Watch the full interview below or listen to the full episode on your iPhone HERE.
Stu: This week we welcome Christa Biegler to the show. Christa is an award-winning dietitian nutritionist, online educator, and host of The Less Stressed Life podcast. She specializes in helping others increase their performance and uplevel their happiness by addressing gut health related issues and inflammation, including digestive issues, eczema, brain fog, fatigue, joint or muscle pain, migraines, auto-immune conditions and food sensitivities in private practice.
In this episode we discuss gut health and the difference between conventional and integrative medicine, enjoy.
Audio Version
Questions we ask in this episode:
- What tests do you commonly recommend when investigating digestive issues?
- Tell me more about your protocol for treating eczema
- Are steroid creams of any real value where skin conditions are concerned?
Get More of Christa Biegler
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- Chris Kresser: The ABC of Functional Medicine
- Sara Gottfried: Hormones & The Younger Protocol
Full Transcript
Stu
00:03 Hey, this is Stu from 180 Nutrition and welcome to another episode of the Health Sessions. It’s here that we connect with the world’s best experts in health, wellness and human performance in an attempt to cut through the confusion around what it actually takes to achieve a long lasting health. Now I’m sure that’s something that we all strive to have. I certainly do. Before we get into the show today, you might not know that we make products too. That’s right. We’re into whole food nutrition, and have a range [00:00:30] of super foods and natural supplements to help support your day. If you are curious, want to find out more, just jump over to our website. That is 180nutrition.com.au and take a look. Okay, back to the show.
00:44 This week I’m excited to welcome Crista Biegler. Christa is an integrative dietician nutritionist who specializes in digestive concerns, Eczema, and skin issues to name but a few. She takes a different path to conventional medicine by looking at the big picture [00:01:00] of our clients to create a unique plan that delivers maximum results. In this episode we discuss how our modern day life is impacting our digestive health, and what we can do to achieve more energy and clear up the familiar brain fog. Over to Christa.
01:19 Hey guys, this is Stu from 180 Nutrition and I am delighted to welcome Christa Biegler to the podcast today. Christa, how are you?
Christa
01:26 I’m so good. This morning started out kind [00:01:30] of cloudy so I had to jump on the trampoline and do some things, and now it’s sunny and awesome and I’m excited to be here.
Stu
01:36 Fantastic. Well, thank you again for your time. Really, really keen to delve into knowledge today as well. But first up, for all of our listeners there that may not have heard about you, I would love it if you could just share a little bit about who you are and what you do.
Christa
01:52 Sure. So, I am an integrative dietician, which I feel like is the best of East and West, and I think we’re going to talk a little bit about what that means. So basically [00:02:00] I work in private practice, specialize in digestive issues, autoimmunity, and Eczema.
Stu
02:03 Right.
Christa
02:04 And I also have a podcast as well which deals with … It’s called the Less Stressed Life, and I was telling Stuart off air that it really is about inflammation and just reducing stress. We can talk about stress in multiple ways, really, from a nutritional, and from a psychological, and from an emotional, and from a structural, so many senses. So it offers this big wide umbrella. So, a little bit about me. As you know, we all have our personal story and how [00:02:30] we ended up in nicheing in certain things. I did not want to work in skin issues, because I had them myself and I found that they were very frustrating.
Stu
02:37 Yep.
Christa
02:38 But as luck would have it sometimes that’s just how it is. And so, I’m fortunate that I was able to come through that. And well, I’ll tell you a little bit more about the story. So about three or four years ago, I broke out with a pretty disfiguring rash all over my face and my neck. Which is handy because it’s good conversation piece.
Stu
02:53 Yeah.
Christa
02:53 Just kidding. No one really wants a rash all over their face and neck. And I was kind of just starting to go into practice and work in digestive [00:03:00] issues. Long story short, I ended up with my own digestive issues, so it was really fun to overcome that. I mean, I always told myself, this sucks so much. It’s not very fun, but at least when you come out on the other side you can help people with it. Right?
Stu
03:11 Yes.
Christa
03:12 So I was already starting on that journey and so then I ended up on an accidental niche, and Eczema and skin issues as well. So that’s kind of, life always comes 360, right? And so, I really enjoy working in those areas, and that’s a little bit of my background as well.
Stu
03:27 Fantastic. So, digestive [00:03:30] issues. I don’t think that I would be wrong in saying that I don’t know anybody that doesn’t have a digestive complaint these days. And I don’t know whether it’s because of the age group now that I’m in. Obviously when you’re younger, people seem to be a little bit more robust, and don’t talk about that stuff. But why is our digestive issues becoming so common do you think these days?
Christa
04:00 [00:04:00] Well, I have to even go one step back. Sometimes even if you don’t have digestive issues that are diagnosed or significant, you do have actually some significant digestive issues. So, I work with a lot of medical professionals. And one of them that I’m working with right now I just got some stool test results back on, and she looks terrible. I mean she doesn’t have any diagnosed conditions but it looks terrible. There’s all kinds of dysbiotic bacteria and some other gross things in there, and my point is, sometimes [00:04:30] you don’t even realize it. There’s no no diagnosis there. Right? But sometimes it’s there anyway. And so, if we talk about even simple digestive complaints, until I really started working in this area and saw how this could be reversed, gas isn’t even really normal. It’s kind of a side effect of something going on. Fermentation going on, right? Maybe a little bit of a sensitivity, it kind of depends. There’s a couple of things there. But digestive issues can be really common because there’s so many reasons you can have digestive issues, right? So genetics, I’m setup genetically [00:05:00] to have poor digestive issues, right? The foot two genes are some of the genes are related to gut permeability issues. Chronic stress, we’re just an overstressed society, right? And we have a lot of subliminal stress. We don’t even pay attention to, right?
Stu
05:13 Yep.
Christa
05:13 And infections, dysbiotic bacteria, things like that. There’s many, many more, right? So, lack of fiber and poor food choices, right? Are our foods as nutritious now as they were 50 years ago? The USDA’s own evidence shows that they’re just not. Medications especially, and [00:05:30] that’s probably kind of a big one. We’ve really started medicating a lot, right? So when we do antibiotics, which we do pretty frequently, it doesn’t take much. A lot of people could call their doctor and ask for an antibiotic if they wanted.
Stu
05:41 Yeah.
