Dr. Maggie Yu on Autoimmune Disease and Healing Naturally
Navigating the complexities of autoimmune diseases and embracing natural healing approaches can be daunting in health and wellness. However, amidst the challenges comes Dr. Maggie Yu, renowned for her expertise in autoimmune disorders and holistic healing methodologies. In this conversation, Dr. Yu shares her experiences and offers a masterclass on autoimmunity.
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Embracing a Holistic Approach to Healing
Dr. Maggie Yu's foray into holistic healing was not just a professional pursuit but a deeply personal one. Her battle with autoimmune illness led her to question the limitations of conventional medicine and discover the transformative power of a holistic approach to health and wellness. Her holistic paradigm, encompassing mind, body, and spirit, is a testament to the power of personal experience in shaping one's professional journey.
The Role of Mindset in Health and Healing
Central to Dr. Yu's approach is the pivotal role of mindset in health and healing. She emphasizes the profound impact of cultivating a positive mindset, stressing that one's beliefs and attitudes can significantly influence one's health journey. By fostering a mindset of empowerment, resilience, and optimism, individuals can overcome obstacles, unlock their innate healing potential, and embark on a path toward vibrant well-being.
Understanding Autoimmune Diseases: A Comprehensive Overview
Dr. Yu's comprehensive overview of autoimmune diseases demystifies their complex nature and underlying causes and underscores the importance of personalized treatment approaches. She highlights the need for treatments tailored to each individual's unique needs and circumstances, a crucial aspect often overlooked in the conventional medical approach to autoimmune disorders.
Navigating the Digestive Health-Autoimmune Connection
One of Dr. Yu's key insights is the critical role of digestive health in autoimmune disorders. She shares how imbalances in gut microbiota, leaky gut syndrome, and dietary factors can trigger and exacerbate autoimmune conditions. Individuals can mitigate inflammation, restore immune balance, and support overall wellness by addressing underlying digestive issues, optimizing gut health, and adopting a gut-friendly diet.
Empowering Dietary Changes for Optimal Health
In discussing dietary recommendations, Dr. Yu advocates for a paradigm shift in nutritional perspectives, particularly regarding fat consumption. Contrary to conventional wisdom, she emphasizes the importance of healthy fats as a cornerstone of hormonal health and overall well-being. Dr. Yu's dietary approach prioritizes whole, nutrient-dense foods, emphasizes the significance of hydration, and underscores the transformative potential of adopting a high-fat, low-carb diet.
Balancing Business, Family, and Health: Practical Strategies
Beyond physical health, Dr. Yu offers practical strategies for balancing the demands of business, family, and personal well-being. Drawing upon her own experiences, she emphasizes the importance of identity work, tuning into one's energetic frequency and making conscious choices to nurture a harmonious life. Dr. Yu's holistic perspective transcends symptom management, empowering individuals to cultivate resilience, connection, and fulfillment in all aspects of their lives.
The Power of Connection: Fostering Community and Empowerment
As a passionate advocate for connection and community, Dr. Yu highlights the transformative power of content creation to foster connection and empowerment. Through her various platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook group, "Transform Your Health Naturally," she cultivates an environment of support, education, and inspiration. Dr. Yu's commitment to fostering connection underscores her mission to empower individuals to take control of their health journey and thrive.
Conclusion: A Pathway to Holistic Healing
In conclusion, Dr. Maggie Yu's insights, wisdom, and compassionate approach to health and wellness guide those navigating the complexities of autoimmune diseases and seeking holistic healing solutions. Her holistic paradigm offers hope, inspiration, and practical strategies for achieving vibrant health, vitality, and fulfillment. By embracing holistic healing principles, cultivating a positive mindset, and prioritizing self-care, individuals can unlock the pathway to optimal health and embark on a journey toward holistic healing and well-being.
Connect with Dr. Maggie Yu
Website — https://drmaggieyu.com/
YouTube — http://www.youtube.com/@DrMaggieYu
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/maggieyu.md/
Facebook Group — facebook.com/groups/137907716855107
Book (8 Out Of The Box Ways To Transform Your Health) — https://8outofthebox.com/
Transcript
Julian Hayes II
(0:02) Welcome to another episode of Executive Health and Life. (0:05) I'm your host, Julian Hayes II, back at it again. (0:07) As you already know, I love to say another fascinating guest and a fascinating topic.
(0:12) And today I did a random quick Google search out of curiosity for autoimmune diseases and symptoms. (0:17) And one of the associations that I came upon, it said that there were more than 100 autoimmune diseases. (0:22) 50 million Americans have one or more of these autoimmune diseases with the majority affecting women.
(0:28) However, I'm seeing more and more men dealing with some sort of autoimmunity issue. (0:31) I'm also seeing people across the board that are younger dealing with some sort of autoimmune issue. (0:37) So if you think about this as the general population, and then let's add this up to another population of people who are go-getters in the form of entrepreneurs, business execs, and those with aspirations to even have some of those things.
(0:50) This is at the basis of our conversation today. (0:53) Joining me is Dr. Maggie Yu. (0:54) She's a highly respected family practice and certified functional medicine physician who graduated from UCLA School of Medicine and has been practicing over 25 years.
(1:06) She developed her own mystery, autoimmune symptoms, and was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. (1:12) However, she was able to completely reverse these symptoms through a combination of hard work, years of her training, and her medical expertise. (1:20) Fast forward to today, she's helped thousands and thousands of people.
(1:23) It's a laundry list of people that she's helped. (1:25) I saw so many, I had to stop counting. (1:28) It was just so many of people that she's helped with various symptoms, and also not just her symptoms, but also improving the overall longevity and function of day-to-day life.
(1:38) So without further ado, I am here with the rock star herself, Dr. Maggie. (1:43) How are you doing?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:45) Oh my gosh, I'm doing so great. (1:46) And thank you. (1:47) Thank you for inviting me on this podcast.
(1:49) It's just really amazing that, to me, in my own greatest area of suffering, I've been able to learn from it. (1:59) I've been able to teach with it. (2:00) And it's been able to get the message out that this is rising on an epidemic level, and people are not alone, and there's a lot that can be done about it.
(2:09) So happy to be here.
Julian Hayes II
(2:11) Awesome to hear, awesome to hear. (2:12) And yes, I always love to go to the past a little bit before we come to the present and even look into the future. (2:18) And I think a lot of times people are shocked when they hear a medical physician struggles with their health or deals with their issue, because they think, oh, you're in the health field, so you should have no problems.
(2:28) You know everything. (2:30) And also, it's probably shocking that you get to the mid-30s, and then you start having symptoms. (2:36) So where did this come from?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(2:38) So actually, contrary to popular thinking, doctors are actually sicker than the general population. (2:44) The rates of suicide are also higher in the physician profession, number one. (2:51) And then the other aspect of this is, too, job satisfaction for doctors is also among the lowest out of all the professions that we're talking about with entrepreneurs or employed individuals.
(3:02) So in a lot of ways, our training to become physicians and our workload and also the way in which our work evaluated and do our job is part of the problem. (3:15) And people look to doctors expecting that somehow there's some sort of pedestal that they may know more and have better health themselves when they don't realize they may actually be sicker and more miserable than them. (3:28) And oftentimes, believe it or not, less educated than the individuals who are sick themselves about their particular issue.
(3:35) So it's really fascinating how doctors really are in the dark. (3:40) They're health sufferers themselves. (3:42) And they were raised in a system that was designed not to really solve these complex health problems, but really merely to put people into algorithms and pass them down to the next person, to the next person, to the next person.
(3:54) So we were raised in a system designed for sick care, not health care. (3:59) And we are not the pinnacles and the pedestal of optimal health whatsoever. (4:04) And I had to learn that the hard way, getting sick myself.
Julian Hayes II
(4:07) Yeah, I think that was the shocking thing to me during my brief time in medical school for that one year. (4:12) We had a nutrition module come up.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(4:18) Don't get me started on that one. (4:21) You're getting me started.
Julian Hayes II
(4:23) Already in five minutes and I'm getting you started. (4:25) But yeah. (4:26) And that really, it was eye opening to me of just some of the, I think I was talking about, and it was, I was like, no way that me and the gym bros are a little more in the know with kind of nutritional science, the medical stuff.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(4:40) A lot more.
Julian Hayes II
(4:41) And so that actually gave me empathy as well for when I see people in the medical profession giving advice sometimes, because it's what you learn and it's what the system has. (4:50) And so if you never take the opportunity to go outside of that, that's just the paradigm that you know.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(4:56) Well, Julian, I always tell people this fact, okay? (5:02) I went to one of the top medical schools, actually now 28 years in practice. (5:07) And I asked people, people go to doctors hoping and praying for things that are complex, like autoimmune issues, hormone issues, impossible to solve diagnoses, or just fatigue.
(5:16) And they think going to the doctor and saying, hey doc, what do you think about this other, we're not testing my hormones. (5:22) Hey doc, what about this supplement or this diet change? (5:27) And the doctor frequently, and I'm guilty of this, this is one of the biggest shame as a physician, is that patients would come and say, what do you think of red yeast rice for my cholesterol?
(5:36) And I would say, there's no data for it. (5:37) And I would probably dismiss it and go and do the prescription. (5:41) Or they'll say, oh, I'm doing this special diet and I'm trying to lose weight, whatever.
(5:46) And this FODMAPS diet or this diet, that's it. (5:49) And I would be like, there's no data for it. (5:51) Don't waste your time.
(5:52) And the thing is, it's not that there's no data on this. (5:55) There's tons of data on this stuff. (5:58) However, it's that I didn't know anything about it.
(6:02) It's our own ignorance that we actually don't want to shine a light on. (6:06) We're embarrassed. (6:08) And so frequently, now I look back and I quote people, do you guys know, and I'm going to ask the audience, and I'll even ask you, you went through first year of med school, four years of medical school training, right?
(6:21) And how many hours do you think I got training in diet and nutrition and supplementation? (6:28) Let's say how many, no, zero on supplementation. (6:30) I can already tell you that.
