Podcasts about health sciences naturopathy

Today on the podcast Mason chats with naturopath, nutritionist, medical herbalist, and best-selling author Helen Padarin about kid's immunity, nutrition, Liver and Gallbladder flushing, and the seriously empowering works she does with kids, families, and remote indigenous communities. A big running theme in all of Helen's work as a practitioner is empowerment. Whether it be through supporting indigenous communities to continue their traditional ways of eating or her courses that focus on remedies, and hands-on tools to keep parents and children healthy; Helen is giving people the right building blocks and bridging the gap between disempowered and empowered health. Her passion is teaching people to come back to themselves, trust their intuition, and get back to centre so they can thrive in health. With 20 years' experience as a practitioner, Helen brings so much wisdom and experience to this conversation. Helen and Mason hone in on kid's immunity, nutrition, gut health, and why not suppressing fever in children is an empowering act that builds resilience and teaches us to trust our immune system. Helen takes us through the courses she runs and the full function/protocol of Liver and Gallbladder flushing; Why we do it, the basic preparation, and how it improves thyroid function. Tune in for health sovereignty and empowerment. . "I'm passionate about getting kids thriving, and through tools and inspiration, I take the weight out of health and healing and replace it with joy. My work is always in a way that is going to elicit an experience that's felt, that will then provide inspiration and curiosity to continue".      Mason and Helen discuss: Seasonal eating. Vitamin D and Zinc deficiency. Liver and Gallbladder Flushing. The Thyroid Gallbladder connection. Kid's immunity and nutrition. Fever and neural development. Looking at fever as a valuable process. Fevers in children; How to handle them. Carnivore and Paleo eating; How they can support the body. How current reference ranges of blood test results are limited. Foraging, hunting and gathering in indigenous communities. Supporting indigenous communities and their traditional ways of eating.  How non-indigenous Australian's can learn so much about connection and belonging from the ancient wisdom of indigenous people.   Who is Helen Padarin? Naturopath, nutritionist, medical herbalist, and author Helen Padarin has been in clinical practice since 2001. She works from one of Sydney's most highly regarded integrated medical centres alongside GP's, a pediatrician, and other practitioners. Helen is passionate about conscious living, real food, vital health, and empowering individuals, families, and organisations to find the joy in being well. Helen gains constant inspiration from seeing clients make conscious changes to their physical health and finding that it benefits their emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing as well. She loves working with other health professionals, community groups, thought leaders, and game-changers to provide truly holistic approaches to health, and creating supportive communities. Through her work Helen aims to promote awareness, and provide education about the treatment options available for immune disorders, digestive disorders, and neurological disorders. Her mission is to educate and promote awareness about a truly nourishing diet and lifestyle for everyone.  Helen was called on to write a chapter on pediatrics and ASD for a peer-reviewed clinical textbook published by Elsevier in 2011, has co-authored the book 'BubbaYumYum' with Charlotte Carr and Pete Evans, co-authored the 'The Complete Gut Health Cookbook' with Chef Pete Evans and has written several articles for health magazines. Since 2011 Helen has been a regular presenter and ambassador for the Mindd Foundation and has presented for Health Masters Live and ACNEM, providing post-graduate education for GP's, naturopaths, nutritionists, and other health care professionals. While living in NZ for over 4 years, Helen also lectured anatomy and physiology for the NZ College of Massage at the NZ Institute of Sport. Helen holds a bachelor's degree in Health Sciences (Naturopathy), advanced diplomas in nutrition, herbal medicine, massage, and has completed extensive post-graduate training in treatment for metabolic, neurologic, digestive, and immune disorders.   CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON APPLE PODCAST    Resources: Poop chart  Together Retreat Helen's Facebook Helenpadarin.com Bubba Yum Yum book The Complete Gut Health Cook Book     Q: How Can I Support The SuperFeast Podcast? A: Tell all your friends and family and share online! We'd also love it if you could subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes. Or  check us out on Stitcher, CastBox, iHeart RADIO:)! Plus  we're on Spotify!   Check Out The Transcript Here:   Mason: (00:01) Hey, Helen. Thanks for joining me.   Helen Padarin: (00:03) Hey Mason. Great to be here at long last. Hey, we've made it.   Mason: (00:06) Well, I'm glad you made it. I don't know how many years of hearing your name around the traps, the health community from grassroots days to just around Instagram and seeing your trips that you... I don't know if you are still running the trips out to, was it Arnhem Land?   Helen Padarin: (00:24) In Arnhem Land. Not since COVID that's for sure. So I'm hoping to get up there in July, just personally, but not work-related at this point, but that's been a very rich experience.   Mason: (00:39) What were you doing up there exactly?   Helen Padarin: (00:42) So I was partnering up with an organisation up in Elcho Island, started by Kama Mico, was Kama Trudgen, now Kama Mico. And she started this organisation with a Yolngu woman. So Yolngu are the indigenous people of that part of Northeast Arnhem Land, Elcho Island. And basically looking at supporting them to bring in more of their traditional ways of eating again, which essentially in that part of the world is very much what we would call paleo. And because they've got a really low lifespan there. Forties is generally where a lot of them are passing away, unfortunately, and it's just really due to a lack of education and resources and understanding. And likewise, us [inaudible 00:01:40], us non-indigenous have a hell of a lot to learn from them as well. So it was about learning from each other in this world where we're so disconnected from each other and ourselves and nature and ancient wisdoms and things like that, that really give us a sense of belonging and anchoring and place in the world and actually really simplify a lot of things as well.   Helen Padarin: (02:02) And so, as a result, a lot of us in this Western culture are feeling separated and isolated and stressed and alone, and the sense of not belonging and it's creating all sorts of depression, anxiety, and chronic illness. So we have a lot to learn from each other. So we had set up a world first really bringing indigenous and non-indigenous together for a two week retreat to learn from each other. And it was amazing.   Mason: (02:36) Far out.   Helen Padarin: (02:36) So I would love to do more of that work when the time and space and opportunity allows, but really beautiful work   Mason: (02:47) I love talking about diet and lifestyle. I really love watching, I'm always tuning into your stories, especially because I'm fascinated by practitioners who know how to hold that space really tightly, but there's an invisible bridging from the clinic over into the culture that we've got within our families and within our lifestyle. And you really, you've got a strong flame in your own personal culture. You're cooking out, you're talking a lot about your sourcing and I really like it because it's like it's a real authentic path that you have. And I don't see that a lot in practitioners. I see a lot of practitioners are in a colonised clinical mindset, which is awesome. And we need that. Just not that bridging.   Mason: (03:40) So since you're in that space, creating a diet no longer is about rules and following any crap like one thing. So you, I'm interested. So the way I see diets forming is you hold we're pillars of what we value. And for you, there's this again, for lack of a better word, there's a paleo esque energy around the way that you go and that you're getting a lot of the macro nutrients so on and so forth taking advantage of these whether it's like, I think your pork ribs yesterday?   Helen Padarin: (04:12) Pork belly.   Mason: (04:14) Pork belly. What's that farm again, that you-   Helen Padarin: (04:17) Gregory Downs Organics. So they're a regenerative farm in Young, which is about four and a half hours south west of Sydney. Amazing meat.   Mason: (04:26) I'm going to have to get onto that. I think that deliver. I think they send it-   Helen Padarin: (04:29) They're trying to get further afield. They do make drops in Sydney and Wollongong, and I think as far north as Newcastle, but they're yet to get up to Northern-   Mason: (04:40) [crosstalk 00:04:40] I can't complain, but so it's like there's that element of sourcing local, emulating the basic philosophy of based on the evidence of how we've eaten for thousands of thousands of years, but it's very much as you can as you know it's like okay, cool. We've got animals and a lot of vegetables that aren't endemic. Is that the right word? Anyway, that aren't native to where we are, but it's necessary. We do the best we can. Not many people go and then hold like, all right, now what about all the... I'm just curious what wisdom about, what pearls of wisdom when you go on that retreat, whether it be the food, the foraging, the insights around how you do have a family culture, what is there in that pillar that's marrying up with all these other pillars and values that you have?   Helen Padarin: (05:36) Well, everything in that culture is about relationships first and foremost. And the perspective and vision and way of seeing the world is utterly different. It's like being in another world literally then what we see it. So it can take quite a bit of adjustment to get your head around and how you relate to other people is based on your relationship with them or the relationship with animals or plants or a location or an element. It is literally all about relationships. So there's so much richness and beauty in that. And I see it taking life from being relatively 2D and black and white to being this Technicolour bazaar of richness. There's just so much more nuance in there and detail in there, which is really beautiful. And then it was really interesting from a food front because yes, I use paleo. I don't even really like labelling anything because I certainly don't agree with saying I am paleo because I am not paleo. I am a human. I'm Helen. And there are ways in which I eat that support my physiology best from my own experience. And so when I came across paleo, I was essentially already eating that way by way of experimentation since my teens of what works for me. Because I grew up feeling crap basically. Lots of immune stuff going on, depression, polycystic ovaries, just recurrent infections, pneumonia, shingles, you name it, asthma, eczema been there.   Mason: (07:24) The whole shebang.   Helen Padarin: (07:30) Yes. So I don't know what it was that drew me on this journey really. I know there were a few turning points, but for whatever reason, there was something innate in me that made me look for things that made me feel less crap. I wasn't even really looking to feel well because I didn't actually know that I didn't feel well because that was my normal. So I was just trying to avoid the things that obviously made me feel worse. And as years went on and that was refined. And then I started studying nutrition and naturopathy and it kept further being refined. And then I started seeing patients. And then for a lot of the first decade of my practise, I was really focusing a lot on working with children on the autism spectrum. And they like me, typically have a lot of digestive issues.   Helen Padarin: (08:23) And so going on this journey to heal my own digestion and working towards healing theirs, and it was like this amalgamation of nourishing traditions and gut and psychology syndrome and the body ecology diet and bringing all these things together. And when you overlay those elements, a lot of essentially what it came down to was paleo without knowing it. And then when I found out about paleo, I was like, "Huh, that's like what I'm doing." So it wasn't like a thing to latch on. And I encourage this for everybody is working towards what works best for you. And we go through different seasons in our life. And at different times we might need to eat in different ways to support ourselves through that phase as well.   Helen Padarin: (09:10) But what I found really interesting. So even when I'm eating paleo, my perception or my approach was always really highly plant-based. So it was still like 80% of my plate was veggies. And then there hasn't been meat and plenty of good fats, love fats. And then I started hearing about carnivore diet and [crosstalk 00:09:38] this ties into what I'm about to talk about up north. So I am getting somewhere with this.   