Christa
05:41 And so, we know that we have overuse of them. This isn’t radical. I mean, I think it was the US … I can’t remember if it was the FDA or the USDA because there is a little bit of a crossover on the USDA handles cattle, or the FDA does medications. And one of them called for, of course, you’re in Australia and that’s the US Drug [00:06:00] Administration and the US Agriculture and then the Drug Administration. They called for ranchers several years ago to stop using antibiotics in meat, because they were nervous about antibiotic resistance. Now, I live in the middle of cattle and farming country and I know that when they ask things like that, maybe people aren’t paying attention anyway, or don’t catch that. But I caught that. And if they asked for it, it is a significant problem at that point. Right? So we have a lot of antibiotic resistance. My point is when we use those so readily, [00:06:30] we kill off all good bacteria. Right?
Stu
06:32 Yeah.
Christa
06:32 And so it’s just like killing off the weeds in the grass, or if you use a killer for your lawn, what goes back first? Weeds. And so we have a lot of dysbiotic bacteria and imbalances that happen. So other medications, sometimes painkillers and things can cause permeability issues. Even the stress of pregnancy seems to be sometimes an onset. Surgeries. I mean, the options are endless. We’re all subjected to it.
Stu
06:57 Yeah.
Christa
06:57 It’s just a matter of, is it a perfect storm?
Stu
06:59 Yeah. [00:07:00] No, that’s … Yeah, we’re exceedingly vulnerable, I think, from so many different areas that it’s tricky to know where to start. So if I came to you and I was experiencing symptoms of digestive upset, say, maybe bloating, seem to be sensitive to certain foods. And maybe it was even shuttling into different areas like sleep and stress and I just wasn’t feeling right. Where would you start your investigative journey?
Christa
07:30 [00:07:30] Right. So, one thing I do to help is obviously a questionnaire to quickly figure out symptoms. But first, are you bloated more in the morning? Are you bloated all day? Are you bloated more after meals? That kind of directs you to some different things, right?
Stu
07:43 Yep.
Christa
07:43 Is it a bacterial overgrowth that’s growing after food, or is it sort of a constant inflammation and bloating?
Stu
07:50 Yep.
Christa
07:50 It just kinda depends on some of those factors. How many other co-factors do you have as well? So, are you getting headaches? Are you having joint and aches and pains and things like that? If you’re noting sensitivities [00:08:00] to certain foods, I mean, you can start in multiple ways. When people come to an integrative dietician, they’re often thinking food, right?
Stu
08:06 Yeah.
Christa
08:06 Because, I’m a food person. So I don’t do generic diets, right? I look at sensitivity things. And that’s actually an entire discussion.
Stu
08:15 Yeah.
Christa
08:15 On how to deal with sensitivities. I think that there’s a lot of wrong ways to do that, and I’m really actually quite passionate about not doing it the wrong way. Don’t treat that like an allergy and just ignore it, take something out of your diet forever.
Stu
08:28 Yeah.
Christa
08:28 But really, really deep questioning, [00:08:30] and understanding what your bucket that fits into, and then coming up with a comprehensive process to reverse it. So a lot of people do some of the right things.
Stu
08:40 Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Christa
08:40 But they often don’t do them in the right order at the right time, right length of time.
Stu
08:45 Yes.
Christa
08:45 Right length of time, right order, right thing, right time, right place basically, right?
Stu
08:48 Yeah.
Christa
08:48 Something like that. Right length of time in the right order. So I find that you’re often grasping for different things, but it’s just not in that right order.
Stu
08:56 Okay. And treatment protocols. Now, [00:09:00] I’m hearing a lot of words that you’re using the wouldn’t be that familiar in conventional medicine.
Christa
09:05 Sure.
Stu
09:05 So you’re talking about DNA and microbiome and things like that, and certain genes as well. How do your treatment protocols differ than from mainstream conventional medicine right now?
Christa
09:18 Right. So, I mentioned this before, I like to call this integrative, right? So, I don’t consider this alternative. I call it the best of both East and West. We have plenty of research to back this up. [00:09:30] We don’t have to discuss whether intestinal permeability, or the trendy term leaky gut is a real or unreal thing.
Stu
09:36 Yeah.
Christa
09:37 All you have to do is go to pub med and search for intestinal permeability and find 10,000 articles.
Stu
09:42 Yeah.
Christa
09:42 All those researchers can’t be stupid. Right? But the biggest … Honestly to be quite funny, there’s a couple of key differences. This whole seven minute appointment time that we have in regular medicine, this outpatient thing come in when you want to, that just doesn’t really work for everyone, [00:10:00] right? There is not a seven minute answer for you. There is not a 30 second answer for you.
Stu
10:04 No.
Christa
10:04 You need to be empowered with more information and understand that whole big picture.
Stu
10:08 Yes.
Christa
10:08 Second big, big piece is, I just consider this cutting edge, state of the art.
Stu
10:14 Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Christa
10:15 I think we’re just progressive. We’re doing things that work, we’re getting results, and we’re doing things in current research. The statistics are, I learned this when I was practicing conventional nutrition. It was part of like an employee [00:10:30] health, or some kind of employee training, and corroborated it after the fact, but it takes 15 to 17 years before research comes into mainstream medicine. I mean, maybe you’ve heard that statistic before.
Stu
10:41 Yes, yeah.
Christa
10:44 But I know people resonate with it, but I get people on the phone, they’ll call me and I can tell pretty immediately how far they’re into that journey. Right?
Stu
10:51 Yeah.
Christa
10:51 People often learn, they look for more answers when they don’t get answers. And so sometimes people are at the beginning of this journey learning that, and some people are farther along, and so you [00:11:00] can kinda tell pretty quickly. So those are some of the differences, right? It’s not that it’s not science based, it’s just, it’s really what medicine should be. It’s an analyzing root causes with really fantastic testing. So I had a Crohn’s patient whose husband said, “I was really skeptical because I didn’t think we could do any more testing”. Because sometimes when you’ve been to the doctor a lot because you have a chronic condition, you feel like you’ve done everything, right? But you really haven’t, and sometimes it’s a bummer to tell people that. You really haven’t done … I know you feel [00:11:30] like you’ve done a lot, but you haven’t done everything yet. And not that you have to do everything, but you have to do things in the right order and understand how they all fit together.
11:36 So his comment was that, but the testing you do is so much more detailed, and that’s another thing, right? Really sensitive, good testing. And I talk to people on the phone and just try to educate them sometimes that even though your doctor did XYZ test, it might be … For example, there’s some newer technology. I’m not necessarily the expert in describing this, but I think it’s a good way to talk about it, Stuart, and I’m not sure what your background is. [00:12:00] Actually, I do know what your background is. I’m pretty sure you probably took a microbiology class, right? Maybe. So did you ever swab agar plates? Yeah?