(6:32) So let's say diet and nutrition, how much time total in four years of medical school at one of the top schools in the country do you think I received?
Julian Hayes II
(6:40) I'm going to say three hours.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(6:42) 30 minutes.
Julian Hayes II
(6:43) Oh, man.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(6:45) Gym Bros spent way more time than I did on it.
Julian Hayes II
(6:47) Way more.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(6:49) And this is why you're bringing questions. (6:51) If they're listening to this podcast, they have spent way more time learning about these particular topics than their doctor ever was given training on. (6:59) So when you go, you're coming from a higher educated place and we sense it.
(7:07) When you ask us like, oh, what do you think of this FODMAP? (7:09) What do you think of the carnivore diet? (7:10) What do you think of intermittent fasting?
(7:13) 99.99%, 100% of physicians who came out of medical school have zero to little 30 minutes of training at max on all those topics combined. (7:21) And they are scared when you ask one of these questions, they literally are scared. (7:26) And so the common response dismissing people would be, there's no data on that, you know, or there's data on this medication, which by the way is true because you know why those pharmaceutical companies spent millions on each of those studies because they can patent that medication.
(7:41) Then they can say there's evidence-based medicine that you have to use that medication, right? (7:46) Versus like, oh, nobody has talked about the carnivore diet, fasting diet, AIP diet, this or that, right? (7:52) And the truth is there's tons of data that is out there, smaller groups because they're not sponsored by large pharmaceutical companies, but there's so much data on alternative health and biohacking that it's damning.
(8:05) It's damning and damn embarrassing that doctors don't have a venue or a way or is incentivized to learn more about that.
Julian Hayes II
(8:12) Hmm. (8:13) Do you think there's a future where you think doctors are, do you ever see the curriculum kind of moving toward that way of at least coming, maybe not just fully into that world, but at least getting a little more of that type of education in the curriculum?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(8:26) It is financially disincentivized for medical schools and doctors to be taught that kind of curriculum because the truth is on the front end, it costs more money and more time with a lower, because initially think about it this way. (8:43) Initially, if you have someone diagnosed with an autoimmune disease or trying to get a diagnosis of autoimmune disease, they're a very expensive patient because what initially happens is we will spend a lot of money trying to diagnose what the problem is, right? (8:56) And they'll get the million dollar workup.
(8:58) And if they're lucky to get a diagnosis, really the only solution is do they qualify for the million dollar drug? (9:06) And then that way, every single person along the way, there's a profit incentive, meaning like the pharmaceutical company for each person, let's say using the drug Humira, the most common drugs. (9:19) I don't want to isolate that one because there's so many of them.
(9:22) One of the most common drugs that's used in autoimmune disease for every person that is one year of use of it, the profit for that pharmaceutical company is over a million dollars. (9:35) So what incentive is there for the pharmaceutical companies, many of which sponsor medical school training to teach doctors how to have patients be well, so they don't need that medication?
Julian Hayes II
(9:49) Absolutely zero.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(9:51) There is no financial incentive to teach doctors to keep people well. (9:56) Think about chemotherapy agents. (9:59) Do you know the drugs that make pharmaceutical companies the most money is cancer of chemotherapy?
(10:05) Do you know also that we spend the most money in healthcare on the last six months of someone's life, right? (10:11) So there's a lot of profit there for a lot of people. (10:13) There's a lot of players involved.
(10:15) So if we cured cancer today, or we prevented every cancer on the planet, we would be putting tons of businesses out of business that have the vested interest in keeping you sick and keeping doctors blind on how to keep you from getting sick. (10:33) So it's a giant, giant business, right? (10:37) And there's, it's a business model that exists where if people stay sick, certain segments of certain companies are going to get a lot of money as a result of that.
(10:47) And they are really powerful with lobbies and with also investing into medical school training to ensure that the system continues as it is.
Julian Hayes II
(10:55) Yeah. (10:56) So do you think, so for yourself, it's almost like this, I think we mentioned this at the beginning that when you start getting some of these symptoms and these conditions, that it was almost a blessing because it, it opened your eyes. (11:07) It opened your eyes.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(11:09) Julian, that was a big personal shift for me was, you know, I fear death like anyone else. (11:17) I also witnessed my own mom died of ALS at the age of 63. (11:22) Um, you know, Lou Gehrig's disease, which we now know more and more is related to autoimmunity.
(11:28) And so, you know, at, you know, when I came up with all these mystery symptoms after the birth of my own child, you know, each child, I got worse and worse, you know, and nobody could figure out what it was. (11:39) Nobody could figure out what it was. (11:40) It was just, Oh no, you know, the hair loss, the depression, the fibromyalgia, the pain, um, it was almost embarrassing how little testing and workup was done and how I was ignored and how typical it was for someone like me going through two times of postpartum depression, thyroid issues and pain issues that I was, um, just given what birth control pills, pain pills, right.
(12:05) And antidepressants so typical. (12:09) And so as a result that, you know, it is basically, I call it the three D's of medical gaslighting. (12:16) And I'm not maybe I won't three Dick moves of medical gaslighting didn't delay dismiss.
(12:26) I might deny delay and dismiss those. (12:30) And that's what happened to me. (12:34) And it was devastating because I felt so alone.
(12:37) I had no clue. (12:39) I even had a thyroid issue. (12:40) I had no clue.
(12:41) Even when I went into early menopause at the age of 36, like six years later, that it was related to anything out of me and still no idea. (12:49) I didn't even have an idea. (12:51) And my doctors didn't that during both pregnancies, I had what's called gestational diabetes, which is, you know, diabetes while pregnant related to the hormone shifts.
(13:00) Hey, did you know that's related to autoimmune disease? (13:03) Diabetes is actually autoimmune. (13:05) I didn't know.
(13:07) My colleagues didn't know. (13:08) I had no idea. (13:09) And you know, and so not knowing that, you know, it was just like, oh, diabetes, here's the drugs for it.
(13:14) That's all I learned. (13:16) And no idea was linked to thyroid issues or the early menopause issues or all the chronic pain syndromes that I developed. (13:22) Right.
(13:23) And so it was devastating. (13:24) And for me, I had to hit rock bottom around the age of 36, where, you know, I lost my job. (13:34) I lost my job.
(13:35) I lost my marriage and I nearly lost my life. (13:39) But I feel like sometimes we have to hit rock bottom to be able to say, well, there's nothing I can do that wouldn't be just up. (13:47) Right.
(13:48) I mean, it was I mean, it was one of the times where I really went on my knees and I was like, you know, there's nothing humanly possible more that I can do to fix the situation. (13:58) Show me the way. (13:59) Show me something different.
(14:01) And I had to think with all my empty smarts and all the openness and curiosity that I have, I can learn all these other ways. (14:08) Right. (14:09) There has to be something different.
(14:10) There has to be other answers. (14:12) This cannot be it. (14:14) And that curiosity led me on a journey to really learn all about what is bioidentical hormones?
(14:20) What is hormone balance? (14:21) What is autoimmunity? (14:22) What is thyroid?
(14:24) Why is it that we as doctors only taught TSH is it? (14:27) And I didn't even get one. (14:29) Right.
(14:30) When I had every symptom on the book. (14:31) Right. (14:32) And why is it that all of these thyroid issues are autoimmune and yet none of the doctors are trained in autoimmunity?
(14:37) Why is autoimmunity only there to get the diagnosis, to qualify people for million dollar drugs? (14:42) And there's no other solutions. (14:44) So these questions, asking better and better questions led me down this all these rabbit trails that really came down to new solutions.
(14:53) And I'm glad now I'm glad. (14:56) And here's what it is. (14:57) And I talk about this with in our programs because we work on reframing the story a lot.
(15:03) I look at my mom and instead of looking at her and saying, I'm so scared I'm going to be my mom. (15:08) Right. (15:08) I looked at her and I'm like, God, I'm so glad my mom took one for the team.
(15:13) My mom took one for the team, meaning that by her getting sick and having to deal with an incurable disease, it got me to be like doing I'm my mother's. (15:28) I'm and so really made me take a good hard look and inspired me to say, what are the things that we can do to prevent autoimmune issues? (15:36) What are we just because your diagnosis is not a death sentence?
(15:39) What can we do to shut it off? (15:41) Can we shut off an attack in autoimmune disease? (15:43) You betcha.
(15:45) Can you prevent yourself and your children from getting an autoimmune disease? (15:48) You betcha. (15:49) And is there a way bigger way to look at hormone balance?
(15:52) And the answer is you must.
Julian Hayes II
(15:56) Yeah. (15:57) And that's that's powerful when you just make that shift. (16:00) And it's it's what I essentially had to do with my dad and then my grandfather as well with diabetes, amputations, all that.
(16:06) It's at first I started off that I'm running away from something and I'm letting fear do it. (16:10) But as much as much more powerful when you make the shift and you're running towards something. (16:15) So I'm running toward optimization that even if I said if it runs in my family, then it stops with me no matter what.
(16:22) And it's just those little shifts like that gives you the personal power back. (16:26) And I went back in in some of your stuff in one of your episodes and you were talking about how you changing your story, change your autoimmune reality. (16:34) And I like that because a lot of times and you hear this a lot, people become their illness.
(16:41) I'm a diabetic. (16:42) I have I have obesity in my family. (16:45) I have chronic fatigue.
(16:47) I have this and that. (16:48) And they become rooted in that identity. (16:50) And to me, energetically, it seems it's harder to change when that is rooted in your identity.
(16:58) What do you think about that?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(16:59) 100 percent. (17:00) I will tell you that one of the biggest work we do is identity work, actually, in our program. (17:05) And people like, hey, you're a medical doctor and you have online medical programs and you're and you are working on identity.
(17:12) I say 100 percent because I'm a doctor and I'm a teacher and I'm working online with people in such an intensive way. (17:21) The identity work is so critical. (17:25) And just even one of the exercises that we do that I'm going to share is an I am statement.