Mason: (09:43) I completely trust you. I sometimes don't. I try, I'll admit, trust my guests and I'm like, "I'm going to remember that we've got a stake in the ground over there," but for you, I'm like, "I know you know what you're doing."   Helen Padarin: (09:56) Awesome. So when I first heard about carnivore, gosh, it must've been, I don't know, five, six years ago, something like that. And I was like, "You've got to be kidding me, right? That's a bit of a stretch." It was so far from my perception and my understanding at that point in time that I really couldn't reconcile with it at first. But then the more I started reading about it and the more I started researching and the more I was looking at a bit of the anthropological side of things and our history with hunting and gathering and the more I was looking at research and the more I'm working with restoring gut microbiomes and all this stuff. And I started meeting some people who were on that path and it was a massive turning point in them really upleveling or really nurturing and nourishing their health to a point that they hadn't yet been able to achieve prior.   Helen Padarin: (10:58) So I was starting to think, "Okay there's something in this." And then I started working with a few patients myself and experimenting just myself, but only in short little stints that actually felt really good on it. And patients who were bringing it in as well were typically really benefiting from it as well. And I typically maybe there might be rare cases, but I don't necessarily think it's a forever thing, but it's certainly a very helpful tool at times. But then what I learned when I was going up north was going hunting and gathering. It's really bloody hard to find plant foods, really hard. It takes out a lot of energy and a lot of effort for very small yield and that yield doesn't cover the expenditure of energy that it took to get it either.   Helen Padarin: (11:57) There's some amazing phytonutrients in there that have other really valuable physiological effects. But in terms of energy balance, it didn't add up at all. And yet to go and get a turtle or a goanna or whatever was actually relatively easy. And then you had something really filling and nourishing to share with the community. So that really started to shift as well my understanding. Because I've known over the years it's really important to prepare plants properly because they don't have teeth or claws. So their defence mechanisms are compounds within them that put animals off eating them because it might make them sick or die. And so we need to prepare those foods properly.   Mason: (12:47) Can I just say, just watch your hand. I think it just hits every now and then that mic.   Helen Padarin: (12:51) The microphone.   Mason: (12:52) I think it was just your hand brushing over it, but yeah. Sorry, go for it.   Helen Padarin: (12:58) No worries. So where was I? We really need to be able to prepare those plant foods properly so that we can digest them and utilise the nutrients in them adequately, which in our society of busy-ness, convenience, get things done quickly, that just doesn't tend to happen. So to have a healthy plant-based diet really takes a lot of conscientious effort. So time up there really helped me to consolidate that and really helped with my broadening my perspective. And again, it depends on what climate you're in, what season of life you're in, what your demands are at the time. All of those things come into play as well, but there really is time and place for all sorts of different ways of eating, including being vegan.   Mason: (13:54) I love this conversation so much. And I feel, if you're happy because I like what you're talking about there, it's just, it's bursted a bubble of perception that you had. And then from the way that you're talking about it, I'm going to keep to myself really questioned based I'm really just curious. And I'm in a real gooey thinking about this. You talked about seasonality being a factor. And for me more and more, as soon as you brought that up, it took me straight out of the black and white way of things. I still, if people say carnivore and straightaway in my mind, I'm like, "If you start it, there's going to be an intention to do that as long as possible, see how long that's going to be beneficial for you." And it's a real 2D way of approaching diet, which is fine, especially if you're in a clinic and especially if you're using veganism or carnivore as a healing tool. And you're very aware of other variables that may be doing gut microbiome testing, whatever it is.   Mason: (14:59) As soon as you mentioned seasonality, you've put colour and more of a 5D 6D way of thinking about how diets are going to slot in. And I started just thinking of gorging. It's of course like the same three square, although there's say and sorry for rambling here and sorry for rambling everybody because you tuned in for Helen, everyone. [crosstalk 00:15:25] I'm going to ramble a little bit, but we'll make sure we go long so we get all the wisdom out of Helen as well, but I'm going to indulge and process. I love contradictions. And again, I keep on thinking about this Scott Fitzgerald quote of the sign of true intelligence is your capacity to hold two opposing ideas at the same time and still function and hold them and watch them play pong back and forth.   Mason: (15:52) And so the three square meals. I'm like if you look at Chinese culture and the longevity factor of having consistency, same food, same nice warming food prepared in very similar ways, changing slightly during the seasons in cooking method. But having that real consistency for the body, I'm like, "That makes sense." And then you look at the ancestral element and it's like, well, for an Eskimo, you're going to, at some point in winter, you're going to be gorging on meat. And then I got brought to my attention. I'm like, yeah, but in the springtime, they actually have access to a shitload of berries and plant matter and they're going to be going hard over in that way. And they needed to because that's the way the world presented itself. And so there was this fluidity and this dance, which we need to learn how to integrate that.   Mason: (16:43) Even though we do have the convenience of civilization that could give us say the people who are best at taking advantage of civilization from a health and in other ways perspective is say the Chinese. And so they do that really well. So I'm like, cool, take that, but then don't forget your roots. So on and so forth that creates this gooey potential. If you can, for me, you say burst that bubble of like, "I know what it is. I know where I attribute my health to." It's this diet, because you've got to discover, I guess at the moment it must be trippy for you having a clinic and taking people through healing diets and then attempting to convey the ongoing, never-ending nature of finding an optimal diet in this crazy privilege that we have in this world.   Helen Padarin: (17:31) We definitely are in an incredible place of privilege that we do have so much choice and I think it's because we do have so much convenience and comfort. And convenience and comfort can really be thorns in the side of progress as well. So we really need to, I mean, I personally get really sick of going to, even if it's the organic supermarket and it's the same vegetables all year round. There's five things you can choose from like, "Oh my God, give me something else." I need to go foraging to have some variety or something. So we would be... Simple I think is good because we can very much over-complicate things. And the seasonality thing is an environmental thing and also an internal thing because internally we've got seasons too. So we are going through our lives, different stages of growth, different hormonal stages, stages of disease, stages of recovery and recuperation.   Helen Padarin: (18:38) We've got the four seasons of the year that we are... You know a lot about this. You can speak more on that, but throughout both our lives and our environments, there's always these shifts. And I think that's where we run into trouble when we attach ourselves to any ideology, because then there's that risk of sticking to it, no matter what, even if it isn't actually serving you anymore. So I think always having some flexibility and yet being able to dance with the seasons and know that things aren't stagnant. It's like when things get stagnant, that's when we get ill. So we need that flow happening throughout all elements of our life and food is one of them.   Mason: (19:27) And you brought up the different seasons of your life and that really strikes me. I haven't heard it come up in a while, just in a distinction around this, but brings the... And I can feel in that it's like you're going to evolve and have different seasons and you've only got the... That maybe doesn't necessarily loop around like the seasons of the earth, perhaps [crosstalk 00:19:56] and that's the only time you're going to have that hormone ratio or deployment, or that con symphony of those secretions. I'm just interested, have you got any in your own life? On that, just how that helps you like...   Helen Padarin: (20:14) Affected me the most is always staying curious. It's also affected me in that I'm a terrible meal planner. I won't plan a meal because I don't know how I'm going to feel on any given day. So on the day I want to go, "What do I need today? Okay. I'm going to have..." And I'm very fortunate that I've got that choice. There's a lot of people around the world who wouldn't. So that is definitely coming from a place of privilege, but I guess in different seasons for me, let me have a little think and feel. Well, I've actually just got some adrenal results back and I know I really need to go into some adrenal restoration for myself at the moment because there's been quite a few years of really depleting them basically.   Helen Padarin: (21:03) And I guess because I have all the pieces in place in my diet and lifestyle otherwise, I'm able to carry on pretty well. So I was quite surprised when I saw those are low. So I was like, "Okay, that's a little bit of a reality check for me as well." Stress is a big one for me. And I know that I've got this global high activation of my nervous system running in the background. So there can be, particularly during times of overwhelm for me, then I really need to make sure that I am, I don't know. There are times where I might have a bit more carbohydrate than normal and other times, for example, carbs just really don't suit me and make me feel tired. But other times it's something that's actually going to nourish me and nurture me and give me more energy and make me sleep better. And all of those kinds of things. So there's little tweaks like that in my diets.   Helen Padarin: (22:05) And then lifestyle wise, I'll be making sure that there's time to actually switch off and have quiet time. And over the years I've said one of my biggest goals in life is to get bored because I think there's not enough opportunity for that these days. And that's the place where creativity and imagination really comes to play. So that for me has been one of my big life lessons, because it's a little trap when you love what you do as well, because it doesn't necessarily feel like work, but you still got to really have that quiet time and rest, or I should say, I really still need to have that quiet time and rest. So they're the seasonal things for me that I'm feeling most at the moment anyway.   Mason: (22:57) Boredom. I really, I use that word in a very... I have used it. That's when I was like, when I was-   Mason: (23:02) I use that word in a very.... I have used it, like... I was like, when I stopped being vegan, it was because I got bored shitless with myself. And it's a very different kind of way of approaching that, like slipping into those states of boredom. I feel it's like an almost kind of, I can feel when you're saying that the context, there's a harmony and a sereneness in the cruising, which I think is yeah, definitely... If you look at the way, old Taoists, look at the heart, and being like, you know, full yang's all active, yang, celebration, love, but the yin is serene. And so you look at... This is someone, we just don't associate with that in the west, like that person's full power, fire, heart element, and they're just cruising.   Helen Padarin: (23:44) Yeah. And we definitely... Yeah. We really celebrate that yang in this culture. Right? And yeah, there's, I don't know who first said it, but you know, he who fails to go within goes without. We really need that time to nourish. And for me, boredom is just like an open space of nothingness, which is really, really beautiful. And more, I find, more and more challenging. Or not more and more challenging, I have just found it challenging, to spend time in that space. And I think I really feel that for kids these days as well, especially because they're growing up with so much stimulation and, you know, even we had as kids growing up. And I think that's a whole nother challenge that they're going to have to work their way through throughout life. Yeah.   