, but I never, I never see anybody talk about it. But one of the biggest causes of hypothyroidism in the entire world today, in America specifically, is women that get on birth control when they're younger. I mean, that's almost my entire generation.

So, you know, the most surprising thing for me, when I got into my functional medicine practice, the amount of women who came in with hypothyroidism, nobody told me when I was gonna go and open up my clinic that almost every person I cared, almost every woman that would come in in their thirties and forties was gonna have like young women starting families, was gonna have hypothyroidism. And I started going and doing the research on this. Here's why this happens. When you get on birth control, your body, it starts pulling nutrients out of your, you start losing certain nutrients. And the nutrients you lose are, according to, again, this is medical study, vitamin b two, vitamin b six, b nine, b twelve.

Now there's others too, and I'll hit on those in a minute. Those are the four primary vitamins that are required for methylation, okay? Your thyroid and adrenals, they cannot function properly without these B vitamins. And so it's a major, major issue. Now there's other nutrients that are depleted with, with birth control and anyone who can go and look this up, it's all in the medical literature.

Selenium, that's another methylator. Also magnesium and zinc and probiotics and vitamin C, those are the nutrients that are depleted when you're on birth control. What's crazy is somebody will go into their doctor, they'll prescribe them birth control for everything. Of course, we've talked about this. It's acne, now it's conception, but it's just, hey, here's, so you're comfortable, so you don't get your period.

This is a lot of, a lot of women and girls today, and they don't know that it's depleting their body of all these nutrients. And their doctor is never putting them on higher doses of some of these things, maybe to make up for it. Now you still, birth control still wouldn't be good for you and unhealthy, but still, at least you know, you'd be addressing some of those nutritional deficiencies. So most women today walking around with hypothyroidism, they are severely depleted in one or multiple of these nutrients, and it's part of what's keeping them in a hypothyroid state. There are other things too, but I mean, thats a, thats pretty significant.

So I would say you want to get on a methylated b complex. Also consider selenium, zinc. Probiotics might be valuable to get a micronutrient test where you can actually test to see, hey, what are you deficient in? And that can be helpful. Either way, though, I would take these nutrients and see how your body does.

Again, herbs I mentioned I would do ashwagandha, roliola, cordyceps. Don Quai for women is very good. If you also just feel weak and tired or have a pale tongue or know your borderline anemic, Don Quai is a really powerful herb. Um, and if you, so if you can do those herbs and you can do the diet we talked about and address those nutritional deficiencies for hypothyroid, I've seen amazing results. One other thing I really like for hypothyroidism is taking glanulars and organ meats.

Um, I like taking, you know, now listen, you have to find a reputable right company. But I like taking thyroid tissue along with adrenal, thymus and some of those other organs, liver, that are going to be supportive of those. Um, and, uh, probiotics are important too, because you need to be able to absorb the, the b vitamins. I know I said a lot there, but when I have somebody I'm working with, I'm really working on addressing all those issues. I'm working on the diet, I'm working on the supplements.

I'm also working on the mindset. Hey, let's make sure you have a purpose. Let's make sure also you're sleeping well. Yeah. Because that's when your body heals and recharges.

Mari Llewelyn
Huge. And I didn't even mention the yang part, which is important as well. But part of that's mostly warming your body, getting more anabolic. So sleep will help that. Infrared sauna will help that.

Josh Axe
Warming herbs, like doing a lot of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, fenugreek, that'll help that as well. What is the problem with hypothyroidism? Like, what are the long term health implications of having a slow thyroid? The most common symptoms are. One is low body temperature.

I wish more doctors would just think about this. Why is your body temperature low? Because in chinese medicine it's just sort of obvious, like we need to go and warm the body. That's one thing we should try and do is naturally warm the body. But low body temperature, thinning hair, fatigue is the biggest one.

You also will start to sometimes pick up a little bit of extra body weight, visceral fat around some of those organs and midsection sometimes. Now, this is also tied to adrenals. Sometimes you can start to get a little bit dark under the eyes too. You age a little bit more quickly and just fuzzy thinking. If your thyroid is off in connection, especially with your hpa access, it can really start.

You just dont feel like yourself sometimes you cant just think clearly or straight. And so that can be another one. But fatigue is the biggest one, along with cool body temperature. Does this affect fertility? Oh, yeah, of course.

Well, think about, we just talked about this with chinese medicine. I mean, if you are hypothyroid and your body is cold internally, it's going to affect you. Now, it won't keep most women, though, from conception. It will keep some. Okay.