(17:30) We have people in the very first week of working with us create an I am statement. (17:35) OK, and it's three three nouns like like three adjectives. (17:41) I am a vibrant, passionate and living woman.
(17:46) And the rest of us say, yes, you are. (17:51) And the reason and for those you guys, I mean, out there really think about that three adjectives of the identity that you want to be. (17:59) And every morning, just like really say it, I mean it.
(18:02) And at first it feels so damn aspirational. (18:07) But until you say it and you start to mean it and you start to feel it, it doesn't happen. (18:12) So that this exercise alone is telling you that the identity of being a sick person, the identity of being, oh, I'm going to die because my mom's going to die anyway.
(18:24) My mom died young and I'm going to die young. (18:26) I had that identity for years. (18:28) We are man.
(18:29) Our identity is so powerful that it becomes who we are. (18:34) And so you got to be really careful about that. (18:37) You got to be really careful about your identity.
(18:40) And for me, Julian, I had to make that shift instead of I'm part of the churn. (18:46) I'm the good soldier as a doctor and I'm a really sick person destined to die just like my mom. (18:52) I had to switch to I am really a curious, open, bad ass, hardworking individual.
(18:59) And I can figure this out. (19:01) Like when I made that shift, oh my God, like this whole freaking world opened up in alternative medicine for me, where I was like, it can't be just about TSH. (19:11) And I went and I, my first Dr. Datis Kharrazian, I just freaking love him. (19:18) He's a chiropractor and he wrote one of the best books about how scientifically there's so much more to the thyroid than just TSH and how autoimmunity is at the basis of that. (19:30) And I went, I spent an entire weekend and I learned and I absorbed like a sponge and I became open with all of that. (19:36) And so my identity switching to a hungry, curious learner opened me up to signing up for all these different seminars and new people, new mentors, new relationships, and a new way of being this.
(19:48) And as I was learning, I was like, I can order these other labs for the thyroid. (19:52) And I never learned these 10 steps of thyroid conversion and activation. (19:55) I had no idea.
(19:57) Why didn't I learn this in medical school? (19:59) There's a whole world of science out there that you did not learn in medical school, doctors out there. (20:04) And it is so enlightening, empowering, and energizing.
(20:07) And it is the answer. (20:08) There's science behind this. (20:10) So for me, identity work is really critical and it allowed me to become the teacher that I am today.
Julian Hayes II
(20:19) I tell you what, one of the most interesting things is when you, when someone's saying, hey, I did this lab panel and this, these are my labs and they give it to you, right? (20:28) And it's this, it's this very minute thing. (20:31) And they're like, oh, I don't need to do labs.
(20:33) You don't need to order any more for me because I did a full lab workup. (20:36) And you're like, and there's like, there's like this huge difference, right? (20:47) They're like, no, no, no, no.
(20:48) I checked, I checked my blood sugar. (20:50) Everything's fine. (20:50) And you know, I just did my fasting glucose.
(20:52) I was like, where's the A1C, fasting insulin, blah, blah, blah. (20:58) And oh, and so then I have to have the talk of, hey, you know, this is, this is the difference between insurance and blah, blah, blah, blah. (21:04) They're like, oh man.
(21:05) And it's just like a brain blows up in their face. (21:08) So I say that to, let's start diving into autoimmunity and various things around that because there's a lot of different areas that I have in my head. (21:17) So the first one is, I guess, as a foundation, when someone hears autoimmune disease and how, how do you explain that to someone?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(21:25) Yeah. (21:26) Your immune system is in your body, you know, in the cells in your body, you have a very active immune system. (21:32) Uh, and the immune system is there for two major purposes.
(21:36) Well, three, um, one major purpose is to fight germs that are outside your body invaders coming in. (21:41) You say you're a germ, I'm going to kill you. (21:43) It also is a really miraculous job by identifying foreign invaders, like cancer cells in your body and says, you're a cancer cell.
(21:49) You don't belong here. (21:50) I'm going to kill you. (21:51) So what happens is that, that's a healthy immune system working for you. (21:56) In autoimmune disease, your immune system cells start making mistakes and starts looking at your own cells and says, Hey, that thyroid cell, you're a germ, I'm going to kill you. (22:05) And then it starts making more mistakes and says, you know what? (22:07) That thyroid cell makes hormones.
(22:09) That ovary cell makes hormones too. (22:11) And they look kind of alike. (22:12) Now I'm going to start attacking the ovaries.
(22:14) And then it says, you know what? (22:16) Um, by the way, you know, I don't like the way let's say vitiligo, which is the melanin making cells in your skin. (22:21) I don't like that melanin cell looks foreign to me and I'm going to start attacking melanin.
(22:26) Then in vitiligo, people start getting pale patches, but those skin cells are what we call connective tissue cells. (22:34) Guess where else there's connected tissue that kind of looks like your melanin cells, connected tissue cells live in your gut. (22:40) Then people start saying, Oh, why do I have like all these gut symptoms?
(22:43) And why do I have problems swallowing? (22:45) Why is my mouth so dry and don't have saliva? (22:48) Because now the immune system is starting to make a lot of mistakes because if it's mistaking, one part of your body is the germ is starting to make more and more and more mistakes.
(22:58) So an autoimmune disease with, when you have a diagnosis, it's like, Oh, I now have a blood test that shows that one target in your thyroid has antibodies, meaning like armies fighting against it. (23:11) Aha. (23:12) You have one autoimmune disease we can diagnose, right?
(23:16) But here's the problem in the thyroid alone, which is like a little hormone making cell. (23:20) That's the size of a walnut in your neck. (23:23) There's 6,000 different targets of autoimmune attack.
(23:27) And we have less than 10, 11 blood tests for it. (23:31) 11 of the targets what's happened to the other, like 5,988, 88, you know, 89 targets they're not being tested. (23:40) So the problem with autoimmune diseases, it is so prevalent in common.
(23:45) We'll talk about why that is. (23:47) Um, but the number percentage of which we can even diagnose them is astronomically low. (23:53) So then we have a lot of people walking around with symptoms that we don't have the blood tests to even diagnose it.
(24:00) Possibly. (24:00) We can't just look at someone with low thyroid and say, and we don't even have 6,000 targets to test and say, we're going to run now 6,000 blood tests on you to see if you have autoimmune disease with thyroid, which is where watching other signs of is really important. (24:15) Someone understanding, for example, in the thyroid, what are some of the tests that you can look at that's beyond the TSH?
(24:22) What is the story and pattern that's hidden in there? (24:25) What are other pieces of a patient's history? (24:28) Do they already have lupus?
(24:30) Do they already have diabetes? (24:31) And now I could already see functionally, there's a problem with the thyroid. (24:35) Like there's certain steps in that function that's wrong.
(24:38) Now what's the likelihood that thyroid is autoimmune a hundred percent, but who's going to tell you that nobody. (24:44) So that is why autoimmunity is so difficult because it's hard to diagnose and doctors aren't trained to look for other signs and symptoms and correlate it with other organs and other parts of the body that are involved. (24:58) So it's typically multisystemic.
(25:01) Even if you're diagnosed with a thyroid problem, you notice you have other symptoms in other places. (25:06) It's because there are other areas that are also targets of autoimmune attack and you just feel like a crazy unicorn that nobody can solve. (25:15) And to me, it's just a pattern they missed.
Julian Hayes II
(25:19) And so that number I shared at the very beginning of the episode, that's probably an underestimation then when you, when you, cause that's probably, I guarantee you probably when they came out with that number, that's probably diagnosed and not like you're talking about people walking around. (25:32) So it's probably much higher.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(25:33) Boom. (25:34) And there are a lot of people walking around with diagnoses. (25:37) Um, for example, that they have no ideas even linked to autoimmune.
(25:40) So example, people with fibromyalgia, people with diabetes, people with POTS, which is called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome or dysautonomia, uh, that so POTS mass cell activation and histamine intolerance and long haul COVID. (25:58) All of them actually are really new, more up and coming in the last couple of years, mystery illnesses that people have no idea is actually linked to autoimmunity. (26:07) So there's known diagnosis right now that I know is linked with autoimmunity that I can solve people yet doctors and even functional doctors out there have no clue.
(26:17) It's a hidden pattern of autoimmune attack. (26:21) Yeah.
Julian Hayes II
(26:21) You know, so I hear people have the word long COVID a lot. (26:25) And, um, and do you think that was just a, almost just like a, a silent storm that was waiting to brew for certain people that were already susceptible to that?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(26:36) You're so smart. (26:37) It's like you did your research Gym bros. (26:40) I love this question.
(26:43) Um, yeah. (26:44) So what we know of autoimmunity is that there's genetic predisposition. (26:48) It runs in families, right?
(26:51) And then there are triggers that come environmentally that then turns the gene on. (26:57) That is so smart. (26:59) So that's a great question.
(27:00) And what we find is certain infections are what we call super infections. (27:05) So we already know your immune system sees an infection. (27:08) It's already want to go deal with it, right?
(27:09) But certain super infections likes to incorporate into your own cells, into your body. (27:14) And then your body starts to look at that incorporated incorporation of that DNA, viral DNA and genome body. (27:20) And it says, I don't like this.
(27:21) And it really triggers autoimmune diseases. (27:24) So when you look at Lyme disease, right, that's one that's from, you know, a tick bite, uh, Lyme disease is known to trigger a ton of autoimmune diseases and symptoms and mystery illnesses. (27:34) You look at Epstein Barr, uh, mono can do that as well.
(27:38) You look at also, um, now COVID is a class because so many people have it. (27:43) And so many people have long haul. (27:45) It's another one in that super infection classic that is now a known trigger of autoimmune disease for previously susceptible individuals, which is why I'm just going to tell you something.
(27:56) Why do diabetics die the most from COVID because diabetes, diabetes, autoimmune disease.