Stu
12:08 Yes. Yes.
Christa
12:09 Yeah.
Stu
12:10 We did, yes.
Christa
12:10 So you swab agar plates, and so that’s a culture based, right?
Stu
12:13 Yep, yep.
Christa
12:13 And so there’s different tests that do culture, and then there’s some that do PCR. And I’m probably not going to get the exact words, but it’s polymerase chain, I think reduction. Basically they splice cell walls and they look inside.
Stu
12:23 Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Christa
12:24 And it’s just a lot more sensitive. And so that’s the new technology. So does your doctor do kind of the old school technology, where [00:12:30] things can get manipulated in transit time? It can start growing because it’s had too much time? Or are they using a more stable, precise, the newer methods. Right? So just little things like that, right? How is a person supposed to know all that? They don’t have to. But those are some of the things we look for, right? We shoot to be the best. Because, I don’t know, for me, I’m just looking for great results. Right? And I guess we all get frustrated with sometimes mainstream conventional stuff because we don’t feel like we’re getting really results. We feel like we’re putting Bandaids on. Right?
Stu
12:59 Yes. Yeah.
Christa
13:00 So, I think [00:13:00] we’re in agreement about those things.
Stu
13:02 Absolutely. Are you using genetic testing in clinic? I mean you mentioned that about yourself.
Christa
13:09 Yeah, I do. So, it’s kind of interesting. This is an interesting conversation. I’m always perplexed by genetic testing and conventional medicine.
Stu
13:18 Yeah.
Christa
13:18 I can’t quite understand why someone goes to the Mayo Clinic and pays $2,000 for gene testing. That’s perplexing to me.
Stu
13:26 Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Christa
13:27 I think it’s kind of cool that they do some gene testing in conventional [00:13:30] medicine to see what medications work or don’t work. Personally in my practice, you can get raw data from 23 And Me or Ancestry, we think 23 And Me, everyone is pretty familiar with those terms, right?
Stu
13:42 Yes.
Christa
13:42 Because we see them on TV or whatnot.
Stu
13:44 Yeah.
Christa
13:44 There’s a lot. I’ve done quite a bit of research on other testing companies. And at the end of the day I still have to do just as much work. Even if I use a different testing company that’s more expensive. Because they just do everything on an algorithm. So basically you give someones saliva.
Stu
13:59 Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Christa
13:59 They give [00:14:00] you a data, and some companies just kind of spit out this fancy report. Maybe it’s 20 pages or 60 pages, but having someone help you interpret that as pretty nice. It’s not something I do usually at the very beginning, depending on someone’s health issues. It’s usually kind of up leveling stuff.
Stu
14:14 Yes.
Christa
14:14 Why? Because genetics don’t automatically mean you have a problem. So you know what’s hot, right? MTHFR, right?
Stu
14:22 Yeah.
Christa
14:22 So if you see someone’s got MTHFR, which by the way, we think maybe 60% of people have that. And for someone who doesn’t know that’s listening, [00:14:30] it’s a genetic mutation or misspelling, that means that maybe people aren’t going to convert folic acid, which is the cheap, it’s in fortified cereals, et cetera, the cheaper version of folic acid or the unactive form into folate or methyl folate. And so, if you’re not doing that well, it can just affect health overall, right?
Stu
14:50 Right.
Christa
14:50 Because we every single nutrient in active form, basically. So, what I’m saying about this is, we can [00:15:00] take that raw data and we can interpret it in different ways. There’s so much you can learn from your genetic background. Oh, what I was trying to say is just because you have MTHFR doesn’t mean you should just go take folate if you’re actually not deficient in folate. Right?
Stu
15:13 Yes. Yeah.
Christa
15:13 So it’s a good idea to evaluate your current situation. I always say genetics are the cards you’re dealt, and it’s really cool to learn them so that way you can play the cards differently to win the game at life. But you got to know what’s actually currently happening too. So genetics are cool. But they could be distracting [00:15:30] from a current problem too.
Stu
15:31 Yes.
Christa
15:31 So, that’s kind of my opinion on genetic.
Stu
15:33 No, fantastic. So, from a digestive health standpoint, and a little bit of an unusual question, but if you wanted to perfectly engineer a disruptive digestive system in somebody, what would you recommend that they do? And I’m using this analogy because I would like to try and see whether people can actually associate [00:16:00] with the stuff that is really bad, that would definitely disrupt their gut. And perhaps look at that in terms of the things that they’re doing every single day, again, and again, and again, and thinking, oh, maybe I shouldn’t be doing those things.
Christa
16:16 Cool. All right, cool. So, this is worst case scenario, right?
Stu
16:19 Yes.
Christa
16:19 So let me combine some of my own clients history.
Stu
16:23 Okay.
Christa
16:23 Because then it’s more realistic anyway.
Stu
16:24 Yeah.
Christa
16:24 So let’s pretend you’re a woman and you had some [00:16:30] premenstrual things going on. Maybe it was some acne around period, I don’t remember what the situation is, but let’s just say your doctor puts you on low dose antibiotics for years for these issues, right?
Stu
16:41 Right.
Christa
16:42 So puts you on low dose antibiotics and or maybe you have some aches and pains, right? You have a little bit of inflammation, and so you’re just going to pop an Ibuprofen.
Stu
16:53 Right.
Christa
16:53 It doesn’t seem like that often, but it actually is pretty darn often, right?
Stu
16:57 Yeah.
Christa
16:57 Plus your job’s so stressful, you don’t actually [00:17:00] have time to eat. So sometimes if you do eat, you just eat really fast at your desk.
Stu
17:03 Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Christa
17:04 Not that I haven’t been guilty of that. Absolutely. There’s a reason I have gut issues as well. So, stress, I’ve actually seen stress really do a number on beneficial enzymes and stomach acid and whatnot. Right? So stress, totally. The thing about stress is that I’ve seen, it’s really stark the difference for people who can not let up some of the lifestyle stressors if they just have to go, go. We’re all stressed, right?
Stu
17:28 Yeah.
Christa
17:29 This is not an excuse. [00:17:30] I don’t really believe … My pet peeve word is busy, because we’re all just busy, right?
Stu
17:35 Absolutely. Everyone’s busy.