And it just really depends because there's some women listening and they're thinking, well, I have hypothyroidism and I'm had no problem having kids. Yeah. And so sometimes you're just fine with it. But my guess is, if I looked at the medical literature, which I have not looked at this, but I would guess if somebody is hypothyroid, they have a slightly elevated risk of infertility compared to women who don't have hypothyroid. Is this also something that can happen from extreme dieting and exercise?

Yeah. Well, so I think that, yes, I mean, you're wearing out. If you were over exercising, doing a lot of crossfit or triathlons, again, your battery is too low. I mean, your body is smart. If you've got a low battery, your body's like, I have to create a new human being.

So it knows. That's why, that's what I talked. You have to get that battery, those adrenal up with the b vitamins, the adaptogenic herbs, some of the other things, the rest.

Mari Llewelyn
So, yes, coming off of birth control, I've also heard that it can be very detrimental to the gut. Almost everyone starts getting yeast infections in Candida. Yep. It's a major because, yes, that happens. And so what I have people do is get on a diet that's mostly meat, vegetables, berries, have them do cranberry as well, some other things, but I have them do typically at least 100 billion ius of probiotics daily.

Josh Axe
At least. I tend to have them do, like, an espio probiotic and another brand do higher doses. Um, and, but then also just give their body time. It'll, it'll tend to balance out, but it can take months. Or for some people, they've been on birth control a long time.

It can take a year or two, but if people do everything else right, it, it'll balance out more quickly. But, yes, I had candida, and mold was able to get rid of it using golden thread, elysium, all the good herbs. Now I got my gut test back, and I have h. Pylori, I have staph. I forget how to say the full word.

Mari Llewelyn
Sibo, a parasite. And it's confusing to me because I am one of those people who lives an extremely healthy lifestyle. Pretty much just eat meat, veggies, berries, and now I feel like I have this whole new can of worms. So what you've had happened is your bacteria has sort of migrated up too far into your gi. Okay.

Josh Axe
And there are things you can do. Do for that. One is you're type a. Okay, you're an achiever, you're a go getter, but you really need to balance work, life, and play. So you need to really have solid yellow lines around.

Not doing anything, not getting ahead. Reading a novel. That's not just, that's just a novel. Going on a walk. Just to go on a walk and not thinking and walking as fast as you can, just play.

Just going on a date and not talking to your husband about work. So that is really, really important for that because it's a stress thing. You started to stress that upper gi area too much. And also, when you eat 230 times, never be on a device. Look outside.

It should take you an hour to eat lunch. You should just sit there and just slowly eat. Take your time. I just slammed my lunch before this. Yeah, you should go on a lot of walks, but really, it's all about, like, you're being too in a hurry, and that'll, that'll help.

Licorice root espio probiotics tend to be good for this. Acupuncture is good for this. There's a few other things we can talk about later, but I think that those are some things initially that would be helpful. It's funny you say that, because my husband and I are both struggling with the same gut problem, and we both have an issue with being constantly in a rush, like, this urgency for no reason. We're both very obsessive.

Mari Llewelyn
We're very routine based, and I think letting go is, like, the key, but it's also the hardest thing. It's so hard for me to do. So hard. But I appreciate your advice on that, because I kind of know that deep down, but hearing it from someone like you is really helpful. What is something you recommend to women who come to you that have pcos?

Because that's a topic that we hear about a lot from my community. Yeah. Well, first off, no, PCOS is predominantly an insulin issue. There's all these types of diabetes. You got type one diabetes, type two diabetes, type three diabetes, which is Alzheimer's.

Josh Axe
I guess we could call PCOS type four diabetes Alzheimer's. I saw someone maybe that's type five diabetes. All of these are insulin issues. So we want to take care of. We want to balance insulin.

You know what's really interesting? I did a blood glucose monitor, a continuous blood glucose monitor from levels. And the things that did and didn't impact my blood sugar were just really surprising. Driving. Oh, I'm like, is driving that stressful?

It is. Wow. So there are certain things so that I bring that up to say, and it's like, I can eat potatoes all day. That doesn't affect my blood sugar at all, but certain fruits. Boom.

Mari Llewelyn
Cherries. Okay, that's. I ate three cherries, and mine was like, whoop. Yeah. Now, I don't think that's every part of it is how fast is it balanced and what is your rusting and others.

Josh Axe
But I do think it's good to watch. And so my point is, you want to be conscious of. It's not just food. You want to be conscious of the food. Chromium is great for this.

Berberine is great for this. Cinnamon and fenugreek. Those are some of my. Probably the fab four, I think, for blood sugar, but those are something. And then getting a lot of protein, you know, more of a higher protein diet.