Julian Hayes II
(28:07) And, um, I, and I think at times when people talked about diabetes, correct me if I'm wrong, people would only say it's type one that's because that's the, that's the one where, uh, the pancreas is not essentially doing its job.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(28:20) Whereas there's a lot of arguments around that where people say type one, because it's insulin dependent. (28:25) And sometimes from birth people say, Oh, that's purely genetic, right? (28:27) And then people, some people will say, well, type two is actually the one that's more likely to be autoimmune because it turns on triggered on later in life.
(28:34) It's not a back and forth about it. (28:36) I don't even get into it in this sense, because for me, whether someone has type one or whether someone has type two, to me already clearly is like this red flag to me that there's all sorts of autoimmune other stuff going on. (28:48) So I equally work with type one and type two individuals with tons of other mystery symptoms.
(28:53) It's the, it, to me, their risk and predisposition to it is the same. (29:00) Yeah.
Julian Hayes II
(29:00) And I like that approach anyway, because if you think about it a lot of times, just like you were talking about with the thyroid, a lot of times the old approaches to look at these things as in their silos, like, we're just going to focus on the thyroid. (29:11) Like there's nothing else in the body or in our entire system that is connected to the thyroid. (29:16) And like, if I'm just going to look at diabetes, I'm not going to look at anything else.
(29:20) That doesn't make sense to me because everything's interconnected. (29:24) And so it seems that way.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(29:27) It is. (29:28) And the other piece is we didn't even touch hormones. (29:30) And you had said something about who in your family, how many people in your family have diabetes, Julian?
Julian Hayes II
(29:35) Let's see my dad's side. (29:37) So let's see. (29:37) It was my dad.
(29:38) It's let's see on my dad's side. (29:40) It's dad. (29:41) It was my dad, grandfather, probably grandmother.
(29:45) Okay. (29:46) So yeah. (29:47) So for me, I went down a rabbit hole and I liked, I like to see what was, we all have something that, that is that we're most susceptible to some people, some people's cognitive, some people vascular, et cetera, et cetera.
(30:01) So for me, this was clearly to think was for that. (30:04) And even I did genetics and all that, that indicated it as well. (30:07) So I was like, cool, that's just, I'm just going to tailor my life and et cetera to that.
(30:11) Right.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(30:11) As if I am predisposed to all this.
Julian Hayes II
(30:15) Yeah. (30:15) But you know, and, but the cool thing is just because you even have the genes for it doesn't mean it's actually going to express itself. (30:21) You have to do something to make it express and live a certain type of way.
(30:25) And so that that's honestly what really gave me the sense of power. (30:29) And ironically, I learned all this after I left medical school, I still wanted to keep learning and stuff obviously for the job and everything. (30:36) But I just got curious.
(30:38) There was a, you know, you take genetics in medical school, but it's not nearly this cool of like epigenetics and stuff. (30:43) Right. (30:44) We're talking, you know, we're not, we're talking nothing like that.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(30:47) Can I tell you a hidden pattern I see in your family and in you right now, that's gonna, I would think help everybody listening to this to see what I see. (30:57) Cause I see patterns, right? (30:58) Are you ready?
Julian Hayes II
(30:59) Let's do it.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(31:00) Okay. (31:01) So there's so much in what he just said, giving me that information. (31:05) What I see is this.
(31:06) I see that. (31:07) So it answers the question, for example, like why do women get more autoimmune diseases than men? (31:14) And I'm going to tell you that autoimmunity and the female gene is very tightly linked.
(31:20) Okay. (31:21) It's very tightly linked. (31:22) So my own, in my own experience, what I found is if a mother has an auto, if a mother or father have an autoimmune disease, especially if the mother does the likelihood, a daughter is going to have any autoimmune disease would be about 90%.
(31:37) In my experience, if it's a son, it's about 50%. (31:41) Okay. (31:42) Interestingly, it does pass less to a male.
(31:45) Now here's the other thing that's so cool genetics. (31:48) Okay. (31:48) I have discovered that there is a huge hormonal link with autoimmune autoimmune diseases.
(31:54) So certain types of hormone patterns is actually linked with people with autoimmune disease. (32:00) So it's really, and then there's a, when you think about that too, there's also a ethnic link to this as well. (32:06) So I've done so much work with hormones and hormone balancing.
(32:09) I mean, a huge part of our programs is around hormone balancing and teaching people this. (32:14) So I can tell you a couple of things right now is, is that the fact that the diabetes genes run in your family, right? (32:19) And some of the men and women in your family, it will, it basically the women in your family are really prone to a specific two types of hormone patterns.
(32:29) So the women in your family likely have either polycystic ovarian syndrome or, and usually both estrogen dominance. (32:38) So it's really interesting is where I can actually look at somebody and I can look at their hormones doing functional labs, see the pattern. (32:45) And I already know all sorts of stuff going on with their autoimmunity and their family history.
(32:49) You can predict it. (32:51) So we can actually use functional hormonal labs to be predictive of knowing somebody's autoimmune risk. (32:58) I can do this with a man also.
(33:00) Right. (33:01) So I'll give you a classic example. (33:03) Um, I have these diabetic, so diabetes and Hashimoto's, so I'm going to tell you, okay, are you guys ready for this? (33:10) Here's the thing. (33:11) Okay. (33:12) So I just told you guys in the very beginning, if you have an autoimmune disease against your thyroid, let's say Hashimoto's or Graves, we have an identical, identifiable, viable target of autoimmune attack.
(33:23) Those are hormone making cells. (33:25) Now, if your immune system says hormone making cell thyroid, I don't like it. (33:28) I'm going to kill you.
(33:29) Do you think, what do you think it's like? (33:32) It's going to look at your testicular hormone making cells or your ovary making cells, adrenals making cells, or your pancreas that makes the hormone insulin cells as a germ. (33:48) So there's such a correlation here in the connection that there is a diabetes or prediabetes.
(33:54) There is a thyroid. (33:56) And now there's certain hormone patterns that are all literally a pattern of autoimmune disease and pre autoimmune disease that I see that can be predictive. (34:06) And curative, right?
(34:08) So I look at hormone patterns and I'm like, I see things, you know, like in the sixth sense, he's like, I see dead people. (34:14) Well, I look at a hormone pattern and I'm like, I know you, like I know a good melon. (34:19) So a classic example, Julian, for someone in your family would be a guy in the family where he would have, for example, symptoms of like depression, anxiety, or even ADD and told his thyroid is fine.
(34:33) Years and years go by other symptoms of here, right? (34:36) Just a brain fog and other symptoms, maybe forties, fifties. (34:39) And then lo and behold, you work with me and I look at the hormone pattern and for like a 45 year old would have hormone levels are like in the shitter, like literally like an 86 year old.
(34:51) And first of all, most of them wouldn't have even tested that dude's hormones. (34:54) Secondly, they might've only tested his testosterone, just threw him on a testosterone mill, which is what mostly happens out there. (35:00) But I'm looking at this pattern.
(35:02) I'm like, why is he low? (35:04) Everything as a 40 year old, there's no reason he should be low everything unless there's an autoimmune attack attacking it. (35:12) Then I'm going to say, where's this thyroid labs, right?
(35:15) Then we run all the thyroid labs and we look at it functionally. (35:18) And I'm like, Oh my gosh, actually this man has hidden Hashimoto's and autoimmune attacking his thyroid. (35:25) That was not discovered yet.
(35:27) Or some other form of autoimmune disease of the thyroid that's discovered. (35:31) And so it's interesting to me is that, and then the solution really laid in, wow, there's an underlying autoimmune issue that's followed this man in his genetics, but also in his labs that are hidden that he didn't know about. (35:44) Could we intervene in this 45 year old man right now and say, can we stop the autoimmune attack?
(35:49) Number one? (35:50) Yes. (35:50) The answer is yes.
(35:52) Number two, can we deal with this hormone problem to help him make more hormones instead of just smashing him with a shit ton of testosterone? (35:58) Yes, we can. (36:00) And can we now deal with that thyroid issue so that within a week, his brain fog is gone.
(36:04) His energy is back and he starts to lose weight because he has undiagnosed hypothyroidism. (36:09) That's autoimmune. (36:09) The answer is hell yes.
(36:12) And this is what happens every day.
Julian Hayes II
(36:15) So when we're looking at the thyroid, some people will see, so we mentioned TSH. (36:19) Now there's a T3 and T4 because one's inactive, one's active. (36:23) Do you put equal weight on all of those?
(36:26) Or would you say one is a bigger predictive of kind of the overall state of the thyroid?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(36:31) Each lab tells you a different story, tells you where it's broken, and tells you where you can intervene. (36:37) So it's not about what, that's the problem. (36:39) People look at T4 and T3, TSH, some of these other labs, and they think, oh my god, based on this, we're going to, this is the band aid.
(36:46) Based on this, this is the solution. (36:48) To me, I actually, in our program, in our thyroid program, we actually go through and we're like, what does each step tell you? (36:56) What does each lab tell you?
(36:57) How does that step tell you which step is actually broken around the thyroid, going from the brain all the way to the thyroid, to hormones being made, to them being converted and activated? (37:07) All these steps. (37:08) I make sure that every individual working with me can look at that lab, let's say three, four labs together.
(37:14) No, let's say five, six labs together and just say, there's a pattern right there. (37:18) And I know which place is broken and I know how to fix it. (37:21) That to me is more important is what's the story.
(37:25) So when you say, what weight do I give to it? (37:27) I give them equal weight because they're telling me different information. (37:32) Because for example, a total T4 would tell me what's going on with your actual thyroid production.
(37:41) And then a T3, not just a T3, but a free T3 tells me what the conversion activation is of that T4 to the free T3. (37:52) So all the activation steps here that I'm thinking about, the difference between this number, the production and the actual activation of it, tells me what steps in between are broken there. (38:03) There's a lot of story here.
(38:05) So then it also gives you, now how many tools do I have to fix this problem? (38:10) Should I just give this guy T3 or why is that conversion pressed up there broken? (38:15) And what is that related with?