Christa
17:35 That’s not an excuse. I do not care that you are busy. I respect you, and I respect your time management skills, right? So anyway, it’s really choices, it’s all about priorities. Really the most startling thing I’ve seen is how much people are kind of really inhibited from making progress sometimes when they can’t let go of stress issues. Right? So your job’s real stressful, or [00:18:00]
18:00 You’re eating at your desk all the time. Let’s see, maybe you drink quite a bit. So we know that … We might like alcohol sometimes, but we know it’s not excellent for [inaudible 00:18:12]. So let’s say we drink pretty regularly and casually. What else are we doing. Let’s say I’ve got a sinus infection, so I go on antibiotics a couple times a year. Maybe I smoke when I drink on the weekends. Those are all negative [00:18:30] things that can be happening.
18:32 Let’s see, what else? What else am I missing? You know, there’s environmental toxins that can play a role as well, right? And just as well, I said this to someone just yesterday. I said, “You know, your diet appears to be kind of trendy healthy. You go out to eat, you grab a cold brew and some other things. But I don’t really see a lot of nutrient richness. There’s not a lot of fiber and good nutrient richness. And that fiber’s the natural janitor in your stomach. It’s individual for each person, right? But we [00:19:00] overall have kind of an under-nutrient dense diet, which doesn’t give us the raw materials to do some of the things that need to happen, right.
19:07 Or we turn on inflammation, and it just steamrolls. It just dominoes. And the inflammation levels up, and levels up, and levels up. So let’s say the majority of my diet is dairy and non-vegetables and things like that. So those are some things I think of, as I think of problems. Maybe I [00:19:30] eat a lot of sushi. That kind of concerns me a little bit. I think it could be fine, I’m just concerned about every restaurant being really clean and safe, right. If you know too much about food safety … I see some of the grossest stuff on [inaudible 00:19:47] that are drinking raw milk and sushi. It’s not that I think it’s the worst idea. I just that I think handling doesn’t always work out, right. Anyway.
19:56 Those are just some of the many things that could be causing some gut issues [00:20:00] for you.
Stu
20:00 No, that does quite perfectly describe a scenario that many of us find ourselves in. So we’re rushing to eat at or desks perhaps. It’s generally going to be convenience food, because we’re short on time. Like you said, it might be sushi. Great, so it’s a huge lunch, based on predominantly sweetened white rice. And at the same time, we’re staring at our phones, so we’re not being mindful [00:20:30] about eating. So our digestive system isn’t really switched on anyway. And then after a crazy day, perhaps we go out and flog ourselves silly at the gym. Or maybe we’re getting up, and we’re sacrificing sleep to get up super early and do the same thing first up.
20:47 So yeah, it’s really interesting. We need to be more mindful. And also, you spoke about nutrient density as well. It’s like, where are the nutrients coming from if you’re following a heavily processed diet? And really, [00:21:00] if we want to tend to this garden bed in our digestive system, then we’re going to need to plant the seeds to do so. Which is quite rare in this day and age.
Christa
21:10 Right. A couple points I have … You did a great job of summarizing my kind of, all over the place thoughts there. You know the fiber’s going to feed the beneficial bacteria, right. So that’s a good point. You mentioned the sleep. Yeah, if you can’t get sleep on point, it’s going to cause a real big disruption. I think you asked me about sleep earlier and I didn’t answer you completely.
21:26 When people are sleep disrupted, we know that hormones are produced in the [00:21:30] gut. So when you’re microbiome, and you have a lot of dysbiosis, sometimes just kind of resolving that’s going to make a huge difference in your sleep, of course. And I wanted to mention one other thing, because you talked about going to the gym. You know, just because you eat healthy doesn’t mean you are healthy, unfortunately. It’s just what happens sometimes. So it’s okay to get a checkup, and check these things out. Some of the healthiest quote, unquote people, I’ve had the most terrible micronutrient profiles lately. So I see really tough micronutrient [00:22:00] profiles, meaning people are very deficient in nutrients. Just so you know, I don’t know what it’s like in Australia, here in the U.S., at the conventional doctor, there’s only a few nutrients that are tested for. Maybe vitamin B, D12, just a handful.
22:12 Comprehensive micronutrient testing isn’t extremely accessible. There’s only a handful of companies that really do it. But it’s really cool. It’s very much like looking at a crystal ball if you know what you’re doing, and you understand nutrient patterns and relationships.
22:25 But I wanted to mention some of the people that I see the worst nutrient profiles on. I [00:22:30] don’t want this to come off wrong, but often vegetarians and vegans, I have zero problem with that. Totally experimented with that completely myself. It’s just that a lot of times, we get into kind of a rut, and it’s not always as nutrient dense as you would think. Or there’s genetic reasons or whatnot. So that, postpartum women, right. People that have just given their nutrients to babies, and people who exercise a lot. And gut issues, obviously. But people who exercise a lot. Because especially if they’ve already got something that started … Exercise has kind of been official inflammation sort of, right. [00:23:00] And so sometimes, if you’ve already got a little issue going on, and then you just keep going, your body needs more nutrients. You deserve more nutrients. So sometimes people aren’t really nourishing themselves completely, and we see some pretty rough oxidative stress, or you know, inflammatory markers. Omegas get really depleted, things like that, from exercising really really intensely. Just wanted to mention that.
Stu
23:24 Yeah, no, that’s a great point.
23:29 If I wanted [00:23:30] to supplement, and just try and tackle my own digestive system through healing foods, supplements, things like that. Are there any go-to foods or supplements that are generally beneficial across the board, that you would prescribe?
Christa
23:47 Yeah, in research, I’ll start with supplements, even if it’s a little backwards from foods. Because I think, you know, there are some digestive issues where the healthy things become the unhealthy things, so it kind of gets [00:24:00] a little confusing. Essentially, a lot of fibers and resistant starches should be well-tolerated. It’s really going to depend if you have an underlying infection or something like that.
24:09 We know that prebiotics are fibers, feed probiotics. So you can take all the probiotics you want. I have a lot of feelings of quality of probiotics. But none of that’s going to matter if you’re not really feeding them, right. It just doesn’t work, right. So we need to get fiber. And how do you get that from varying your diet? The easiest way to do this is pick new fruits and vegetables every time you go to [00:24:30] the store. Because you know how it is. We do the same thing over, and over, and over if we’re not prompted to do something different.
24:35 So I always recommend shop a sale. Who doesn’t want to do that anyway? Because typically, if you’re shopping a sale, you’re shopping for what’s in season. Because it’s abundant, and so it’s on sale. And so that’s a natural way to vary your colors, and your fibers. And so the more variety you have, the more variety of prebiotics you’re going to have. And the prebiotics specifically help different probiotics, right. So the prebiotics in kiwi might foster [00:25:00] different bacteria growth than the prebiotics in artichoke, right. Or banana or something like that.