Mason: (24:42) Mm-hmm (affirmative). I'd love to talk about kids a little bit. I'm like, I was so stoked when I saw you were doing a kid's immunity course. I feel because there's a lot with... There's obviously so much on adults' immunity because adults are so screwed. And kids have got...   Helen Padarin: (25:05) And that's the point, you know? Like often adults are so screwed because of what happened when we were kids. And so it's like, let's just stop that train now. Yeah? And turn it around so that when they're adults, I don't have to deal with all this hardship that we're dealing with because we didn't have that information or those tools or those resources when we were young. So yeah, it really breaks my heart to see kids in the clinic. And I know, because as I said before, I can relate to it, when I was young I didn't know that I didn't feel well until I felt better. And then it was like, holy shit, I can't believe I felt that bad for so long. You know? And so when I see kids now who are, you know, maybe not even five years old and already chronically ill, or even teenagers who have just had chronic ill health throughout their life.   Helen Padarin: (25:55) And a lot of it is gut and immune mediated. And they don't even know that they don't feel well. And I can see that, but they don't know that. And someone telling them isn't going to change that for them. Really, it's one of those things, I think most of the time, you don't really know until you experience it. And when you're feeling like that, gosh, it really... You know? It can tend to put a lens over how you see life and what your prospects are in the world and your hopefulness or hopelessness and all of this kind of thing. And so one of the things that I really wanted to be able to do with the kids immunity course is like, get kids thriving, you know? And it empowers whole families because when kids are ill, it puts stress on everybody as well. It puts a stress on other siblings who might not be getting the same amount of attention, it puts stress on parents.   Helen Padarin: (26:58) You know, if you look at, in the ASD community, for example, around, you know, there's about a 80% divorce rate because it's just so stressful when you're with kids with high needs all the time. But there's also, on the lesser end of the spectrum, asthma, allergies, eczema, but it disrupts sleep. And there's all these doctor's visits and there's this constant application of creams and antibiotics and steroids and all these kinds of stuff that, you know, you don't realise how much of an impact it's having on you sometimes until you're not having to do that anymore. And sometimes the idea of changing, like humans in general aren't great at change. And we'll tend to see it like Mount Everest and then we'll do it. And we're like, oh, that was actually an anthill, that wasn't so bad.   Helen Padarin: (27:51) So it's just a matter, I don't know. It's a matter of providing inspiration. Tools and inspiration. I'm really not a fan of motivation. Motivation takes a lot of energy. It takes discipline, but it takes a lot of energy. And sometimes you need that to make a first step. To go, okay, I'm going to do this. However, the way that I like to go on that adventure, to see what else there is. Yeah. So, and to bring some joy to it because of health and healing as well, it can get really weighted too. And you're always focusing on, you know, what's wrong or what else you've got to fix, or, you know, how can you do it better or how can you be better and all that kind of stuff. It's like, actually, let's just get curious and go on a bit of an adventure here and then feel bloody great as a result.   Mason: (28:53) I mean, I'm really excited about it for, you know, myself. Because I, you know, although I feel like we've got kind of like a real good foundation for understanding, you know, what the little ones need, obviously, you know, I've been in the industry and use your eyes like really, really healthy, but I feel like there's a lot of nuance perhaps that I have... Like I could probably upgrade with. So I'm really, I'm looking forward to it for myself for that reason.   Mason: (29:17) I'm pretty excited for the community based on what you just, like, everything you were just alluding to. That it's not just going to be like, stop doing this, you know, it's really harmful to do that and you should feel bad about that. You know, like I just remember the last time I heard someone really tuning into kids health and immunity, years ago, and they were like, basically, you know, giving gluten to a child is essentially, I'm sorry to say it and I'm trying to be gentle, but it's basically child abuse. And I was like, that's such a... You may think that, but that's such a... Like, you're perfectly within your rights, so hardcore to say that to someone, and you've alluded to all the realities of having a family and the fact making it, you know, for me, it's like, creating inspiration, a kinetic connection, an emotional connection to why we're going to do this. If the dad or the mom isn't onboard, you know, perhaps some space to allow everyone to find their own way to engage with this.   Mason: (30:12) So it's not them, and your awareness of the stress that this process can put through. I like, I can feel you really being like a... I mean, a shepherd implies that you've got sheep, but like, you know, a real custodian of like, that can really walk with people along that path and, you know, knowing that it's going to be really unique. I'm really excited for everyone on that. Would you mind jumping into some of the principles, the little tidbits around kids' immunity. Simple, complex that, you know, may be obvious, you know, may be not. And in that, like I was going to bring up maybe like fever as well, because I saw you doing a live on fever the other day. So maybe, I wouldn't mind just like a tiny little download on how you relate to fevers in childhood.   Helen Padarin: (31:07) Yeah. Well maybe we can start there. Yeah. Fever's really important, first of all. Right? So it is an essential part of an immune response. And if we are experiencing a fever, it's showing that our immune system is acting appropriately in the face of an infection or in the face of having to get rid of something in the body from an immune perspective. Okay? And so these days, one of the problems that I find we run into most frequently is where in a culture that is really adverse to discomfort, and fever's not comfortable. Yeah? And so whether it is a headache or whether it is a fever, we're very quick to pop a pill for that and to suppress that. But what we're then doing, if we're suppressing fever, is not actually allowing the immune system to carry out the functions that it needs to.   Helen Padarin: (32:04) And so then as a result, often the illness is either prolonged or it can even be more severe or recurrent. Yeah? Because the infection was never really properly addressed. And a lot of this just comes down to, you know, poor availability of information as well. We all are doing the best that we know what to do with the information that we have at the time. And generally speaking, the advice from most doctors and paediatricians is, if you've got a fever, have some paracetamol or something like that. Yeah? [inaudible 00:32:39] So it's not a... Yeah, it isn't about pointing fingers, going, you know, that's a bad thing to do, don't do it. And there are times and places for those things as well. But to be used really judiciously.   Helen Padarin: (32:54) And so there's a few fascinating things about fever too. And one of the ones that I find really interesting, and Rudolph Steiner talks about this quite a bit too, is how fever is actually really an important part of child development as well, neural development. And you will often notice that if a child has a fever and they're allowed to go through it, they're supported through it, then when they come out of it, it's like, whoa, when did you suddenly grow up? You know, have you noticed that yourself at all? Yeah.   Mason: (33:28) Hundred percent.   Helen Padarin: (33:29) Yeah, yeah. There's this big shift, but that doesn't tend to happen if we suppress the fever. Yeah? Why exactly that happens, I don't know the mechanism. But it is just something that you see happen all the time. Time after time. So that's really important. And there's also a resilience piece in there as well because when a child is supported to go through a fever, they know that they're capable of doing so. And they're also learning that it's okay to be uncomfortable, and discomfort passes too. So that's going to help them as they age because there's always going to be things in life that are painful and uncomfortable. We can't avoid it. And unfortunately we try to, but often in doing so create more. So it's that whole thing in a way of what we resist persists.   Helen Padarin: (34:27) And it's really empowering when you know that you can support your child. Because there's a lot of fear around fever too, yeah, it's like there's fear of febrile convulsions, for example. But the research shows, and clinical practise shows, that generally speaking, febrile convulsions aren't dangerous. There's a point to which, you know, fevers might need to be treated. And it's generally around the 40, 41 degree mark. Or if the child has symptoms like going really floppy or listless or something like that. But generally speaking, even for quite high fevers, there are a lot of safe practises that you can employ to support your child through it.   Helen Padarin: (35:10) And so in the course, we talk about what they are and we also do demos in the kitchen of home remedies and things that you can make to bring into play as well. And you know, what herbs can be useful for helping to moderate or break a fever and things like that if need be. So, yeah, I think fever is something... You know, it's important to monitor and manage, but I think generally speaking we tend to be way more fearful of it than what we need to be. And it's a really valuable process to go through.   Helen Padarin: (35:47) And we've had families in the course going through it. And since starting their course, their kids had an infection and like just the feedback we get after their child has an infection is so cool because you can hear it in their voice and feel it in their tone. They're just like so stoked and feeling so empowered that they actually knew what to do, and were capable of doing it at home. It wasn't this having to outsource all the time. And that I'm really passionate about as well, because I think we have in this society been kind of conditioned to hand over so much of our own power and responsibility. And if we can learn, actually, we've got this, we can do this. We'd be in a lot better place in so many ways.   Mason: (36:38) I love it so much. I love that, like, you've just articulated in a way that is incredible and perceivable. And I don't think people realise the impact. It's like when people don't know that they're not feeling that great, people don't realise just how disenfranchised they are, how disconnected they are from their own sovereignty and something as simple. And I'm excited because, you know, at times I float off into, you know, my very busy periods in the business and, you know, like... And I just, I kind of forget about just tending to the home fire and upkeeping those skills, and trusting in myself and believing myself. Lucky to have a wife that's like very, very good at that. But it's like preparing your own meals and then just having those remedies and watching... Knowing the protocols, you know, and not going to a clinician, oh my god, that's why you need to be teaching this mindset to practitioners, I think.   Mason: (37:41) It just makes me smile so much. And I just, I love practitioners that have that awareness because I think it takes a lot to embody that world of healing, clinical healing, facilitating people who would be out of their depth, which happens regularly. And thank god, you know, we have clinicians for when we are out of our depth. Entering that world, it's such a shedding of the skin and taking on a whole nother path to then venture out of that safe cocoon of I'm a know-it-all, and I'm the one that delivers the healing. To delivering what you are. I really value it. I don't have a word coined for what that type of practitioner is, but I'm going to say a good one. And so..   Helen Padarin: (38:32) [inaudible 00:38:32].   Mason: (38:33) But I love it, yeah.   