(38:17) Food allergies and food sensitivities, bad digestion. (38:22) Now you figure out digestion is related to how much active thyroid hormone you have.
Julian Hayes II
(38:29) In what ways? (38:30) I'm sure that's a shock to people when they hear digestion in that.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(38:34) Yeah. (38:35) So there's actually bacteria, good bacteria in your large intestine that actually takes these hormones and hormone breakdown products, and it converts them further, brings them out. (38:47) So the intestinal cells, the gut cells actually have a role in further converting these thyroid hormones and taking breakdown products and getting them down to other active...
(38:59) There's steps in hormones. (39:00) When we look at biochemistry, we look at like this mother hormone, and then there's hormones that don't actually have activity in themselves, but they're like the substrate to turn into other hormones. (39:12) And each hormone step that breaks down, for example, has different characteristics and activation level and toxicity levels.
(39:20) So these steps happen, and can happen in the liver, it can happen in the gut. (39:27) And then the gut bacteria also plays a role into it. (39:30) So digestion involves your gut cells, your liver, and the bacteria in your gut.
(39:36) The gut bacteria, for example, does fermentation. (39:41) Fermentation is part of digestion. (39:43) And that fermentation process also helps break down hormones and toxins as well.
(39:49) So how critical do you think it is to properly digest your food each step so that the bacteria at the end gets the substrate it needs to properly break down hormones and toxins and take them out? (40:00) And how much would that play a role in the balance of not just your thyroid hormones, but let's say your ovarian hormones or testicular hormones? (40:08) It's like mind-blowing how digestion really holds the key, one of the keys to hormone balance, no matter which hormone it is that we're talking about.
Julian Hayes II
(40:20) It's interesting. (40:21) It's very interesting. (40:23) Something else that's connected with these two probably, and people talk about a lot, and you hear about a lot is chronic fatigue, chronic fatigue.
(40:30) And so that's a very ubiquitous term that can mean so many different things when someone says I'm suffering from chronic fatigue, that a lot of times I like to hear, tell me more, but what's your definition of chronic fatigue?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(40:44) Before we go into that question, though, I want to close the loop on the digestion, and that's it. (40:49) I want to say that I don't know any MD or functional MD or naturopathic physician that focuses as much on digestion as I do for a reason. (40:59) And I'm just going to point out in the book, Eight Out of the Box Ways to Transform Your Health, right? (41:06) One of the first medical lessons right after leading with curiosity is digestion, the first domino. (41:13) And I want you guys to like, go to eightoutofthebox.com, get the book, right? (41:17) But the first chapter on digestion, the first domino, I lay out every single step in digestion and how it's linked to everything else.
(41:25) So like if you really want to do more of a deep dive in this and how I put things together, that chapter is a must read, which is digestion, the first domino.
Julian Hayes II
(41:32) Yeah. (41:33) I will also say, speaking of digestion, it's something that I gave much more precedence to, and it sounds very basic what I'm about to say, but for some reason, I just always wanted to skip over this. (41:44) Take a lot of supplements, peptides, et cetera.
(41:47) Eat a lot of protein and everything. (41:49) And lately it was just like, how good's your digestion? (41:54) It doesn't matter how much you're taking in if you're not properly utilizing it.
(41:59) So maybe you should focus on your gut.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(42:00) And I was like- This is going to tie into chronic fatigue, by the way.
Julian Hayes II
(42:04) Mm-hmm. (42:05) And I was like, that makes a lot of sense. (42:08) And I did that and I noticed a lot of different things start performing and improving across the board in terms of my performance, from my running, from my lifting, from bloating, even eating a lot of food, my mental acuity.
(42:24) And you still take those supplements, but they're actually being utilized now and assimilated. (42:28) And so I just think a lot of times we can get really enamored with some of these fancy biohacks and supplements and stuff, which are useful, but we really have to focus on, like you said, and I'm glad you mentioned that and came back to it, that you really start with this digestion area. (42:44) Because I think our guts are essentially, and that whole area is under attack with a lot of different environmental factors.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(42:51) Well, and genetically coming in broken as well. (42:54) We genetically come in, just like the genetic predisposition for autoimmune disease, we come in genetically with certain digestive steps broken. (43:01) That's why some babies have colic.
(43:03) That's why these kids have a lot of gut problems and focus problems and other things, is it starts as a digestion problem. (43:09) It is the first domino. (43:11) And basic digestion explanation, your digestion, every step is there to take big pieces of food and break them down into tiny, tiny, tiny, tinier pieces.
(43:20) And when food is really small, it's down to its smallest basic unit, it's highly absorbable and low allergy. (43:28) Now, if we came in with steps broken and more steps can even get broken over time, more severity by some of the drugs we take, some of the surgeries we do, just so you know, what we find is people are having more and more bigger pieces of food undigested in their body, which raises our allergy load, right? (43:48) Which then causes what?
(43:50) It irritates the hell out of your immune system. (43:53) This is one of the underlying causes of more autoimmune diseases. (43:58) I want to go back to this, is that tons of food allergens in here and big pieces that are undigested.
(44:06) People have more and more and more allergies. (44:09) This is why mass cell activation syndrome and histamine intolerance is at an epidemic rise. (44:15) It's because nobody understands that digestion is the root reason.
(44:19) And then number two, they are increasing the amount of food allergies that we're allergic to, but people don't believe, doctors don't believe that's real. (44:27) And there is an accurate way to actually test exactly which foods you're actually intolerant to or you're reacting to. (44:34) There is, which is what we do.
(44:37) And number two is, is that when you have all these big pieces of food, you have a high allergy, you have what we call high histamines, your cells send histamines. (44:46) Then this environment is swollen and leaky. (44:50) You know, like when you have allergies and your nose gets all runny, right?
(44:53) It's happening in your gut. (44:55) And as a result, you ain't absorbing jack. (45:00) And this goes back to what Julian was saying, was you can take all these expensive supplements and eat these really healthy foods.
(45:07) But what you don't realize is you don't know what foods you're actually sensitive to. (45:11) Your digestion may suck and the foods are really a big molecules. (45:15) And you may have a high histamine state in this area where all these expensive supplements and food isn't even absorbed and you go into a very nutrient deficient state, which is what I found.
(45:25) And that's why people really have these chronic fatigue syndromes. (45:28) That seems unsolvable. (45:30) Because who the hell thought it was a digestion problem or a food allergy problem?
Julian Hayes II
(45:35) I did most people. (45:36) Yeah, me neither. (45:37) Most people I believe when they think of chronic fatigue, the first area they want to go to is usually the thyroid, I believe.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(45:45) Hormones.
Julian Hayes II
(45:45) Yeah.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(45:46) You're fine.
Julian Hayes II
(45:48) Right?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(45:48) Right. (45:49) They might get a CBC, your blood counts fine, you're not anemic, totally inadequate. (45:53) You are you are really low in a lot of things.
(45:55) They get maybe a cup, they don't get any vitamins, and they don't realize that any of the vitamin testing that they do is not even functionally telling them what's inside their cells. (46:04) It's what's floating around in their blood.
Julian Hayes II
(46:06) Right?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(46:07) So people are getting the chronic fatigue work up, which is really like five or six labs that don't tell you jack, and then they're told your labs are fine. (46:17) Maybe go see a therapist. (46:19) You know, take a multi, you know, lose some weight.
(46:23) We doctors have no clue how to evaluate chronic fatigue syndrome. (46:27) And it's multiple layers of causes. (46:30) What I have found is one of the major causes of chronic fatigue syndrome, absolutely, it could be thyroid, it could be hormonal.
(46:36) But I would say right up there, number one on top is broken digestion, digestive system, lots of food allergies and sensitivities, right? (46:44) And a completely inability to absorb any of the nutrients from the food and supplements and medications you're taking. (46:50) Boom, right there.
(46:52) Two problems, both are big.
Julian Hayes II
(46:54) Yeah, that's, that's a big one. (46:56) And I hope people really tune that in with the chronic fatigue thing that you just talked about right there. (47:02) I'm going to move on to one of the other ones.
(47:04) And when we first got connected, we were talking about metabolic syndrome. (47:08) And we were talking about PCOS. (47:10) And, and you remember what you said about PCOS?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(47:14) I don't remember what I said, because I say a lot of things, but I will say that it's going to link back to your family history.
Julian Hayes II
(47:20) Yes, yes.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(47:21) Back to your family history.
Julian Hayes II
(47:22) Okay, PCOS is the same thing as metabolic syndrome in men.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(47:27) Boom. (47:28) Yeah, that was the thing. (47:30) That's what people don't realize is that PCOS is the manifestation of metabolic disease in women, which is PCOS is polycystic ovarian syndrome.
(47:39) Very misunderstood by doctors. (47:41) They think it means you have a lot of cysts in your ovaries. (47:44) Well, 90% of women with PCOS, it's, it's misnamed, actually.
(47:49) It's actually insulin and testosterone sensitivity with a hell of a lot of digestive issues. (47:55) I mean, there's, but the fact that it's called PCOS, people think that it's just a woman thing. (48:01) It's the manifestation of metabolic syndrome in women, because what we know for a fact is women with PCOS have much higher rates of diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, right?
(48:11) And what do we know about metabolic syndrome in men? (48:14) Same thing. (48:15) Metabolic syndrome means that there's a tolerability issue with a lot of blood sugar issues, right?
(48:20) And with high cholesterol, heart attack, stroke, cholesterol, right? (48:24) Insulin sensitivity, blood sugar issues, right? (48:27) And believe it or not, now I'm going to blow your mind, everybody.
(48:31) All right. (48:31) PCOS and metabolic syndrome in men puts you at way higher risk of autoimmune disease. (48:40) And because what it tells me is that these, both of these groups of people have their hormonal axis completely screwed up and out of control.
(48:48) And this group of people have a genetic predisposition. (48:52) And the rate of these people getting autoimmune disease or having actual current autoimmune disease astronomically high.