25:06 So it’s really, you don’t have to overthink that so much, unless you have particular issues with certain food. It can be colorful in variety, and try to do [inaudible 00:25:16] what you’re getting, really variety. That’s the big thing.
25:19 So supplement wise, if you look at the research, I feel that … And people feel differently about. There’s a couple ways you can look at it. So you got to think about what you’re going to use to repair tight gap junctions. [00:25:30] Now if you don’t deal with the initial stressors, you’ll never really repair them. They’ll just get wiped back open again. So I talk about … We can talk about lovely analogies for this. I always talk about your gut has all these little doors, right, that get opened. And so things that can help repair those are just simple amino acids. So your body’s ability to break those down into elemental parts … Amino acids are the building blocks, the proteins. But if your body, if you take in food that breaks down a protein, that breaks down amino acids, and your body’s not doing that well because of other issues, [00:26:00] that whole process can be inhibited.
26:03 So one of my go-to’s, a really common one in research is glutamine. Glutamine is an amino acid that helps with tissue repair. So you can use that internally and externally. And obviously it’s a post workout as well for the same reason. So it’s just a common one. I’m a huge fan of amino globulin’s. So immunoglobulins are often found in colostrum, but they don’t have to be found in colostrum necessarily. Immunoglobulins help repair the mucosal lining in the gut. [00:26:30] So we have this mucosal lining, and you have the tight gap junction, so there’s couple layers basically. And that’s where those nutrients are absorbed. So I love immune support through immunoglobulins, and high-quality colostrum and things like that.
26:42 So those are some of my favorites, but we use a lot of different … There’s just endless, endless things that you can do. But again, that is step four, five. So you can take all the probiotics and supplements and whatever you want. But if you don’t address the root causes, then it won’t ever improve. So I see that a lot. People call and say, “I’m [00:27:00] already taking these things.” I’m like, “Okay, that makes sense. You didn’t address the root cause, right.”
Stu
27:04 Yeah, that’s good advice. I guess it’s kind of a holistic approach, isn’t it, as well. Because yes, you want to be taking the supplements. You want to be moving mindfully, so not smashing yourself continuously in the gym. That might be upsetting your sleep. Again, it just feeds back into this vicious cycle of inflammation and disruption in the body.
Christa
27:28 Yeah. You basically [00:27:30] just mentioned supplements. I should mention that I’ve, over the years, I’ve become a supplement fatigued. So obviously I use supplements. I talk about the approach like this. It’s like a sprained or a broken ankle. It’s like a broken ankle. I think that’s a better fit. You can get off the broken ankle, you can stop doing some things. But unless you wrap it, and ice it, and cast it, it’s not going to get better. So supplements help do that very quickly. But the goal is, if you’re reliant on these forever, and ever, and ever, aside from genetic predispositions that your body just doesn’t [00:28:00] do this well, then there’s probably a problem. Get to the root cause.
28:04 When you have multiple B vitamins that are a mess, you probably have some dysbiosis, because those go first. And that’s going to make you crave carbs, and all kinds of things. So that’s just a thing. I’m kind of like, a cycler of nutrients. Once things are resolved, I just not … I don’t feel like you have to have tons of supplements every day. The outlier of that, is if you’re working on something actively, right. Or you’re working on a goal. As well [00:28:30] as genetic issues.
28:32 So I don’t make EPA and DHA really well. So in the winter, I’m going to need that if I don’t want dry skin.
Stu
28:39 Great. Fantastic. So, low energy and brain fog. So often the two come hand in hand. It’s an issue that we are continually probed for on the website [00:29:00] as well. It’s like, well what do I do? I don’t feel as sharp as I used to be. I just feel like I’m aging rapidly. Where would you start with your investigations? If somebody has come and said, “I just got no energy, and I just have such foggy brain. I don’t know what to do.”
Christa
29:20 Cool. So for one, I’d want to know more about additional symptoms, just to pinpoint, right. But a couple … Some reasons you’re going to have low energy … So one thing I’d say about [00:29:30] people probing on the website, I have bad news, but you probably do have some kind of issue, sorry. It’s just like, some is more likely than not having it. The other people that have really poor micronutrient profiles are people who are 45, 50 as well. The more you … It just seems that they just don’t have as good of nutrition.
29:46 So where would I start with low energy and brain fog? So first, I usually start with inflammatory foods, specific to that person. I don’t really do generics. I expect people to do generic things before they get to me. There’s plenty of generic things you can do for inflammation. For me, if I drink … And I [00:30:00] don’t have a problem with dairy, but if I drink milk myself … If I put milk in my coffee, I’m going to go ahead and take a nap. Because it just doesn’t work. That is my sign of inflammation. So it can be a fatigue right afterwards. Being tired after food, kind of a sign of inflammation. I mean, there’s multiple factors there. Or kind of a sign of inflammation. Maybe there’s something going on there. It’s not really like, you should feel energized all day long. Not like, a slump at 3:00PM.
30:24 So one, obviously quality of sleep. Two, inflammation, which is a deep topic. [00:30:30] Three, if we address inflammation, we address the obvious source of inflammation, even generically or specifically to their own biochemistry. What you can’t do, you can’t take away something that would be helping with inflammation, if you’ve got nutrient deficiencies, right. So usually think that some kind of nutrient deficiency might be the next thing. And this all, everything is connected. So don’t feel that this is really complex, like it is out in all different directions. I promise, if you understand it fits together, it all is like, [00:31:00] it’s a feedback loop. This happens, this happens, this happens.
31:03 So maybe you got an infection that causes low B-12, it causes this. You know, it’s just like a bad cycle. So those are things I’d start. You can honestly tell for some people, they sound like they are getting plowed through life. I talked to someone yesterday. I’m like, it sounds like you have to have someone drag you out of bed every day. That’s ridiculous low energy. But just regular low energy. So inflammation, nutrients are the top things. Brain fog can also be inflammation, it can be byproducts of bacterial imbalances [00:31:30] or fungal imbalances. Aldehydes, candy to things like that. I don’t want to send people off on wild goose chases with this.
31:36 Just cleaning up your diet is really the perfect place to start, right. If that doesn’t work, address the next pieces, right. So is there, again, nutrient things. Is there … ‘Cause I mean sometimes, if you have a really severe nutrient deficiency, it is hard to function. Right, it is really hard, your brain. But a lot of times, it’s a little bit of a bacterial or fungal imbalance as well. Those are some of the key things I think of if you just give me those [00:32:00] two symptoms.