Helen Padarin: (38:36) No, I get it. It's a big theme in my practise as well. I guess it is more about, you know, the whole teaching a man to fish thing, rather than giving out the fish. Because there's no point, otherwise we're just building other co-dependent relationships rather than being able to really trust and rely on ourselves. And yeah, again, one of my biggest passions, come back to yourself, free a connection with self, trusting that intuition, trusting your inner voice, knowing how much wisdom you do have, knowing how capable you are, and knowing how much resilience you have. Because so many things throughout our life can just like chip all that stuff away from our belief in ourselves that we have these totally warped views of what we are actually capable of. So yeah. Getting back to centre, getting back to self.   Mason: (39:30) So good. What are some of the other principles that you cover for kids' immunity?   Helen Padarin: (39:36) Yeah. So we start off with nutrition and immune function, which is actually really important when we're dealing with kids, because nutritionally speaking, kids aren't just mini adults, right? They're going through the most rapid rates of growth and development in their lives. So their requirements for nutrients are very different per kilo, for example, than it is for adults. Yeah? So we look at the key nutrients that are required for immune development and for gut function in particular, because as you know, most of the immune system is in the lining of the gut wall. And so while we start off with talking about nutrition, because of course every cell and hormone and neurotransmitter and immune molecule in your body is made up of the nutrients that you eat. So if you don't have those nutrients coming in, you don't have the building blocks to be able to build those things.   Helen Padarin: (40:31) And therefore your function is going to be impaired. So, we start off there with the building blocks. There's also the fact that during times of greater need, we need to make sure we have more of those nutrients. So if there are asthma or chronic allergies, or if there is an acute infection, the requirements for those nutrients also increases from baseline. So in those times, what do we want to focus on? Making sure there's plenty coming into the diet. Yeah? And we focus mostly on foods, but of course at times, you know, supplements can be helpful, but in the big scheme of things, we want foods to be medicine as much as possible. Yeah? You can't supplement away a shitty diet. You can't get all those building blocks because food is so much more than nutrients as well. Yeah. It's information and we can't get that information from supplements. So from there we go on and look at gut health and a little bit of a, not a big, deep dive, but a bit of a dive into the microbiome. Because as I just mentioned before, most of your immune system is in the lining of your gut wall and how your immune system responds to different triggers is very much dependent on what kind of microbes are growing in your gut. So we look at the integrity of the gut wall. We look at microbiome diversity. We look at what the gut needs to actually function well, what nutrients are required for gut health as well. So looking at that side of things. We have a whole module on fever. There's seven modules in the course. So yeah, there's a whole module on fever. And we've got an interview with Dr. Marsha Trait, who's a paediatric neurologist in the States and she's shared some beautiful information on fever and microbial diversity and all of that kind of thing in there. So that's got a lot of gold in it.   Mason: (42:38) Amazing. I think all of our people are going to be really stoked to know that you're, you know... I knew you would be, but just know that you're having like that micro, that diversity conversation. I think it's like everyone's starting to click on to that being such a good way to...   Helen Padarin: (42:54) [inaudible 00:42:54].   Mason: (42:54) Yeah. Awesome.   Helen Padarin: (42:54) For sure. Yeah. Then we have sessions in the kitchen. So each module's got PDFs and videos. And so yeah, you come into the kitchen with us as well and we do recipe demos of some really core foods to include for immune function. We have another module on home remedies as well. So again, come into the kitchen with us so that you know how to make them. They're super simple, but you know, like me, I'm a visual and kinesthetic person. So it's easier to learn that way.   Helen Padarin: (43:29) We do include in there overarching support for the whole family as well. Because just like the gut microbiome, the family unit is a bit of a microbiome itself as well. And so the impact of each member of the family affects the other. So we're looking at that kind of organism as a whole. And what else we've got. I feel like I'm missing one. We've got a whole bunch of additional resources in there too. And we include PDFs to research papers and stuff like that. So if you want to geek out more, you can go down that line. And then if you want to keep it really practical and just go, I need to know what to do now, then you can look at it from that point as well.   Mason: (44:18) Can you give me a sneak peak of some type of like nutrients, whether it be one that we like, you know, if you want to be finding it in food or supplementation, that you see as like a key one that's deficient in most diets, maybe don't, leave the hook thing and in the course we'll show you how to get it into your diets.   Helen Padarin: (44:34) I'm okay to share some. So yeah, I guess two of the big ones in Australia, well, not just Australia actually, Australia, America, Europe, and New Zealand, vitamin D and zinc, for sure. And one thing that's really important, I think, for people to understand as well is how limited reference ranges of blood test results are. Or rather how they are determined. Because a lot of people go, yeah, I had my vitamin D tested or I had my zinc tested or my whatever tested and it's all good. It's all fine, it's all in the normal range. But what's important to understand is that reference ranges through pathology labs are based on 95% of the results that go through that lab.   Helen Padarin: (45:29) So that means that generally speaking, it's sick people who are going to get tested. So it's 95% of the results of sick people, generally, not 95% of the results of healthy people. And so it can vary from lab to lab as well, depending on the demographic of the area that the lab is in. And I, as of this year, have been in practise now for 20 years.   Mason: (45:54) Whoa.   Helen Padarin: (45:54) I know, it doesn't seem possible, but apparently it is. And so I have seen over the years as our populations metabolic health.   Helen Padarin: (46:03) I've seen over the years, as our population's metabolic health has gone downhill, our reference ranges have changed along with that. So now where we're seeing, oh, it's in the normal range, 10 years ago, that would not have been in the normal range. So normal range doesn't actually really mean anything, okay? We want to actually look at the ideal range.   Mason: (46:21) What a way to decimate the genome and take us on a completely different dependent evolutionary path.   Helen Padarin: (46:29) A hundred percent. There's a Krishnamurti quote I love, now I need to remember it.   Mason: (46:38) I love it and that's all.   Helen Padarin: (46:40) And that's it so look him up. Here it is, basically, he's saying there's nothing healthy about being well adapted to a profoundly sick society, which is what we have been really doing quite well.   Mason: (46:59) Very well.   Helen Padarin: (47:00) So if we look at vitamin D, for example, in Australia and New Zealand, to be determined to be vitamin D deficient, you would have a rating of 49 nanomoles per litre or lower. But we know that even at 75 nanomoles per litre, you have a 50% increased risk of viral infections. That's at 75, but most people could have their blood test results come back at 51 and the doctor's like, "You're fine." And they're like, "Oh my God," going through the floor. So typically for vitamin D, we want to see... And it also increases risk of things like autoimmunity and allergies and eczema and gut issues as well because of course our nutrients are used for multiple functions throughout the body. So low or suboptimal levels. So there's deficiency and there's sub-optimal level and the sub-optimal level will have many impacts around the body.   Helen Padarin: (48:06) So really you're looking for levels of more than a hundred at least, but ideally between 130 and 200 nanomoles, the numbers are different in the States because they have different measurements so you have to do the conversion, but yet in Australia and New Zealand, that's what you're aiming for. So that is really not often achieved because while we're in this sunny country, we've also learned over the years to slip, slop, slap a bit too much and be too fearful of the sun. And so it's very rare for me to see good blood test results for vitamin D.   Helen Padarin: (48:42) And if we don't get our blood levels up by the end of summer, it's really hard to maintain them throughout the rest of the year, because particularly the further down the latitude or further up the latitude you go, the less months of the year, you're actually going to get rays from the sun that you get vitamin D from. So then you really need to make sure that you're getting it from your food. So, yes, vitamin D from food is really important.   Helen Padarin: (49:10) And so zinc, our soils in Australia and New Zealand and quite a few other countries are very low in zinc so it comes down to you're not just what you eat, but you're what you are, what you eat. So whether you are eating plants, you need to make sure that they've been in good soil. If you're eating animals, you need to make sure they're in good soil and eating good plants, and that's going to affect the nutrient density of the food, which is why I'm passionate about sourcing food as best as possible as he can, which isn't always possible, you just do the best with what you can and that's it. There's nothing else, no more to it, that's the best you can do. So yeah, there are a couple of the nutrients that are most commonly deficient. Yeah, and has a huge impact.   Mason: (49:59) Huge impact, yeah. Maybe it's good thing that I have a four year old always asked for a chunk of butter for herself to how down on in the morning,   Helen Padarin: (50:10) Yeah, that's it. So pasture-raised animal fats, so really the best source of vitamin D, which is one reason why I love my Gregory Downs Organics pork and their pork belly. So those fatty cuts of pork because pork fat is one of the highest sources of vitamin D. Or you could even get some pasture-raised lard and cook with that, pasteurised egg yolks, liver, cod liver oil, they are all good sources of vitamin D.   Mason: (50:37) Cod liver oil, an easy one to get into the kids.   Helen Padarin: (50:40) Most of the time, it actually is, it's only us adults that have psychological issues with them.   Mason: (50:47) Yeah. I'm damaged, I'm damaged from taking it. But we dosed Aiya up when she was a little one before she was tarnished.   Helen Padarin: (51:03) And that's one thing, if you are introducing foods to kids, it's monkey see monkey do, right? So if you are wanting them to have a particular food and you're giving it to them going, "Ah, that was gross," then they're going to go, "Ah, that's gross," because they're mirroring you because that's how they're learning. So this just goes across the board. Again, embrace that attitude of curiosity and adventure when you're trying new foods, whether it's yourself or your kids, and remember to give your kids the gift of finding out for themselves rather than basing their opinion of yours, yeah. So yeah, give them the opportunity to choose for themselves. And remember that humans are creatures of repetition, especially kids, and usually the magic number for trying new foods is 10 before you make an actual opinion about something. So just having things on offer that you can try a variety of different things.   Mason: (52:12) That's a good one. Yeah. Gosh, I'm looking forward to doing this course and I'm looking forward to everyone... I think we've got a lot of parents listening to this podcast, I think they're going to be stoked as well. Do you have any particular times when you open it up?   Helen Padarin: (52:27) Well, it's open all year, but now that we're going into the Southern hemisphere winter, we're doing more live chats and spending more time. There's a private Facebook group so you get to connect with other like-minded families as well, which is really great. And so yeah, times of year like this, we're spending more time in there to engage and make sure everybody's really resourced up as we go into the cooler months of the year. So yes, now is a good time.   Mason: (52:57) Oh, that's such a huge resource having a practitioner led course that's revolving around remedies and keeping yourself healthy is very different a lot of the time to where I've kind of come from, which is that super counter-culture grassroots health community, which it's like there's an experimental remedy for everything and a lot of the time they were impervious to structure. Some of them nail it and do it really well, most of the time not. So it's nice to know, especially when it comes to kids, they just have such a grounded resource, grounded admins helping.   