Julian Hayes II
(48:59) Does it, you know, so with that case, what does it determine by genetics and environmental influences as which autoimmune issue is going to flare up and manifest from the initial metabolic syndrome issues?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(49:11) Yeah, because what metabolic syndrome is, is MPS polycystic ovarian syndrome is years of those issues, not being recognized as a pattern or addressed the doctor and the patient is not aware of it. (49:22) So we think like a lot of people tell you lose weight, right? (49:26) Um, lose weight, you're gaining weight, lose weight.
(49:28) And then a lot of people will just go in a calorie caloric restriction, not thinking about, right. (49:32) The different types of food, the, what proportion of what type of food matters, like for these groups of individual eating higher fat and higher protein is critical and having a lower carbohydrate diet. (49:45) That's very, that's has complex carbohydrates.
(49:47) It's really important because what happens, but we tell people to just lose weight. (49:51) And most people lose weight by going into caloric restriction, which typically means when you count calories, a lot of people don't think a lot of people still maintain a moderate or high carb diet. (50:02) That's just low in calories.
(50:03) And that could be actually horrible for someone with PCOS and metabolic syndrome. (50:09) So it's really important for people to understand these bigger issues to say, here's what you have. (50:15) And it matches what I talk to people with autoimmune disease is, which is that carbs like simple carbohydrate and high and low blood sugar swings is the underlying trigger of autoimmune disease.
(50:28) By the way, number three, high and low blood sugar swings is one of the biggest trigger of autoimmune disease. (50:35) And that's why I chaptered in here is about why blood mass sugar mastery is important because people just think if I'm not a diabetic, I'm fine. (50:44) And this is going to, this is going to come in Julian, which is people with PCOS metabolic syndrome.
(50:50) Don't just have a problem with high blood sugar. (50:53) You know, what's even a bigger problem is when the high sugar swings to the low, low swings to the high, it's this Delta of the high to low and low to high. (51:02) They have a really big Delta.
(51:04) Imagine a normal individual. (51:05) Their blood sugar is like this person, PCOS people, people with autoimmune disease, big swings. (51:13) And the swings of this, right.
(51:16) Is also not just the foods you eat. (51:19) It's managed by the hormones that manage blood sugar, which is insulin and glucagon, right? (51:26) So now we're adding in a hormone layer.
(51:29) If your hormones are also out of whack in other places, how do you think your sugars are swinging like this all day long? (51:36) And that's a major trigger of upturns on autoimmune flares, turns on pots, turns on mass cell, turns on chronic fatigue, like crazy.
Julian Hayes II
(51:47) I'm going to move on to another one as well, because I want to hit, I want to do like this is like a greatest hits. (51:52) Maybe we'll stay with some songs longer than others. (51:57) You mentioned at the beginning, and I this is top of mind as well, because I wrote an article on this, not from a medical standpoint, but more from a business workplace issue.
(52:06) It was talking about fertility. (52:08) And I saw that fertility rates were the lowest as in a century. (52:13) And the article, the one I saw and kind of worked off of, a lot of it was painted toward just career aspirations with women changing and that kind of thing.
(52:23) I was like, that makes no sense. (52:26) I was like, I was like, yeah, yeah.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(52:30) Yeah.
Julian Hayes II
(52:33) And so one of my things was also talking about it's like, hey, you know, there's a fertility health thing going on as well. (52:40) Now, of course, when you're writing for a business publication, you're not going to get in the weeds here like we're about to, but that is the issue. (52:46) And so I have my theories on why issues are happening.
(52:51) Why do you think we're seeing, you know, I think you mentioned yourself postpartum struggles initially, and also just the fertility issue. (53:00) What's your stake and opinion in this?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(53:04) Well, I'm going to ask the audience to think about this. (53:07) Do you guys know what the actual number one cause of infertility is for men and women? (53:16) It's autoimmune.
(53:18) It's autoimmune. (53:20) And this is how I got into working with tons of couples with infertility was that because I'm a hormone expert, I'm an autoimmune expert, you know, I'm a mystery illness expert, right? (53:31) People will come to me with these mystery illnesses, and they also happen to be infertile at an extremely high rate.
(53:38) So miscarriages are also, when you think about miscarriages, one of the number one reasons why there's miscarriages is underlying autoimmune issues of the immune system attacking the hormones of the mother, or even the baby, or the baby having autoimmune issues attacking itself, genetic abnormalities that are linked with higher risk in individuals with autoimmune families. (54:02) So autoimmune is one of the major reasons why, and hidden autoimmune. (54:08) And the reason that people don't make that connection is because autoimmune is so hidden.
(54:13) And the younger an individual is, the least, less likely you're going to see some end stage diagnosable pinpointable symptom that you can say, let's go do that test. (54:24) So in these young fertile individuals, that should be fertile individuals of childbearing age, we're missing all the patterns and symptoms. (54:32) And what I find really cool is, so going back to PCOS, I we work with, let's say it's we have Emma working with, we've I've worked with her for a couple months with POTS, right?
(54:43) 23 year old who wants to have children someday, right? (54:46) But like, when you look at something like this, right? (54:48) And no one's bothered to look at her full thyroid panel, no one's bothered to look at her full hormone panel, or her functional lab panel or her digestion to be like, Oh, my God, the reason she has POTS is she's an underlying autoimmune should show, right?
(55:02) And you know, she went from walking with a cane to two months later, the cane is gone. (55:07) Like from 19 to 23, walking with a cane, because you're so out of balance to two months later, cane is gone. (55:13) But what I'm trying to say is, I saw patterns in hormones all over the like, she like talked about PCOS.
(55:21) Why are we missing the clues of diagnosing polycystic ovarian syndrome, estrogen dominance, low everything? (55:30) Why are we there's these patterns that I talk about in the book, where I teach lay people and gym boys alike that these are patterns that doctors would never look at. (55:40) But they are the preventable causes of infertility.
(55:46) They're the preventable predictors and treatable causes of infertility. (55:51) Right? (55:51) Emma don't have to show up to me at 34 telling me she can't have kids because it's not going to happen to Emma.
(55:56) Because we saw those patterns everywhere and all these labs in our assessment, and we educated her about it.
Julian Hayes II
(56:02) Yeah, because I always just asked a question. (56:05) You know, my grandmother, I think she had her last kid at in their 50s. (56:09) And this was a common thing years ago.
(56:12) Yeah, that's not saying people need to go do that now. (56:14) But I'm just saying, why was it a possibility then and we're supposed to be more modern and all this stuff now, but it's more of a struggle now than what it was then. (56:22) And so obviously something's going on.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(56:25) Well, the rate of autoimmune disease is going up. (56:29) So your grandmother in her generation literally had a lower rate of autoimmune disease turning on. (56:36) And we're now in a situation where autoimmune disease is turning on crazy ass high.
(56:41) Because we have worsening and worsening digestion. (56:44) Like think about this. (56:46) Because we what's the number one drug you're going to be prescribed when you have heartburn that everybody on the planet has taken.
(56:53) Like these acid stoppers, like the Zantac, the Prilosec, you know, and they're all over the counter combined by the bucket load from Costco, right? (57:01) People are self treating. (57:02) I have heartburn, I'm going to take this.
(57:04) Our drugs are actually, there's totally a misunderstanding that heartburn is related to high stomach acid. (57:10) It's actually the opposite. (57:11) Heartburn happens in individuals with low stomach acid.
(57:16) And so what we do is we give them a drug that temporary stop symptoms and say, we're going to turn off your stomach acid. (57:21) Literally stop the most important first step of digestion. (57:25) Temporarily helping some of these symptoms.
(57:27) But now we just created a shit storm because now the first step now is going to cascade and make all these other steps worse. (57:34) What if you also had a fat digestion problem downstream? (57:36) Now all this food undigested from no acid is going to hit the fat digestion problem.
(57:43) And then now what kind of crap is going to hit the gut bacteria at the end with the fermentation, right? (57:47) The drugs we're giving people to treat our gut indigestion is actually turning on more food allergies, more digestion problems, and it's triggering literally a epidemic of autoimmune diseases. (58:03) So every individual that's infertile, I can tell you right now has some steps in digestion broken, has taken these medication in the past or longterm, right?
(58:10) Every single one of these individuals who are infertile, I can tell you hormone problems are even more now. (58:18) And the reason hormone problems are even more now is number one is we're living longer. (58:23) But number two is our environmental exposure to hormone disruptors is crazy.
(58:29) The plastics, the toxins, modern technology. (58:33) We have more rates of polycystic ovarian syndrome and hormonal abnormality than your grandmother did.
Julian Hayes II
(58:40) Makes no sense.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(58:42) Well, girls menstruate now at like age of nine and 10. (58:45) At your grandmother's time, they were like 12 and 13.
Julian Hayes II
(58:48) That's wild. (58:50) That's wild. (58:51) I mean, same thing for boys.
(58:52) Boys, boys are, I mean, boys are hitting puberty, right? (58:55) Much earlier. (58:56) Yeah.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(58:57) Right. (58:59) Right. (58:59) There you go.
(59:01) So the environment has really changed. (59:03) The genetics hasn't, the environmental triggers have really changed and the drugs we're giving our people to have really increased the rate of these infertility and autoimmune diseases astronomically. (59:15) Yeah.
Julian Hayes II
(59:16) That's wild.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(59:17) But this is also why I'm called the baby whisperer.
Julian Hayes II
(59:20) The baby whisperer. (59:21) I like that name.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(59:22) I am the baby whisperer because I mean, I love, love, love the fact that the work that we do in all these areas, help couples fix the underlying issue, whether you're a man or a woman so you can get pregnant. (59:34) So we're right now on our ninth transformed baby, you know, from people that are infertile, you know, and I just, and I am just thrilled thinking about how many like teenagers and children and young adults that we work with are going to be able to get pregnant and never have to even think that they're infertile. (59:53) Right.
(59:53) So that makes, that thrills me. (59:55) I love being the baby whisperer.