Stu
32:04 Okay, no that sounds great. And would there be any fundamental food groups that you would always look at first, in perhaps a trial of elimination to try and tackle low energy and brain fog? I’m thinking about the big ones, like gluten, sugar, dairy, things like that.
Christa
32:22 Yeah, so I tend to go with more natural … It really depends. I do so much stuff that’s individualized, that I don’t always go super [00:32:30] generic. But, a lot of people that come to me are already pro-eliminating gluten as a trial. Sometimes now, not everyone has a problem with it. Great for them, that is okay, right. Not everyone has a problem with it. But the big one to start with, yeah, are some of those.
32:45 So Dairy, we have … Dairy is sort of a Russian roulette. We all love our dairy. But especially with milk, it is whatever that cow ate is what we have. We get antigens from that. That can really depend. We get kind of hormones and things too. [00:33:00] So we know it causes acne, and outward signs of inflammation in that way. Those are some of the very common ones. Dairy is the worst roulette one.
33:10 A lot of people tend to [inaudible 00:33:11] gluten containing grains, for sure, initially. And then just, I would do a really whole food diet for a while. Because it’s really hard to otherwise pinpoint certain additives and things. If you’re looking for a generic option of just where to start, right. So I would do honestly I think whole 30 is just nice, [00:33:30] generic options for just … If you haven’t tried something before, it probably can make you feel good. And if it doesn’t, it’s okay. You can keep trying to target, and pinpoint, and et cetera.
33:39 So those are some of the bigger ones. I think those are the biggest ones. I hate to like, demonize the food. I think people, you know, part of it is, are you doing way more fruits and sugars than vegetables? First things first, evaluate your drinking source. If you’re just drinking sugar stuff all day long, that’s a problem no matter what. [00:34:00] Right, so we can talk about sugar. We can talk about sugar in multiple ways. I try to do natural-ish sugars, right. It just depends on the person, and how sugar sensitive they are. Which, there are a lot of things that show up on lab work, say it’s not really your friend for now.
Stu
34:18 We are complex beasts, aren’t we. And we’re all so radically different, that it can be a little bit of a detective story I think when trying to figure out what’s wrong.
34:28 I wanted just to switch gears [00:34:30] a little bit, and talk about your … Talk about treating eczema, because I know that you’re quite a specialist in that area, and a lot of people suffer with this. And there is so much of a misconception with eczema, as to just give me the strongest steroid cream you can, and I’m just going to slap that thing on every single day.
34:53 Many people are suffering with this. Where do you start? Because it seems like your success rates are through the roof.
Christa
35:00 [00:35:00] Let’s talk about first, how big of a problem it is, if you don’t mind. It’s one fifth. It’s 10 to 20 percent of kids. It’s a lot less of adults, but a big chunk of kids, which should be concerning, because it’s an outward sign that our body wants to tell us something. And to speak about steroid creams, I never want to shame someone from using steroid creams if they feel like they need them. That’s not my goal in life to ever make someone feel bad. But I can tell you my own personal experience is, that’s all your options are conventionally. [00:35:30] Just, here’s a steroid cream. I did not use steroid cream very much or for very long when I had eczema. For me, I believe became more prominent in high school if I recall. It was a very cyclical thing and it showed up, and I just thought it came in the winter and whatever. So I used some steroid cream.
35:47 And the reason I’m telling you this, is I burned my skin once a year, because the skin where it was is thinner. So that’s what we know happens with steroid cream. How [00:36:00]
36:00 How much does it suck if you put that on your baby and set them up for that their whole life? I barely used it, half of a lifetime ago, or a little more, and it’s still like that follows me around. I’m saddened for our future in that area. The other thing is we view it as an external problem, so we think it has an external solution. I interviewed a gastroenterologist one time who is married to a dermatologist, who had a great way to say this, “Skin on the inside is skin on the outside.” They [00:36:30] frequently referred clients back and forth to each other, which is very telling of how they saw the relationship absolutely. We know …
36:37 Let’s talk about some common signs that we often see, so aside from eczema we already know it’s a gut issue. If you’re not convinced let’s talk about celiac disease, which we know is a gut issue, right? It means that the villi in your gut don’t work, and like one of the signs is a rash. I have an IBD, or an irritable bowel disease, client right now who like breaks out in T-zone rashes. My own daughter [00:37:00] she cut her hand and had some stitches last summer and we chose to do an antibiotic because the doctor said the infection … You know it would be pretty crappy to get a terrible infection right here where you really need this area, right, so she did that and I respond very poorly to antibiotics, and she broke out with … I just was really sensitive to observing this, right, so she probably, most people wouldn’t have noticed this, but her T-zone in the summer got disgustingly dry.
37:30 [00:37:30] We stopped things, like don’t throw tomatoes at me for stopping an antibiotic protocol early, but I was very concerned. It was an intense one, it was Keflex, so that’s a pretty strong one. We did some colostrum and some other good things that I know if she’s my daughter, has my genetics, so like overnight better. It was just a bummer. Anyway … Yeah, I know. I mean if I wasn’t real in tune to that I probably would have never noticed it, but I immediately thought of my guy who breaks out in his T- [00:38:00] zone and she was getting the same. It was so night and day and so quick, it was just undeniable.
38:06 Let’s talk about how it’s an internal problem. Yeah, eczema is a big problem; it’s an internal problem. It’s awesome if people know that. You can definitely, there’s a lot of dietary things that can affect it. Actually, unfortunately, so some of it leans more toward gut issues; some of it leans more toward liver issues. A lot of people don’t know that. Mine was more liver issues, which is why I know that. There’s a lot of pieces. We could talk [00:38:30] for an hour about eczema manifestations. It’s similar to other conditions, you just put new glasses on. Like these are my eczema glasses and we’re gonna pay attention to dysbiosis, food issues, infections, environmental toxins, all those same things, right. We like strategically go through them so it doesn’t feel exhausting. Very strategically go through things piece by piece by piece. You have to account for kind of all of them in some cases, but it’s very empowering. This is what [00:39:00] happens if you don’t deal with eczema …
39:02 Well, some people are lucky. Some people are gonna grow out of eczema maybe. Maybe. Or, it’s called the allergic march, it’s gonna turn into asthma or allergies, so if you have family history of sort of several things any of these are possible. Just because something seems to go under the surface … I always say like inflammation is sort of a bucket and eczema is sort of an outward sign of inflammation on your skin, right. The bucket is overflowing, it’s showing up, and so if you get it undone a little bit maybe. For some people are like, “Oh, I [00:39:30] took X, or I took Y and it worked.” Great for you, you probably just helped it go under the bucket maybe a little bit. I don’t know.