Helen Padarin: (53:37) Yeah. And with the Q&As as well, the live chats, it's such a good opportunity to engage personally as well and ask specific questions about what's going on for your child or your family or yourself. Yeah, so there's the foundational work with all the course material and a lot of specifics in there for different kinds of conditions or symptoms, but then, yeah, the live chats are a great way to go deeper, basically.   Mason: (54:12) Amazing. I mean, what an investment. I mean, when it all gets a bit hard for me and I'm like, "I'm too busy," I kind of really start re-evaluating, especially... I mean, if I look at I'm investing in a house and working my ass off and I can feel how that kind of setup is going to be so beneficial. It's just as easily I feel the microbiome of my child, I'm like, "No," all of a sudden I'm not too busy. I just feel like getting that world into my world and I go, "Oh my gosh, what an investment," just how much easier life is going to be for that child, for me.   Helen Padarin: (54:50) Yeah, for the rest of their life and your life as well, because we know that the health in our childhood and how many courses of antibiotics we've had and that kind of thing has lifelong impact as well. So again, that's why I'm so passionate about it and why I wanted to focus on kids because it's a real opportunity to change the future. Or rather than change, have it empowered, strong, resilient future generations. And I can't think of a better gift to our kids in that sense than that really, because then they've got more freedom to do and choose what they wish to.   Mason: (55:33) It's huge. You do just see some people are just naturally born with a shitload of Jing, like Keith Richards, but there's other there's kids, there's families and they were just on the broths and organ meats, just real good source veggies. And you just look at that like the good stock, really good stock, strong knees.   Helen Padarin: (55:59) Absolutely. And I see that with my friend's kids. And so often they just get stopped all the time, going, "Wow, your kid's just so alert and so engaged and so vibrant," and yeah, it does make a huge difference how they start out, yeah, on all levels, physically, mentally, and emotionally, spiritually. Yeah.   Mason: (56:22) What an incredible opportunity to learn these things and to share them out as you said going up, getting on country and sharing that with mob. You can see something really amazing getting created here. It's not just run of the mill. All right. Everyone just jump onto that course, by the way, if you're in the Northern hemisphere get on, get onto it.   Helen Padarin: (56:46) Yeah. Even if you get onto it now you're prepared for your winter, but yes, you can sign up any time, but again, we're on there now.   Mason: (56:56) Prepare for flu season, although we don't have the flu anymore, it's gone. It's all gone. There's no flu season this year.   Helen Padarin: (57:03) Prepare for viruses, can't even say it. Actually, if anybody wants to help this cause for stronger future generations, just with all the censorship going on at the moment, anything that even smells of immunity just is really hard to get much reach. So if you do feel that this is important, then yeah, we would be super appreciative of just sharing it with friends and family and anyone you think might be interested out there.   Mason: (57:38) Yeah. So I'm really happy to share this out there. We've had that as well with all the COVID censorship, even just wanting to do an ad, right? You look at the crazy ads that people put out there from the pharmaceutical company and the crazy... We've talked about vaccines once on this podcast, especially the COVID-19 podcasts so it was with a doctor who, she's rad and she's worked on vaccines and she was explaining her process about all of why she wanted to do it. And I was like, "Great," it was a great conversation. And I really am seeing the opportunity to have some real open table chats on this podcast. And it's the same way with diets, start popping the bubble as much as possible and start looking at each other and feeling each other's process to approaching this whole thing and acknowledging our own ignorance at the same time.   Mason: (58:34) So in saying that, maybe we talk about it, maybe we don't, let's see how far we go down, but just talking to the immunity thing, look at how that's been advertised, celebrity endorsements, all that kind of stuff. There's no kind of real accountability there. I've got a product that's now a TGA listed medicine so it's on the same kind of level of scrutiny as a drug basically and we've got clinical-backed data, we're allowed to say, "This is to build your immune system, this is to support your immune system." And if I try and advertise that it gets denied by the big wigs, because I'm not allowed to advertise my thing that I paid a lot of money to have as a listed medicine here in Australia and is clinically-backed and acknowledged it is traditionally backed to support the immune system. So it's a lot of bullshit.   Helen Padarin: (59:32) Yeah. I feel It. Yeah, that's a whole other thing, isn't it? It's crazy, yeah, how much is being censored at the moment. And I kind of wanted to emphasise as well one thing that you said earlier and then kind of it came up then is that ability to hold contradictions. I mean, all of life is a contradiction, right? Contradiction is everywhere, nothing makes sense really, if you want a black and white yes or no kind of thing. And I just think it is really important that we do kind of let down our guards and defences a bit so that we can get curious and have conversations and not need to pretend that we know it all and be open to learning new information and hearing other people's points of views without becoming supercharged about it. I mean, I know it can be challenging at times, but rarely is the truth at either end of the spectrum, it's usually there's somewhere in between I think. But either way being open to more than one point of view I think is important for health as well.   Mason: (01:00:45) That contradiction you just brought up a real nuanced skill that does show intelligence there because I feel like it's a very slippery one and I do see a lot of people who are speaking out about having the vaccine forced on them going, "Hey everyone, please, you need to listen and learn," and I see the distinction and skill there is going, "I've done a lot of research on this. I have a view that is going against the common narrative and I want to share that and I'm going to ask you guys to be open to sharing," that's the skill. To be like that and have real conviction in that what you're talking about and still then holding this opening and this desire to learn and really dead set letting go of your "I'm a know-it-all, I'm right and I've got all my talking points that make it so that even though they're convincing," I've been there and been like, "No one will ever sway me on this. Look at that, I'm too good at gathering..." Whether you're on the pro or anti or whatever you want to call yourself side, having that ability to lay it down as you know it and staying completely open and curious at the same time, huge sign of intelligence.   Helen Padarin: (01:01:59) Imagine if we could all do that, imagine the state of affairs and society and the world if we even just had a little bit more of that going around. I think that's one of the medicines we need, yeah.   Mason: (01:02:15) I'm going to say something very non-woke now, but going through a fever, going through an experience that is not comfortable and being supported, but being allowed the right to be uncomfortable and work your way through that kind of helps you not become such a snowflake is how I'd put it. But I think what you're talking about, having an open affair, having conversation with someone and really trying to go down a rabbit hole with creating tension around, "I'm sharing what I kind of know, and I'm going to let in and acknowledge you know some," provided the person does, and they're not just a bloody, you know what I'm about to say, rambling idiot. It's very uncomfortable to hold that space and be in that space, that vulnerability of having conviction and really desiring to grow and evolve beyond where you are. And I think it all goes down to fevers, we didn't allow these people to have fevers now they're bloody snowflakes and they won't be uncomfortable in that tension space.   Helen Padarin: (01:03:28) That is so true. That's it. And that tension, there's negative or bad, not good enough words for it that I have anyway, but there's bad tension and good tension, right? To simplify things. And I think that is a good kind of tension. That's like creative tension, that's a space that allows new things to grow from because there is this discomfort. And if we're comfortable, we don't tend to grow because it's just too comfortable, right? But if we can be in that space where we've come from a particular perspective or belief but we can be open to others and again, be curious with someone else who can also meet you there and be curious because it's very hard to do that... Still possible actually, but it's nice if you can do it with someone who can meet you there, then that's where innovation comes from and creativity comes from and how to make things better. So, yeah.   Mason: (01:04:37) Oh, amen. A-bloody-men. I'm aware time is getting around us a little bit, before we bring it home. I just want to quickly get your download on liver flushing because it's your other offering. It's been a little bit since I've done my own liver flush, I do like the idea when Southern hemisphere springtime comes around, jumping on and I guess just being a part of a community and then doing it with you guys in that way. But do you want to just quickly give the down-low? There are a lot of people here who might not have actually heard of liver flushing, where it comes from in terms of the old school herbal tradition and folk remedy, what the point is, what the benefits are, why it's a good idea to in the beginning maybe be professionally advised and led?   Helen Padarin: (01:05:35) Absolutely, yeah. So this is a programme we run a couple of times a year and I guess one of my simplified philosophies of life and health is that disease comes down to two things, too much of something and not enough of something. So what we're wanting to do is nourish and cleanse basically to create and maintain our health. And we're in this environment these days where we are inundated with exposures that as a human race, we've never been exposed to before since World War Two, there's just been an explosion of chemicals in our environment, in our food. And so our livers and our thyroid for that matter get very heavily affected. So our thyroid is really sensitive to a lot of environmental toxins and our liver and gallbladder function are heavily affected by our thyroid, I'd love to know the TCM connection here actually.   Mason: (01:06:39) I was literally just thinking, I wish I had like a Jamie, like a Joe Rogan Jamie and I'd be like-   Helen Padarin: (01:06:45) "Look that up for me."   Mason: (01:06:47) Yeah, just bring that up. I'm going to wobble the video a little bit guys. I'm like, I think I've got a book here, I'm not going to go into it. It's not here, but I have a book that basically is that, a TCM practitioner booklet. Yeah.   Helen Padarin: (01:07:03) Yeah. So there's thyroid receptors throughout your body, right? And your gallbladder needs thyroid hormone to be able to empty bile from the gallbladder. And you also need a good functioning liver to... The word's escaping me at the moment. To transfer your T3, sorry, your T4, your inactive thyroid hormone to active thyroid hormone, T3. That conversion mainly happens in the liver. So you need good liver function for your thyroid hormone to work properly. You need that thyroid hormone for your gallbladder to empty properly and for a gazillion and other things as well.   Helen Padarin: (01:07:49) So we do this liver and gallbladder flush to help out the liver, the gallbladder, the gut, the thyroid kind of everything, basically. So the liver is where we produce our bile, it gets stored in the gallbladder and then when we're eating fatty food, you get a squirt of bile out of the gallbladder to emulsify. It's kind of like a detergent and emulsifies the fats so that your lipase and your enzymes that break down fat can break that down and you can get your essential fatty acids and you