Julian Hayes II
(59:56) That's the best nickname. (59:58) That's the best nickname out of the many is the baby whisperer. (1:00:01) I love that.
(1:00:02) And so now we're going to shift to a little bit of longevity now. (1:00:06) And so one of the things, and we talked about this a little bit when we first got connected and I pretty much said my philosophy, some of my friends as well, is that when we think about things is that it's not just about living longer. (1:00:17) It's about being able to just really push yourself.
(1:00:19) And so I said, what's the most that I can push my body to the edge without sacrificing my longevity? (1:00:24) That's pretty much one of my guiding North stars when it comes to just health and philosophy and life in general. (1:00:34) And so if someone comes to you like that and they're like, and they're maybe an entrepreneur, business leader, someone very ambitious, and they're like, there's just a huge go getter, but they're interested in longevity as well.
(1:00:47) How do you start to guide them?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:00:51) Yeah. (1:00:52) Um, which is why for me, like, like I put those things right in here and I, I'm like a bullet point person, just so you guys know, as an entrepreneur myself, previously diagnosed with ADD, ADHD, I'm just letting you know, I love bullet points. (1:01:06) And so at the end of each chapter of the book, I have action steps to say, this is what you do.
(1:01:10) If you don't even read the chapter and you just go to the action step, this is what you do. (1:01:13) Okay. (1:01:14) Which is why I love it.
(1:01:15) But what, one of the things that you're like, what are some of the things to do? (1:01:18) Number one is, I think for me is if there's nothing else, like we, we spend a lot of time on digestion, but like, if you don't want to learn anything about it, I think one step is we have a product called digest it and does exactly what it does, that it covers every step of a digestion with the lowest number of ingredients, which I don't see out in the market. (1:01:38) And because we deal with people who have a lot of allergies and food allergies, and even supplement allergies, you want something that does every step without triggering all these allergic reactions with a minimal number of ingredients.
(1:01:49) So if nothing else, um, from our store, it's my MD shop.com is get digested, take one with small meals and two with big meals to start with and read the chapter of, um, digestion, the first domino. (1:02:03) So if you wanted to, um, take the digestive enzyme that covers every single step in digestion, like digested and make sure to have the lowest number of ingredients, one with small meals to a big meals. (1:02:13) Number one, step one, number two, eat fat, eat fat, eat healthy fats.
(1:02:22) And that is to me, the biggest travesty as a medical community, American Heart Association ever did to create more sickness and illness. (1:02:33) Uh, I think that, um, fat has been maligned and I think it's really important to consume a higher fat, at least 30%, at least 30% of healthy fat in your diet. (1:02:46) And the reason that is, is that fat is the precursor to make hormones.
(1:02:52) Number one, right? (1:02:54) Number two, that fat grounds sugar. (1:02:57) And remember I said high and low blood sugar swings is one of the reasons that turns on autoimmune disease, infertility, whatever issues go on.
(1:03:04) Like man, if all you entrepreneurs out there, how many of you are ADD, ADHD? (1:03:09) Yeah. (1:03:09) Okay.
(1:03:10) Um, you know, and so I would say that the number one thing I can say is if you change your diet to be higher in fat and lower in carbohydrates, especially simple carbohydrate and all the carbohydrate you eat is fruit or vegetables, complex carbohydrates, right? (1:03:27) Um, you will be hugely beneficial in longevity. (1:03:32) Uh, and it would address at least 50% of your symptoms if you just did those two things.
(1:03:38) And it sounds so simple, but it relates to everything we just talked about, right? (1:03:43) And what you find is when you lead with those two things, that's called leading with curiosity, curiously, do nothing else. (1:03:51) Just out of curiosity, do those two things for me.
(1:03:53) And then see what your body does with it, because then it's going to lead you to some interesting questions because as you take the digestive enzymes and you start to see certain things improve and other things don't let, and you're going to think, do I have food sensitivities I need to deal with? (1:04:07) Right? (1:04:08) That's the next line.
(1:04:09) Next line is, do I have food sensitivities I need to deal with? (1:04:12) And the likely answer is hell yes. (1:04:15) And there's going to be a minefield.
(1:04:18) And there's a chapter in the book called food mapping where I talk about, don't just go to anybody and for some food sensitivity tests, because they truly suck out there. (1:04:26) And I had to create a system called food mapping. (1:04:28) People next step, really think about what food mapping is.
(1:04:32) Do I need to map my food to know which foods is actually triggering all of this stuff? (1:04:37) And some are. (1:04:38) And then next up, hormones.
(1:04:40) Really importantly is think about what can I do to get a thorough hormone evaluation, working with either educating myself to understand it or with providers who truly understand it. (1:04:50) And don't take your hormones are normal, or I'm not going to test your hormones as a answer. (1:04:56) That is non-negotiable for me.
(1:04:57) Someone said, I won't test your hormones. (1:04:59) You go get it tested yourself. (1:05:00) I talk about how to do that in the book as well in the hormone chapter.
(1:05:04) And learn that yourself. (1:05:06) So I think there's a pathway to longevity, but it starts with digestion and it starts with more fats, eating a higher fat, healthy fat diet.
Julian Hayes II
(1:05:15) Yeah. (1:05:16) That's a huge point that you made about the dietary fats that, um, that people often overlooked. (1:05:22) Definitely, definitely, definitely overlooked.
(1:05:24) And just how important that is to our hormonal health. (1:05:27) And, you know, ironically, um, this is one of the first lessons when I first got involved with weightlifting and training is the guys was like, never go below. (1:05:36) I think his was 25 or something like that.
(1:05:38) He's like, never go below 25 for you. (1:05:40) I I'm more 30 myself personally.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:05:42) Yeah. (1:05:43) With your family history should be at least with your family history. (1:05:46) I'm just letting you know.
Julian Hayes II
(1:05:47) Yeah, I actually, I actually operate better 30, 35 because I can still get a lot of carbohydrates in as well. (1:05:53) But, um, but yeah, so I did that and, um, he was just like, yeah, just don't do that. (1:05:57) And so once again, you go to, um, unfortunately not to, not to pick on my fellow doctors, friends, because I have a lot of doctors, you know, not to pick on them, but, uh, you know, the, um, the nutrition is a little different in terms of fats compared to them.
(1:06:13) That was one of the crazy lessons when I went to class that day, that brief module before class started, the physiology professor was talking and he's like, I'm eating like five or six eggs and some rice.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:06:24) Yeah.
Julian Hayes II
(1:06:24) And he's like, Oh, you got the yolk and all that dietary fat. (1:06:27) And that's good for you. (1:06:28) And I was like, no way, no way.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:06:31) But you feel good. (1:06:33) I feel good.
Julian Hayes II
(1:06:35) Yeah.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:06:36) Exactly what you should have eaten.
Julian Hayes II
(1:06:37) Yeah. (1:06:38) No, that's still a staple in my diet.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:06:41) Um, I, I love them. (1:06:42) They get three eggs. (1:06:43) Yeah, we do.
Julian Hayes II
(1:06:44) Yeah.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:06:45) Right.
Julian Hayes II
(1:06:46) And so as we get ready to run, wind this down, uh, let's, let's do just a few random questions here. (1:06:51) So one of the things that's like, how do you balance business, family, life, and health?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:06:55) Yeah. (1:06:56) And I think that's identity work. (1:06:58) I really do think that's identity work is knowing who you are.
(1:07:01) And so for me, switching from the sick identity. (1:07:04) Now I think about like, I also think about my, I am statement, like, who am I? (1:07:08) Because, and that's in some of the videos that I do too.
(1:07:11) Like, I feel like there are parts of me. (1:07:13) Right. (1:07:14) And I love each part, but I think about like, I'm not, by the way, you know, I know I wear a white coat.
(1:07:20) I know there's an MD behind my name. (1:07:22) I don't think I'm a doctor first. (1:07:24) I actually think I'm a teacher first when it comes to professional, like in a professional setting, I am a teacher first, you know, a, um, you know, and a, and a teacher first and a doctor second, really.
(1:07:37) And I think that's where I've done the most healing for myself and for others. (1:07:41) Right. (1:07:42) So I, I look at identity and I think it's really important to pay attention to the P all the pieces of us and to listen to our bodies and what it's telling us.
(1:07:52) So it's interesting. (1:07:53) Um, one of the things I do with my partner is I tune into frequency. (1:07:57) It's a frequency.
(1:07:58) And in the morning before I leave bed, I always go in for a cuddle and I tune in and I'm like, am I tuned in? (1:08:05) Because there's a love frequency. (1:08:08) There's the partner and the lover frequency where when we're tuned in, like, it's like saying, when you say, I love you to an individual and they may not even feel it because you're not in the same frequency, but if you're tuned in and you say, I love you, they feel it.
(1:08:20) You're tuned into that frequency.
Julian Hayes II
(1:08:22) Absolutely.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:08:23) And I know for a fact that I have different frequencies that I operate in and I want awareness around what frequency am I in right now. (1:08:32) So, um, I know when I go and I'm talking to a client, I'm going to be in a particular type of frequency to be tuned in with that individual, to be able to do that work. (1:08:41) And to understand the wide range of frequencies with which I operate is how I balance all of this, because I don't want to bring work Maggie into, you know, lover, Maggie wife, Maggie, I don't want to bring that into that.
(1:08:54) So I make a notice of what is my energetic frequency at right now? (1:08:59) And what is the situation that I'm in and what do I want to be in? (1:09:03) Right?
(1:09:03) So energy, I think it's really important and understanding your own personal frequencies and the people around you. (1:09:10) And there are some people that are in a frequency you don't want to be in and you can choose not to engage in. (1:09:15) Right?
(1:09:15) So for me, it's about understanding your own identity of who am I and what frequency am I operating in right now? (1:09:22) And what frequency do I choose to be in right now? (1:09:25) Choice, true choice.
(1:09:28) We have a choice like suffering is optional. (1:09:31) We always have a choice. (1:09:32) So you can choose what kind of balance you want in life, what frequency you want to operate in, because it's your choice, what frequency you're, you're vibrating at.