39:37 There’s a lot of reasons to try to help you understand if you totally took care of it or not that I think are important. So, if you get that bucket emptied a little bit then the inflammation goes down. I was totally a characteristic of that. In high school I could take XYZ probiotic, it would improve it, and I just thought that was my fix until it kind of came with a vengeance after taking my kids to the new swimming pool seven [00:40:00] or eight days in a row and all that chlorine, for me … Everyone’s got different triggers. Really putting together your own health history is really empowering because it teaches you things that your body was trying to tell you a long time ago. I recently interviewed someone who said, “If you listen to your body’s whispers you don’t have to quell its screams,” so in that case I didn’t hear the whispers.
Stu
40:23 That’s interesting. I’m intrigued as to why it seems to be so prevalent in young children. [00:40:30] Like you said, you may grow out of it. Do you think perhaps that is because [inaudible 00:40:36] diets as we get older and we become more attuned to the importance of eating properly? Because kid’s menus generally … Go out to a restaurant and the kid’s menu is like a party menu. It’s ridiculous.
Christa
40:49 That is very true, that is very true. I heard someone say once, “It’s ridiculous to think that we believe our children need this simplified dum-dum [crosstalk 00:40:58]. It’s like, “Why [00:41:00] shouldn’t they just eat the same thing we’re eating?” I think that can be a little bit on point. I often see people at a much younger age, to the point where maybe they’re still breastfeeding so that can influence it. It’s almost always … Really a lot of times when I hear that birth story and it’s sort of a perfect storm tied in with probable genetics a lot of times, because that will help you understand, “Why did this child get it and not this child?” We have things called … The other big thing now, I think, is immature immune [00:41:30] systems and organs. I mean, they’re just little guys, right? We’re just still maturing so quickly, we’re growing so darn fast, and we need so many nutrients, and we need all these things. We can have nutrient deficiencies be part of eczema, or how it’s presenting on the skin [inaudible 00:41:42] eczema any skin issue.
Christa
41:44 So, there’s so many little pieces but a lot of times if I just had to summarize it in one I think it’s immature immune systems and things that we do to our immune systems early on, and things like that. Really interesting wish, I sometimes like daydream about doing a study about [00:42:00] this, but realize that that would take an extreme amount of time and energy. I was running an eczema course for a while and I was seeing this incredible trend where a bunch of really severe eczema cases had jaundice when they were born. That doesn’t, it’s not particularly significant, because we think of that as like not a big concern, but it just basically tells you, your liver is not eliminating beautifully yet. It’s like, “Oh, I’m not quite ready for the world yet,” just [00:42:30] kind of sluggish.
42:32 My point is, is this isn’t crazy it’s just supporting basic organ function with appropriate nutrients and lifestyle factors, and all these things. We throw so much … I think in our modern times we throw a ton of stuff at our systems that just aren’t ready for it yet, and babies just really aren’t ready for that all yet.
Stu
42:52 You make a good point. Absolutely. Good stuff. So, [00:43:00] we’ve got a few more questions left, but I’m kind of intrigued as to diet question. This is the million dollar question in terms of food. How should we eat? What kind of food should we eat for long-lasting health? So, given the fact that you see lots and lots of patients with varying degrees of health concerns, and you know a lot about food, and nutrition, and supplementation, and [00:43:30] everything that comes with that. What diet would you recommend, or have you found to be typically the most beneficial for optimal health, long-lasting health? Maybe it’s the diet that you follow. What would that be?
Christa
43:50 I think it’s important to vary your diet, as you’re experimenting. So, first things first. It’s gonna depend, because right now where you are might not be your optimum health and I think to [00:44:00] be aware of that, that’s the first thing. Sometimes that’s kind of like a knock the wind out of our sails. You might not be at optimal health yet, so sometimes on that journey the diet is not like ideal or perfect no matter what. One of the saddest things I see are people that become ruled by food in a place of deprivation and non-enjoyment. They’ve limited. That’s such a sad thing to see and, unfortunately, it’s just how people interpret things. So, we go on this Paleo, or we go on XYZ, [00:44:30] and some people end up in rough places, in dark places. So, if I had to summarize it in one sentence it would be, “Very nutrient-dense diet that’s enjoyable.” Food that makes you feel good that you can enjoy.
44:44 Enjoying your time in the kitchen, enjoying the food that you prepare, and having food that tastes good, because that’s the only thing that’s gonna matter long term. You can do all these things short term, but if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, and you don’t feel your best, nothing matters. So, [00:45:00] just because maybe I was sensitive to wheat when I was going through my eczema drain, I can pretty much tolerate it now. I do try to do more supportive than aggravating. It’s a teeter-totter, I do more supportive than aggravating and I come out on top. Through that whole journey like I don’t really have issues with some of those common inflammatory foods anymore, at least that I notice. That’s a wonderful thing. But you have to keep being supportive over aggravating. When we do more aggravating than [00:45:30] supportive we just kind of go backwards overall. The most supportive thing is being really micronutrient dense and enjoying where you’re at, …
Stu
45:37 Perfect.
Christa
45:38 … because if we just micromanage ourselves it’s not that great.
Stu
45:42 No, you’re right. I think that … That’s the answer that I wanted to hear, because it can be so easy to be hugely dogmatic in any given area. You absolutely cannot eat XYZ. That, like you said, can create [00:46:00] so much internal stress and in itself that internal stress can just exacerbate issues, specifically digestive issues, as well, when you’re stressed to the hilt. I think that might be called orthorexia. I could be wrong.
Christa
46:13 Over indulgence in health, yeah, you’re right.
Stu
46:15 Yeah, and you- [crosstalk 00:46:16]
Christa
46:16 Stress it.
Stu
46:16 Totally, you’re just in this little bubble and you just think, “Oh, my word, I have to just eat-”
Christa
46:22 Some of the toughest clients are disordered, for me, just because I don’t work in this area so much, but there’s a huge correlation with disordered eating, which would [00:46:30] be very nutrient dense, like non-nutrient dense you’re not getting nutrients, disordered eating and later gut issues. That’s a bummer because you have to really kind of deal with it in a different lens, because there’s such emotional pain there. It just kind of speaks to, your body gets messed up when you’re deprived for so long. It makes sense to do some like I think just phase, like learn how to try different styles of things to see what makes the most sense to you.