On this episode of the Healthy, Wealthy and Smart Podcast, I welcome Elizabeth Santos on the show to discuss burnout among new graduates. Elizabeth Santos is a Physical Therapist, Naturopathic Practitioner and Author of 'New Graduate's Guide to Physiotherapy: Avoid Burnout and Injury, Build Resilience and Thrive in Clinical Practice’ an academic style of book designed to be a supplementary text for final year students and new graduates.  Elizabeth has a special interest in maternity health care and works for a talented team of physiotherapists in a musculoskeletal private practice that focuses predominantly on running and sports, pelvic floor health and pregnancy and postnatal care. She is also an active member of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, and a member of the University of Adelaide Physiotherapy Advisory Board. In this episode, we discuss: -Are new graduates prepared for clinical practice? -Why new graduates are most at risk for burnout -The signs and symptoms of burnout -Elizabeth’s book, New Graduate’s Guide to Physiotherapy: Avoid burnout and thrive in clinical practice -And so much more! Resources: Elizabeth Santos Facebook Elizabeth Santos LinkedIn Elizabeth Santos Website New Graduate's Guide to Physiotherapy: 10% off with code: hwspodcast   A big thank you to Net Health for sponsoring this episode!  Learn more about Secure Videoconferencing and Text Messaging for Telehealth.   For more information on Elizabeth: Elizabeth Santos is an Australian physical therapist, naturopathic practitioner and author of ‘New Graduate’s Guide to Physiotherapy.’ Elizabeth completed a bachelor of physiotherapy at the University of South Australia in 2006 and then went on to work across a range of clinical areas, from acute care within the public hospital system, to aged care,  rehabilitation in the home, and musculoskeletal physiotherapy where she now works exclusively. She has a special interest in maternity healthcare and works for a talented team of physiotherapists in a clinic that focuses mainly on running and sports, pelvic floor health and pregnancy and postnatal care. Elizabeth also completed a second bachelor degree in Health Sciences – Naturopathy in 2014 so that she could provide a holistic and integrative approach to her clients. Elizabeth is an active member of the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) and member of the University of Adelaide Physiotherapy Advisory Board. During her career, Elizabeth became curious about the pervasive burnout she saw in the profession so she spent seven years reading literature on the subjects of injury, attrition and burnout in physiotherapy. Elizabeth has written an academic style of book that is full of the latest research to guide new physical therapists and is designed to be a supplementary text for final-year students and new and recent graduates. The book covers key areas of clinical interest for new graduates, including how to successfully gain employment, find a mentor, understand insurance and medico-legal requirements, build relationships with clients and colleagues, and learn how to work through professional challenges as they arise. Elizabeth provides one-to-one mentoring for new graduate physical therapists and also hosts in-person and online workshops for helpers and health professionals who wish to prevent burnout, build resilience and truly thrive in the roles they have chosen. She believes that when we take good care of ourselves we can be of greatest service to others. Elizabeth’s intention is to help new graduate physiotherapists truly thrive in those first years of clinical practice and beyond.   Read the full transcript below: Karen Litzy (00:01): Hi Elizabeth, welcome to the podcast all the way from Australia. I'm so happy to have you on the program. Elizabeth Santos (00:08): Thank you for having me. Karen Litzy (00:09): And now a couple of weeks ago, this is just for the listeners, a couple of weeks ago, I interviewed Tavana Boggs on burnout and physical therapy and she was talking about some of the clients that she works with and yeah, we were sort of centering the talk around people who are 12 to 15 years out of physical therapy school. They've been practicing for a long time. So today we're taking a different take on burnout. So today we're going to be talking about avoiding burnout as a new graduate. And Elizabeth has written a book, new graduates guide to physiotherapy, avoid burnout and injury and build resilience and thrive in clinical practice. So we are going to talk about burnout with new grads because sadly it's a thing. Elizabeth Santos (01:01): Right? It is, it is. It's a thing. Karen Litzy (01:04): I wish it weren't, but it's a thing. So go. So talk about why you took the steps to write this book in the first place. Elizabeth Santos (01:14): Thank you for the introduction. And look. Firstly, I want to say it's a really exciting time to be a new graduate. I think there's so much opportunity for new graduates and for physiotherapists right now, particularly. I wrote this book last year. It was published. It really was the culmination of lots of reading and research over many, many years and actually took me seven years to put it all together. From the moment I started taking notes in the clinic one day just on some letterhead and I thought, Oh, you know, what's going on here? What's happening in the profession? I was curious about the burnout that I saw and also attrition. So physiotherapists leaving the profession because they were feeling unhappy or not really wanting to continue for some reason. I actually looked into some research on this and found a study from Curtin university in Perth, Western Australia. And that study showed that up to 65% of the participants interviewed who were new graduates anticipated leaving within 10 years. It was so, I thought, what's going on here? You know, why is this so high and what can we do about that? Karen Litzy (02:33): I mean that does seem very high. So they've just graduated and they already have the plans to get out of the profession. Elizabeth Santos (02:42): Yes, it was quite an alarming study and I've seen it those results actually communicated at conferences since and people bringing it up as a real talking point. Within the same study they found that 25% of participants predicted a long term career in physio therapy. So there were some people who were saying, you know, I am going to stick this out and I do see this as a long term plan, but not as many as you'd expect at that point in their studies. You'd be expecting them to come out fresh and excited and ready to take on the world. Karen Litzy (03:17): And what do you feel that it is a lack of readiness? Are they not ready for clinical practice? Are they not ready for the real world? I mean, what are your thoughts on that? Elizabeth Santos (03:30): That's a great question because that's also something that's been looked at in the literature a lot in Australia particularly, you know, that sense of our physio therapists actually ready to step into the real world and step into their shoes. As a clinician, you know, we try to make sure that physical therapists have adequate clinical placements and exposure to different areas of physiotherapy because we know that helps them to make decisions about their career pathway. You know, they've got that knowledge to draw on when they're choosing their first job or their second job. But there are other things that can help physio therapists prepare and feel job ready. So some of the things that have been highlighted in Australian research where that physios who have as students had experienced in sporting teams or had additional training in radiology. So people who've gone on to study and look at scans in a bit more detail, have had good experiences with that and that's inspired them to go on and perhaps work in orthopedics or musculoskeletal physiotherapy. Elizabeth Santos (04:43): We've also found that practicing building a supportive relationship and mentorships with colleagues, but also with other professionals. So whether that's social workers or psychologists or doctors and other allied health professions, that's become something that's really big. And there's lots of research behind that now as well. And just, you know, starting to think about which areas might interest you and what professional development you're going to go down. Which pathway are you going to go down once you graduate? And there's more and more internships which are becoming available too, which are privately operated internships through private practices and things. But yeah, so there's some of the things that new graduates can do to sort of help themselves feel that little bit more prepared and job ready. Karen Litzy (05:32): And so what I'm hearing is, you know, getting some inspiration from your placements, getting inspiration and that can come from different places, right? That can come from a mentor, like do they mention finding a good mentor, whether that be within your Institute, your educational institution or outside of, within the profession. Does that help with burnout? Elizabeth Santos (05:57): So there is some research to show that mentoring actually helps not only the new graduates, so the fresh physiotherapists coming through, but it actually helps the more experienced ones as well. It helps them to develop a sense of meaning in their work. So finding the right mentor is really crucial and I think for new graduates and for students really, you know, they've got that mentoring in built beautifully in the undergraduate training programs. So they've got these really inspiring, highly qualified, highly skilled therapists teaching them, taking them through step by step. And it's a really important relationship. But then when they become a new graduate, they suddenly lose that sense of being protected by the university. You know, they're out in the real world. It's like leaving home for the first time, you know, it's a little bit scary being out in the world. Elizabeth Santos (06:52): And then they've got to find mentors in other ways. And so there's two ways that you can go about finding a mentor and one is to have a mentor who's actually got really more of a vested interest in seeing you succeed. So they're the ones who probably your employer because they're going to want to see you grow and they want to see you help clients and they want to see you do the best that you can because it's going to be beneficial for you and it's going to be beneficial for the practice. But then there are other people who become mentors in your life because they've got some sort of interest in seeing you thrive as well. So it might be someone who's a family member who's a physical therapist or someone who's been an educator, but then you've formed a relationship that's perhaps, even outside the university, which does happen too with different training programs and things. So I guess it is a really important piece of the puzzle and something that, and new graduates can, you know, definitely look into and find someone who's gonna help them. Karen Litzy (07:59): Yeah. Yeah. And, one thing that I found very interesting from a conversation I had a couple of weeks ago about sort of helping new graduates find a roadmap for their career is to really be very clear on what your vision or what your individual mission statement is. Mmm. And it's hard, right? You really have to do some soul searching and find out what is your mission statement. And this is from Tracy Blake. She is a physiotherapist in Canada and she suggested that everyone have a mission statement and that that mission statement should not have jargon in it. It should not have physical therapy jargon, right? So you want to try and find what your mission is even as a new graduate. Write your mission out, repeat it over and over again. Elizabeth Santos (08:53): Tell it to people. So that becomes real. Karen Litzy (08:56): And I think that will help you gravitate towards the right mentor. Elizabeth Santos (09:02): Fantastic. I really love that. That's a great idea. And something that's really practical that the listeners who are tuning into this podcast can actually sit down and do it is it aligns with something that I read a while ago about new graduates and is actually in the book and I can't find the source unfortunately, but it was to picture your list in two years time and work towards it now. So if you can actually start, you know, that sense of who do I want to work with, what kind of clients really light me up, you know, who do I feel called to serve? And being okay with that changing over time as well and knowing that through different phases of your life. It, it may change for a little and that's okay. It was actually an experienced physiotherapist. I've just had a flash of the face where that quote came from, so I can't give him credit by name, but Karen Litzy (10:06): But that's fine. He'll know when he listened to that it was him. Yeah. And I always find that I love that you said it may change and morph over time because I think what gives people a lot of stress is that when you graduate, like let's say you say, I'm going to work with children, this is what I want to do, I know it, this is going to be my life's work. And then you start to work and you're like, you know, I kind of like working with athletes, I kind of like working with pregnant moms, moms to be right. Karen Litzy (10:42): I think to avoid some burnout and avoid some guilt, you have to give yourself permission to change because if you don't, I feel like you're carrying this baggage with you and can’t that also contribute to burnout. Especially if you're a year or two out and you're like, Oh wait a second, this isn't quite what I thought it was going to be. I kinda like doing this. But I said I was going to do this and now I guess I have to do it right. And I'm sure you've heard that before. Elizabeth Santos (11:10): Absolutely. And so knowing that the path will unfold step by step, job by job, and you may not be in the same role for 20 years if that doesn't feel aligned for you. And that's okay. And it's that sense of knowing and trusting, which yeah, it's just something that you cultivate over time and have to feel confident in. But it's hard in the beginning because I've heard a lot of new graduates say to me that they're concerned that if they take this first job in aged care, or if they take this first job in musculoskeletal private practice, then they're locked into that, you know, and there's no way out and there's no, and if they want to change their mind and do this, and quite often it's me then encouraging them just to make a decision. And I never you know, I never really help anyone to make a decision. Elizabeth Santos (12:04): I just help them to sort of look inside themselves and make lists of the things that light them up and like we've discussed. So that mission statement kind of idea is going to help them find the right path and then reconcile that and you know, and back themselves and go for it.   