(1:09:42) So it's a long-winded answer, but that's exactly how I work on and continue to work on this balance because believe it or not work. (1:09:49) Maggie likes to be vibrating 90% of the time. (1:09:53) And I'm happy to say with work on this, I'm now probably at like 67% of the time, but I would like her to be at 50% of the time.
(1:10:01) That would be too much more balanced for me personally. (1:10:04) And I'm working on work in progress.
Julian Hayes II
(1:10:06) Absolutely. (1:10:07) It sure is. (1:10:08) And so you mentioned that you're a teacher, teacher for first.
(1:10:10) And, uh, you know, I couldn't agree. (1:10:11) I couldn't agree more with that assertion right there. (1:10:13) Just you have a tons, you have tons and tons and tons of content.
(1:10:17) You have, you have the book, you have the shop, and we're all going to have links to that. (1:10:20) You have the YouTube channel, the podcast. (1:10:22) And so what do you enjoy about creating content?
(1:10:26) Because obviously there has to be some kind of sense of joy there because there's a ton of content.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:10:34) You know, the started eight years, nine years ago with 30 days of Facebook live as a dare from a colleague, friend of mine, and I caught the bug. (1:10:44) Um, one of the things that I love about creating all sorts of content, podcasts, you know, YouTube channel, um, Facebook group. (1:10:50) I mean, by the way, our Facebook group transform your health naturally, it has nearly, we're almost at a hundred thousand people.
(1:10:56) Wow. (1:10:57) And it, but for the thing for me is frequency and connection. (1:11:01) I think that when I think about what, why am I put on this planet?
(1:11:04) I think the number one reason that I'm put on this planet is connection. (1:11:08) I'm here to connect and I'm a connector, whether it's connecting people to people or people to knowledge, you know? (1:11:14) Um, so what I love about creating content is I'm always thinking about how is this going to, um, connect with an individual or individuals?
(1:11:23) I don't want to like, I don't want to just say, repeat my story or something painful about my story or something just for the sake of it. (1:11:30) Or it's about me. (1:11:31) I'm like, who am I going to talk to?
(1:11:33) And that's why like, you'll notice like in the podcast and in my, in all my content, I'm always like, let me ask you guys this question out there. (1:11:40) You know, you got this question and I asked the question and then I helped them create that answer and start thinking that process. (1:11:47) Right.
(1:11:48) And so for me, it's that frequency and vibration of teaching and knowing that I created an aha, that brings me joy. (1:11:58) And when people comment and they're like, boom, when they start throwing the answers in the chat, I literally get lit up because that's the frequency of, um, vibrating at the same frequency. (1:12:07) I'm like, give me a boom in chat.
(1:12:09) You know, tell me what you think. (1:12:10) Give me the answer. (1:12:10) What do you think?
(1:12:11) What do you guys guess is the answer? (1:12:12) And people, it's very interactive. (1:12:14) I can tell from the, um, responses and interaction in all these social media platforms, what frequency we're vibrating at and that's connection for me.
(1:12:23) So I'm fulfilling my life's dream and purpose with ultimate connection by creating social media content, um, that allows that connection to happen both ways.
Julian Hayes II
(1:12:33) Yeah. (1:12:33) You can see that just by the types of people that you, you, you attract the types of comments, the support in the comments and that kind of thing. (1:12:39) You can see this is the collective energy and it takes that energy takes the, the, the direction of the person who's actually doing the creation itself.
(1:12:48) So it's a very cool thing to see. (1:12:49) I love to just ask people who are very prolific in creating what they get joy out of it. (1:12:54) Cause for me, I love just to create things and just to move on.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:12:59) Like you like creation, not necessarily the connection.
Julian Hayes II
(1:13:03) Yeah, yeah, yeah. (1:13:05) So connection is what I'm actually working on. (1:13:07) That's actually been one of my themes this year is to actually work on connection because for me, I can just go away, go out and about have a blank piece of paper or blank idea and then just create.
(1:13:18) And then, okay, we're done with that. (1:13:19) What's next? (1:13:20) Yeah.
(1:13:21) Yeah. (1:13:21) So a connection for me is, is a thing of just actually, actually connecting and, and, and really putting emphasis on truly connecting when, if for me, that's what drives me, right?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:13:33) Like, so I'm really driven by that when I know that, well, you don't know how many times people call to work with us to talk to us on our team, right? (1:13:39) We talked to like probably 200 individuals a week and you don't know how many times. (1:13:44) And sometimes I'm even on the phones cause I want to hear what they have to say.
(1:13:47) And I'm like, Hey, it's me on the phone. (1:13:48) I just want to, what did you like? (1:13:51) Oh my gosh.
(1:13:51) I saw that video about mass cell that you did. (1:13:53) And you said the story about Jane and also, and I'm like, I know, did you see Jane's other video? (1:13:57) And we get into those conversations and our team does that too.
(1:14:02) And I realized, wow, we hit, we hit, we landed. (1:14:05) And I always have our team ask what piece of content you see and why did it resonate with you? (1:14:11) And they tell me and every comment I'm like, literally after a live, I tell people in the life I read every comment because then I know I landed or it raises other questions.
(1:14:20) I'm like, Ooh, I can't wait to do that on the next slide. (1:14:22) So it's a driving force for me in the connection.
Julian Hayes II
(1:14:25) Yeah. (1:14:25) Yeah. (1:14:26) Definitely taking some, some cues and lessons from that, that, that, that, that I'm going to use personally that you do really well.
(1:14:32) So thank you for that.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:14:34) Thank you for this great interview. (1:14:35) I mean, you just, you ask such good questions. (1:14:38) I mean, you lead with curiosity and I can see it.
(1:14:42) I mean, that's your, that's your driving forces, your curiosity. (1:14:44) And it's, it's a joy for me to actually share time with an individual that leads with open heart and open curiosity. (1:14:51) It's fun.
(1:14:52) This is amazing.
Julian Hayes II
(1:14:53) Well, I appreciate that. (1:14:54) It's actually one of my words is actually curiosity. (1:14:57) Yeah.
(1:14:57) So so the last question here is if someone comes up to you at a cafe and they're going to ask you Dr. Maggie, what are one of the three things that I can do to start creating a more fulfilling and abundant life and also be hormonally optimized? (1:15:13) What would you tell them?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:15:15) Well, hormonally optimized three, I'm going to focus on that piece of it. (1:15:20) Because if you want hormone optimization, I think about the action steps on the hormone chapter. (1:15:25) Believe it or not, like number one, believe it or not, hydration is going to be really a big key.
(1:15:30) Like people just don't realize how much the adequate amount of water is needed. (1:15:34) And there's a formula in the book as well. (1:15:37) What is the adequate amount of water?
(1:15:39) We're not talking water fasting or something like that, right? (1:15:43) And I'm going to share the formula, maybe it's your weight in pounds divided by two. (1:15:51) And for every 30 minutes of exercise, and it's in ounces.
(1:15:56) And for every 30 minutes of exercise, you add eight ounces for every caffeinated amount of caffeinated beverage you drink, you have to add that amount of water as well.
Julian Hayes II
(1:16:07) This is why I'm over. (1:16:08) This is why I'm at a gallon minimum.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:16:10) Yeah. (1:16:10) When people calculate that, and then they realize and they don't realize that the caffeinated beverages like oh, I drink eight ounces, I mean, you have to add an additional eight ounces of water. (1:16:19) So we drink adequate amount of water every day.
(1:16:22) And at first, it feels really weird. (1:16:24) So number one, right? (1:16:25) Number two, I talk about fat a lot, right?
(1:16:29) And you got to eat at least to for hormonal balance, 30 to 35% of your diet should be coming from fats, healthy fats. (1:16:37) And then number four is I'm not against carbohydrates, but make them complex and be very strategic. (1:16:44) Make them cruciferous vegetables, like learn to know what cruciferous vegetables are cabbage, broccoli, that kind of family and bok choy.
(1:16:54) And what you want to do is if you can eat complex carbs, just buy cruciferous vegetables of all colors and eat mostly that. (1:17:02) And man, that's going to help so much in hormone balance, no matter what your pattern is. (1:17:06) Those are the three top things.
Julian Hayes II
(1:17:09) I love that. (1:17:10) That's a great way to tie this awesome, awesome conversation. (1:17:14) You know, we probably could have kept talking for probably we probably could have done Joe Rogan salad and talk three hours properly.
(1:17:19) Because there's a lot actually here that I had that I'm just different topics that I'm so we'll probably do a part two sometime in the distant future, because I love this conversation. (1:17:28) But for now, where can listeners keep up with you and everything?
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:17:32) Yeah, I'm on YouTube, Dr. Maggie Yu, Instagram, same maggieyu.md. (1:17:37) And my website is drmaggieyu.com. (1:17:40) If you want to go there, we have a Facebook group called transform your health naturally.
(1:17:44) And there's 100 members in there. (1:17:47) And then our book, my book is eight out of the box. (1:17:50) If you go to 8outofthebox.com, you're going to get access to my book in there. (1:17:55) And you know, the action steps I talked about are at the end of each chapter here. (1:17:59) So that's the other way that you could get ahold of me.
Julian Hayes II
(1:18:02) That helps. (1:18:02) That's perfect for the people who like to just skim read and just get to just get to the meat right away.
Dr. Maggie Yu
(1:18:07) Oh, audible book is gonna be coming out in about a month. (1:18:09) It's gonna be an audible as well.
Julian Hayes II
(1:18:10) Okay, awesome. (1:18:11) So I will have all those links in the show notes. (1:18:14) Dr. Maggie, once again, thank you very much. (1:18:16) I really enjoyed this conversation. (1:18:18) And I can't wait to do it again. (1:18:21) And for listeners out there, stay awesome, be limitless.
(1:18:23) And as always, go be the CEO of your health in your life. (1:18:26) Peace