Stu
46:56 That’s it.
Christa
46:58 Your life is an experiment. [00:47:00] Just enjoy the experiment that you’re on, don’t find it a drag.
Stu
47:02 Exactly. Mix it up from time-to-time. We always say, “You’re not gonna get skinny from eating a salad, and you’re not suddenly gonna balloon from eating a hamburger.” We’re a little bit more complex than that, so mix it up a little bit.
Christa
47:17 Thank goodness we are. How lame would that be if things were so simple. People are always so frustrated with nutrition. “It doesn’t make sense,” or “I feel confused.” I’m like, “you know what, it makes things interesting.” I’d [00:47:30] be so bored if things were generic. I mean that’s why I left conventional nutrition. I didn’t want to be generic. It’s just really fun to do labs and customize things for people, right?
Stu
47:38 Exactly. Exactly. So, I have a question that I like to ask every guest towards the end of the podcast, and it’s gonna be quite personal. I’m intrigued as to the non-negotiables in your life that you adhere to every single day to ensure that you crush that day, [00:48:00] and it may be get up in the morning, have a glass of water, do some yoga, or it could be get some sunshine, or it might be start a journal. What are the things that you do time and time again, each and every day?
Christa
48:16 Yeah, and I need to be very honest, because I think sometimes when we hear things like this we can get a little discouraged by the fact that we have a hard time getting on the horse and staying on the horse. I am not perfect, and [00:48:30] my ideal habits don’t always like follow through, right. But, I think that that’s a good thing, for me it is. I think it’s a good thing because once you fall off you realize how much better you felt when you were on, and so it feels much better.
48:43 There are several things, and the first thing honestly is gratitude and having some white space. Without that I feel like your day goes rush, rush, rush, and you don’t ever fill your own cup. Those are the things that help you fill your own cup. Highly successful people take a moment to let their thoughts meld [00:49:00] and stir, so having gratitude. Today I woke up kind of grouchy about multiple things. My kids … Sometimes we wake up and react instead of taking control, right. So, today I woke up pretty grumpy actually, which was a bummer. I exercised, I sat in the sauna, I jumped on the trampoline, and then I found some gratitude and I wrote all over my mirror with a positive affirmation. That’s not an everyday thing, but those things really help.
49:28 So, starting with gratitude and white space. [00:49:30] You’re absolutely right, like a big glass of water helps, right? That’s an absolute. That is an absolute big, big deal. The thing that helps fill my cup every day is empowering myself with knowledge, and knowing that like I am in control and having a great mindset. That’s something I shifted about four years ago. I realized I had a friend who anonymously sent me, all summer I fear, … Had a friend who anonymously sent me a book called Mindset. It was an accident it was anonymous; [00:50:00] she just forgot to put a return address on it, which I felt was very ominous, like, “Who sent me this book?” I only read half of it, to be perfectly honest, but it changed my life. I realized I had grown up with kind of a fixed mindset and I see that as … It’s stress and mindset that are the biggest inhibitors in people getting in their own way.
50:19 So, making sure your mindset’s on point, and if it’s not just self-correct yourself. It’s okay to be like, “you know what, I’m a ding-dong. I do not need this crappy mindset.” So, starting the gratitude, throw [00:50:30] in a glass of water, and keeping your mindset on point. I mean without those things like I’ll just fall apart.
Stu
50:38 Right. Fantastic. Well, it sounds like you crushed the day this morning. Boy, with trampolines and saunas and-
Christa
50:42 Oh my gosh. In the sauna I usually embrace the quietness and today I was like, “I’ve got to get out of my head,” so I turned on like Blink-182 punk rock.
Stu
50:52 Oh boy.
Christa
50:52 I was like singing. That was just like me trying to like jam out and distract my brain and do different things from the things that were [00:51:00] irritating me. It was dumb like kid drama stuff in the morning. Yeah, I think sometimes you just need a total departure of your current like environment to start anew. It’s okay to start your day anew.
Stu
51:13 I absolutely, because it’s very easy to be waylaid by life. I mean, Crikey, I’ve got three young daughters and I get out of bed in the morning it’s like I just entered a war zone, and sometimes-
Christa
51:25 Yeah, I know, like you guys wet your bed. Thank you for that.
Stu
51:29 Like, “What. [00:51:30] What’s going on?” It’s instant let’s just turn the button for stress right on as soon as I get out of bed.
Christa
51:40 I know. Well, I know, and if I was a better person I’d always get up earlier and start my day with me. Sometimes it doesn’t happen. We all hit that snooze button sometimes. Sometimes we just have to have that slap in the face to be like, “You know what, I deserve it. I need to go bed earlier tonight, get some great sleep, wake up earlier, have some time to myself.” As a parent you’ve got to be filling [00:52:00] your own cup, or you are just like … It’s not fair to run on fumes.
Stu
52:04 No, that’s right, because you will if you don’t. That’s for sure. What’s next? What have you got in the pipeline? Anything exciting come up?
Christa
52:13 Actually right now doing tons of podcast interviews which feels so fun. It feels like great tea time with adults, so that’s really, really great. In 2019, I’d like to do … I feel, like you said, eczema affects so many people, I’d like to do just kind of a Masterclass for that. [00:52:30] Right now I primarily do the podcast and I primarily see people one-on-one. Those are my big, big things. I’d like to just be able to serve more people by giving them an answer, like “You need to understand like these root things and basic diet things.” So, those are some things coming up in 2019. Yeah, podcast stuff, Masterclass for that. I’m just excited about 2019. My [inaudible 00:52:56] is fantastic for that.
Stu
52:57 Fantastic. For our audience, [00:53:00] everyone that is listening to this. Where do we point them if they want to find out more about you and your work, and listen to your podcast, too?
Christa
53:08 I try to make it easy for you. The podcast desktop home is lessstressedlife.com or you can just search for it on iTunes or Stitcher, and the practice website is lesstressednutrition.com. Either way will get you all the same place, but lessstressednutrition and lessstressedlife.com. Try to make it easy.
Stu
53:26 Fantastic. That sounds great. Well, look, we’ll put those links in the show notes [00:53:30] as well, and we’ll blast this out to our audience. Christa, Thank you so much for your time today. It has been fantastic, and can’t wait to share it.
Christa
53:38 Yeah, it was so fun. Thank you so much, Stuart.
Stu
53:40 Okay, no problems. We’ll speak to you soon.
Christa
53:42 Sounds good.
Stu
53:43 Bye-bye.