Karen Litzy: Yeah, I think that's great advice. And now in the book, Mmm. You also say that burnout as we are talking about is an issue for new physiotherapists, right? So we talked about some things that maybe they can do, but let's back it up. Why are they at risk for burnout if they haven't even started?   Elizabeth Santos: Hmm, good question. Because burnout is something that we know about and we've all talked about. We've heard about it, we've read articles, there's a huge body of research looking at burnout among nurses and doctors and psychologists. Elizabeth Santos (13:04): And there is a relatively smaller but growing body of research about burnout in physio-therapy too. And we know it's because there's parallels between those professions. And because physiotherapists in direct patient care, really with clients every day lots of different people from all walks of life. And there's lots of different social and psychosocial elements that go along with that. But on top of the therapeutic relationship that you're building with clients and all of those things, new graduates are juggling seeing more clients than before as well. So they might've been able to cope with seeing and processing, you know, the pain or the stories of three or four patients in one day. But then when they've got to do that for 20 or in some hospital environments and clinics, even more than that with classes and things, you know, it can take its toll. And so navigating that professional work environment and even for physiotherapists, you know, navigating their own personal processing of that can the mental load and it can add up to burn out. Elizabeth Santos (14:15): So I guess we can also hypothesize that new graduates are really trying to put their best foot forward too and they want to work really hard and they want to be as good as they can for their employers. So they're going to be at risk a little bit there too. Karen Litzy (14:52): Yeah. So it's a lot of external and internal pressures. Yeah. That kind of happened all at once. Right? You graduate and all of a sudden, boom, you've got all of these pressures from the outside. And how do you deal with that mentally and emotionally? And it almost makes me think that there should be a, maybe there are, I don't Sort of mental health support groups for new graduates so that they can almost like an alcoholics anonymous, right? So they can go in and discuss the things that are causing them to have these feelings of burnout. I don't know if that exists. Do you know, is that a thing? Elizabeth Santos (15:09): It doesn't to my knowledge, but it sounds like a great idea, you know, just that community. And look, I think there are some communities on Facebook that we possibly don't know about because we're not new graduates. And I do know of some student association groups and we certainly have some great new graduate programs through the professional association in Australia in terms of building those support networks in. So, you know, that's up and coming as well, which is really exciting. Karen Litzy (15:46): It's definitely a growth area. Awesome. All right. So let's talk about what are the signs of burnout? So signs of burnout. Let's say if you're the new grad or let's say you're someone like me who's been out for quite some time, can I see these signs of burnout in new graduates? So go ahead. Elizabeth Santos (16:07): Yes, you can definitely see signs of burnout in people. And I think it's important to differentiate signs and symptoms just like you would if you were, you know, a medical practitioner. Even as physiotherapists, we do look at those things separately. So the signs would be seeing that reduced employee engagement. So perhaps loss of enthusiasm for new projects or for jobs that you're given. Perhaps less willingness to contribute. A sense of lack of transparency around how you're really feeling or what's really going on for you. So quite often new graduates will try and hide their emotions a little bit or hide that vulnerability and just put, you know, hold their chin high and keep going instead of being honest about where they're actually at. If we look at symptoms, they're actually the things that you're feeling as a physiotherapist. So whether you're a new graduate or an experienced physiotherapists, they're going to be quite similar. Elizabeth Santos (17:13): So they will be things like fatigue. It's going to be different for everyone, but you might get headaches or you might feel nauseous at work or you might have a sinking feeling or that sense of dread about going to work. For some new graduates I've spoken to, they've even been in tears in the car going into the job in extreme cases where they're feeling not supported in their workplace or they're feeling like they want to quit or leave that particular role. So it's actually coaching people through those feelings, those emotions because they're the symptoms. You actually manifest in the body. But then there are the signs which are those bigger picture things which people on the outside looking in tend to see. If we look a little bit deeper, we can actually look at some of the research around this and look at the validated tools which have been used to assess the burnout in society. Elizabeth Santos (18:13): So particularly in the health professions, the mass like burnout inventory has been used. And this is a 22 item outcome measurement tool, which takes about 10 or 15 minutes to complete and it's been considered the gold standard since it was created in the 1980s it's obviously been updated since then and there are now five different inventories which are used across different settings. And they're used in the research a lot because they contain some great questions which respondents can answer. So things like I feel used up at the end of the day and you would score that with never being a zero through two every day being a six. And there's different subsets within the outcome tool so you can score each subset or each part of it. And what it does is it actually provides some information for people who are looking at burnout in different populations and it helps to categorize them into three distinct categories. Elizabeth Santos (19:17): So the first one is emotional exhaustion, which is where physical therapists become depleted and they might be starting to feel a bit fatigued or some of those symptoms I mentioned. And this then leads to that second stage of burnout, which is called depersonalization in which the physiotherapists stops empathizing as well as they normally would and they might even start to become detached from their clients or show signs of cynicism, which is unfortunately not a good sign as a practitioner if you're having a dig at clients or locking them in some way. Yeah, it's a sign of burnout and then that third stage, yeah, it's reduced personal accomplishment. So for new graduates this might look like, you know, compromised standards of care or reduced sense of personal achievement. Then starting to wonder if they're even a good physio at all, if they even know anything at all. And that kind of ties in with the imposter syndrome and you know, that sense of being a fraud, which I talk about in the book as well, that these are all things that you can look at if these signs are starting to emerge and take some action, talk it through, find some strategies.   Karen Litzy: And I was just thinking as an employer, is this, let's say doing this Burt, the mass, like burnout, inventory, giving this to your employees, is that a good or a bad thing? Elizabeth Santos (20:49): I can a great question. I can't quite put my finger on that. It could go either way, couldn't it? It could, right? It could go either way. And sometimes just sitting down and having those honest conversations and actually you don't necessarily need to ask your employees if they're feeling burnt out, but you can check in on engagement and check in on, you know, are they feeling inspired? Do they have enough to work on? What kind of clients do they want to be working with? Looking at the personal mission statement stuff, sharing wins, you know, that's a big one. That sense of positivity. And that's something we do in the clinic a lot as a team, which is fantastic. Karen Litzy (21:31): That is fantastic. And, and I would imagine that all of that just becomes, just gives that new graduate, especially a sense of being taken care of. We spoke a little bit beforehand and we talked about the word comfort. So I can only imagine if you're the employer, if you're the more experienced, even if you're not the employer, if even if you're the more experienced physical therapist in the clinic or in the hospital and you're just checking in with people on a weekly basis, ask them, how are you doing? How can I help? What do you need help with? Are you stuck? I can only imagine that it would give, cause I know when people check in on me, it does give me a sense of comfort like, Oh, this person's in my corner. This is great. Elizabeth Santos (22:16): Yes. It's just that caring approach that we have to our clients that we need to then reflect out into the world, you know, for our team and checking in on people is a beautiful way to do that. And then extending that care to ourselves as well. So going, am I okay? Actually, no, I'm not. What's going on for me? What do I need to do about that? How can I take responsibility for changing that with the support of my employer? Karen Litzy (22:44): Yeah. Yeah. So again, we go back to having that both internal and external check-in, which seems to be a theme here. Okay. So what other big issues do new graduates face at the moment? So just so people know, we are recording this, it is in the middle of the covid-19 pandemic and there are changes in health systems, changes all around the world. How will new grads be affected by this? Elizabeth Santos (23:15): I think there is a level of uncertainty about the impact of covid-19 across the board at the moment. And we can hypothesize that the current situation is going to impact on physiotherapists who are final year students who are graduating out into the world. They're going to be unsure about what's available for them, you know, where they're going to be needed. Certainly clinical placements are going to be impacted. This at the moment, and this is something that I know in Australia we're working really hard on the Australian physiotherapy association as part of their advocacy role, which is wonderful. Just protecting those and making sure that we've got those roles for physiotherapy students and that they're getting all the experience they need because they do need that experience. I think we're going to see some really positive things in terms of the workforce because we're going to see more jobs. Elizabeth Santos (24:13): So it's actually a really positive time and a really exciting time to be a new graduate physiotherapists. So if you can look at that and think, you know, we are going to need therapy physiotherapists in key roles in assessment and treatment of injury both in the community, in the hospital setting, helping to increase or facilitate discharge I should say, and making sure that, you know, clients are actually, patients are leaving the hospital system in due course. You know, we really need those beds and the staff to be looking after people who of all walks, you know, they're still going to be in the hospital system, but yet really we need physiotherapists on the frontline as essential workers. We're seeing a huge uptake in telehealth at the moment, which is also really exciting. And that's because of the social distancing policies that