Getting some of those healthy fats in, like avocados, olive and olive oil, and coconut. Getting some good omega three s via wild salmon. So I think if you got a really good, clean diet, you take some of those supplements to balance out blood sugar. Again, I think acupuncture is very good at this condition, like, helping with that in particular as well. And then I think, don't be rushing around.

I think doing a continuous glucose monitor would be really, really fantastic for people. And you don't have to have it all the time, so it stresses you out, but wear one, even for just one month, and just pay attention. So now you're more aware. I mean, now that I've done it for a month, I don't need it as much. I would benefit less from it because I just know now, because I really am aware of what impacted me when and how.

But, yeah, pcos, that would, you know, those things would help. Help a lot. I could ask you a million questions, but I would like to end with just hearing one tip. You would give everyone listening who maybe wants to live a more healthy, positive. A more healthy, positive mindset moving forward.

Mari Llewelyn
What's the first step they should take? Yeah, I would say prioritize and then have your priorities first thing. So I'll give you an example for myself. Every morning, I do what I call a spiritual triathlon. And then I eat something very healthy, and then I get a few minutes, a little bit of time with my family.

Josh Axe
And so my spiritual triathlon is I go out and I just do a quick walk and just say, tell God everything I'm grateful for. I then come in and make my smoothie. I tend to do a superfood smoothie with bone broth, protein and collagen and some plant protein and berries and coconut milk. And then there's, like, 30 other things, so I don't want to list them all, but I do. I do that.

And then I'll sit down, drink that while I read my Bible, and then I will maybe just spend a few minutes in prayer. And then by then, like, my four year old now is coming down the, you know, seeing her and. And spend a few minutes. And when I do that, it's like. It's when.

The morning, when. The day, you know? And one thing I tell people, too, if this. If a lot of these changes seem like a lot, we'll just change breakfast. I mean, if you change breakfast, you've changed a third of your diet.

That's an incredible, incredible change. And I think today people need to continue to be aware that health is body, mind, and spirit. Work on your physical health, but also really devote some time working on your spiritual health, getting around other people as well, that love you, that support you, that are pursuing their faith and growth in life, and other people that are healthy of mind, because you become like the people you spend the most time with. And so your inner circle is incredibly important. When you look at the Harvard study, there's a study done, I think it was a very long term study, might have been 85 years.

And they found the number one determining factor of longevity is having a great community and support group. And so it's probably the number one thing you could do for health. And so be aware of that and pursue that. You know, I told somebody this recently. I said, you know, when I dated Chelsea, before we got married or before we got married even, I wrote down all the things I was looking for in a spouse.

I wrote down, I love my wife to be spiritually on fire for God and mentally stimulating and beautiful and help, and help me grow. And she makes lemon out of lemonade. So I wrote down all these things, being grateful, not entitled. And I got, I found that my wife and people should do the same thing with their friends, though if you wouldn't recommend that your child hangs out with somebody that you're hanging out with, then you shouldn't be hanging out with them either. And so go and write down who are, what are the characteristics of those people that you want to spend time with now.

You also want to make sure you're becoming that sort of person in the reciprocal manner for that. Iron sharpens iron. But that's, that's another thing I would say. Just, you know, I think that's going to bring somebody, you know, health in body, mind and spirit. Beautifully said.

Mari Llewelyn
Josh. Where can everyone find you online? Where can they listen to the podcast? Where can they buy the book? Let us know.

Josh Axe
Well, one, I'm stoked to have you on my podcast. And so my podcast is the Doctor Joshua show. And I've covered a lot of topics on Apple and on YouTube. But people could also search, like Doctor Joshua's hypothyroid or Doctor Joshua's birth control on YouTube or, or Apple. And they could watch some specific podcasts where I've covered those topics.

My Instagram handle or social handle, I guess across the board on social and YouTube is after Joshuaaxe and new books out. It's called think this not that was a New York Times bestseller. Really excited about it. People could check that out on Amazon. But thanks so much for having me.

I love this conversation. This was so fun. Thank you so much. Thanks for joining us on the Pursuit of Wellness podcast. To support this show, please rate and review and share with your loved ones.

Mari Llewelyn
If you want to be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast or video player. You can sign up for my newsletter to receive my favourites@marioland.com. it will be linked in the show notes. This is a wellness out loud production produced by Drake Peterson, Fiona Attucks and Kelly Kyle this show is edited by Mike Fry and our video is recorded by Luis Vargas. You can also watch the full video of each episode on our YouTube channel at Mario Fitness.

Love you power girls and Power boys. See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and does not constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor or health team.