are being put in place. Well clinics and hospitals remain open. Some people are still having services in those clinics and in the hospitals, but there is a large movement towards the telehealth sphere. So this is something really exciting that new graduates can learn about and put into their toolkit for use now and into the future as well. Elizabeth Santos (25:34): I don't see tele-health going away when social distancing rules are lessened. So I think as a new graduate it is really exciting to be able to have so many options. And because of the pandemic, all of these people who are sick and who are recovering, they're going to need our help. You know, like you said, we are essential and I think that as a new graduate that really at this point, yes, there's a lot of uncertainty but there's uncertainty across the board. But I don't think that new graduates have to be in great despair at the moment. I understand, you know those final year students who like you said, are trying to get their clinical placements, which is all over the place and just graduate for God's sakes are having a lot of stress at the moment. But I agree, I think that physical therapists or physiotherapists are in a unique position here to really show up and be part of the team. Karen Litzy (26:44): Earlier you mentioned being part of the team of physicians and nurses and doctors and psychologists. I mean we are going to be an essential part of that team. So hopefully if the research shows that being part of a team helps with burnout, it'll help with our new graduates now. Elizabeth Santos (27:02): Absolutely. And there are those vulnerable groups and vulnerable patients who are really going to need the support that physiotherapists have to provide and anyone in the community who's wanting to keep their exercises going and do those online classes and all of those opportunities which are unfolding. It's a great and exciting time to be part of the profession. Karen Litzy (27:23): I can't agree more. And now how can new graduate physios keep confident and keep positive? Right now we've said, Hey, it's, you know, it's not like it's a horrible time to be a PT, but how can they keep confident, positive and take care of themselves? Elizabeth Santos (27:42): That sense of reassurance I'd like to really impart, you know, just for new graduates to keep taking care of themselves. It's those simple things that they can do, like making sure that they keep their nutrition up and exercise and really try and inspire themselves at the moment and look after themselves and get plenty of sleep and those basic things which are useful for anyone to be honest. Because we all need to be practicing good sleep hygiene, keeping off our phones or having some boundaries around social media and the news and just looking for jobs, getting support with looking for jobs if they're in that phase, reaching out to a mentor, a debriefing if they've just started in a new role this year. So making sure that if things feel overwhelming or if they're unsure that they're asking for help and that they're asking questions and that they're supporting their teammates as well. You know, every country is going through lots of changes and there are some really sad and heartbreaking things happening in the world and we can't look away from those and we can't ignore them, but we can stay still keep moving forward as individuals and as a profession and feel hopeful about the role that we have to play. Karen Litzy (29:01): Yeah, I agree. And I think that was very well said. Now Elizabeth, let's talk, can you talk a little bit about the book. Elizabeth Santos (29:09): Good, thank you. I am really excited to reach as many new graduate physios who need this reassurance and this support the people who are looking for that sense of comfort or unsure about which role is right for them. So it's a mentor in your pocket style of book, which has an academic undertone. So there's lots of research in there. But then there's some light and funny comics which I had commissioned as well to kind of make it a little bit more enticing read so it wasn't dry because if it's too evidence heavy it can sometimes be hard to sift through. But our physiotherapists are good at that and it's designed to help you navigate all of the tricky areas as a new graduate. So things like negotiating a contract, building therapeutic relationships with clients, how to find the right mentor, how to choose professional development. Elizabeth Santos (30:11): So what you should be doing versus what your employer perhaps thinks you should be doing or what you know based on your mission statement I think is a good way to choose. But it also talks about the highs and the lows that you might experience and the mistakes that you'll probably make, which are part and parcel of being a physical therapist and then how to put all of that together and sort of trust the journey as it unfolds and build resilience over time. And it's written in the third person. So as I said in that sort of academic tone, but then there are some simple questions, journal prompts at the end of each chapter that you can workshop as well. And I'm happy to support people through because I think it helps to have that self reflection and actually to write some things down and go, what is working for me and what's not and what am I having trouble with here? Elizabeth Santos (31:04): So it's designed to help them kind of workshop and for it to be a little bit like a Bible for that first year or two. So if they have a really rough day, they can actually go home and flick it open to that chapter and go, okay, what happened here? What could I do differently? How could I learn from perhaps some of the mistakes that are talked about in the book, you know, and how can I integrate this and move forward and get the best outcome for myself and for the client, for the practice, for the team if I'm in a hospital or wherever I might be. Karen Litzy (31:37): Nice. So it's more than just a once read and done. You can go back to it and kind of use the tools in the book over and over again, which I think is great. And just for all the listeners for a limited time, Elizabeth is offering a 10% discount on her book when you use the code HWSpodcast at checkout. And we'll have her website, which is ElizabethSantos.com.edu over at podcast.healthywealthysmart.com and we'll splash it across social media. So we'll make it really, really easy to do this. So again the discount code is HWSpodcast. So Elizabeth, I've asked the same question to everyone at the end of each interview and I feel like in this particular episode it is the perfect question to end with. And that is knowing where you are now in your life and in your career, what advice would you give to yourself as a new grad? Elizabeth Santos (32:37): It's a lovely question. Funnily enough, I taught to my younger self a lot when I wrote this book because I needed her insights and I needed her stories and she had a lot of wisdom to share, which I wove through the book. And it wasn't just my experiences, it was all of the experiences of all the physiotherapists I'd ever known and spoken to. So it was a real collective of wisdom and inspiration that went into the book. And I'm grateful for that. And it's a nice moment to thank all of those people who were part of it in some way because it's created a meaningful resource. But if I could go back to 2006 I would say congratulations. And I know how excited I was at that time. And I would probably say straight up, listen, you're going to make some mistakes, you're going to make a lot of mistakes and you're going to really want to beat yourself up about those. Elizabeth Santos (33:38): And you're going to question the choices you've made in therapy and in your career. And you won't know if you made the right choice, but you'll have to back yourself and you'll have to know that you are enough and you have got a lot of knowledge to share. And you know, it's student experiences and it's life experience as well. So I always encourage new graduates to really draw on everything they have and know that they're always going to be in some small way, the expert in the room, you know, even if you think you don't know anything you actually do and you can draw on, okay. That strength and that knowledge in those moments. But I'd also really offer some words of comfort because it's hard to know if you're doing the right thing and it's hard to know if you've made those right choices. Elizabeth Santos (34:30): I'd tell myself to take some regular holidays too because I know I didn't do that enough in my first couple of years, so yeah, but just knowing that you can inspire others and that you can inspire yourself is probably the biggest and yeah, it's a really exciting time for all the physios out there and I hope that they can find some inspiration in this podcast and in these answers.   Karen Litzy: Thank you. I'm sure they will. And now, Elizabeth, where can people find you on social media?   Elizabeth Santos: So on social media, they can find me at whole living with Elizabeth Santos, which is my Facebook page, but the website, ElizabethSantos.com.edu probably has the most amount of resources and it has links to my new graduate mentoring and people can connect with me through email that way. And I do actually have a free chapter of the book available. If you want to jump on the email, you can do that and I'll send you a chapter to read and get a bit of a feel for what the book's about. Karen Litzy (35:38): Perfect. Well thank you so much. This was great and I just know that I think it will give new graduates inspiration. I think it will give new graduates a sense of comfort and of confidence as they go out into the world. So thank you so much Elizabeth. This was great. And to everyone listening, thank you so much. Have a great couple of days and stay healthy, wealthy, and smart.   Thanks for listening and subscribing to the podcast! Make sure to connect with me on twitter, instagram  and facebook to stay updated on all of the latest!  Show your support for the show by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Why You Should Listen: In this episode, you will learn about some of the considerations in preparing for pregnancy and optimizing outcomes for healthy pregnancies in those with Lyme disease. About My Guest: My guest for this episode is Dr. Nicola McFadzean Ducharme, ND. Nicola McFadzean Ducharme, ND is the founder and Medical Director of RestorMedicine. She practices holistic medicine specializing in Lyme disease, hormone balancing, autistic-spectrum disorders, pre-conception health care and digestive disorders. Dr. Nicola is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor, trained in both the United States and her native country of Australia. She received her Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington, and her Bachelor of Health Sciences (Naturopathy) from the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia. Her training included a two-year internship at the Bastyr Center for Natural Health, an internship in medical research at Columbia University as a Mountbatten Scholar, and four years at the Bastyr University Research Institute. Dr. Nicola is the Medical Advisor to the Lyme Disease Association of Australia. She is a referral doctor for Defeat Autism Now! and is an outreach physician for Great Plains Laboratory. She is a consultant for New Beginnings Nutritionals, and is on the Scientific Advisory Board for Hyperbaric Oxygen Centers, Inc. and the medical advisory board of the Institute for Integrative Medicine. She is a member of the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS), the California Naturopathic Doctors Association (CNDA) and the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP). Dr. Nicola is a published author, with her own books – Beginners Guide to Lyme Disease, Lyme Disease in Australia, The Lyme Diet: Nutritional Strategies For Healing From Lyme Disease, Lyme Brain, as well as a chapter in Connie Strasheim’s books Insights into Lyme Disease Treatment: 13 Lyme-literate Health Care Practitioners Share Their Healing Strategies and New Paradigms in Lyme Disease Treatment: 10 Top Doctors Reveal Healing Strategies That Work. Key Takeaways: - What three things have the most negative impact on a patient's health? - What three treatment options are current favorites? - What makes Lyme disease so complicated to treat? - What labs tests are helpful for Lyme and coinfections? - Are antibiotics needed to recover from Lyme disease? - How is antimicrobial therapy approached? - What tools can be helpful for supporting detoxification? - What is the role of biofilms? - How are pain, inflammation, fatigue, cognitive issues, and sleep approached? - Can HBOT, ozone, of frequency therapy be helpful? - What is the role of hormone balancing in the treatment of Lyme disease? - How is gut health optimized? - What is the role of diet and nutrition? - Does environmental exposure to mold impact Lyme treatment outcomes? - What is the role of mental/emotional health in Lyme recovery? Connect With My Guest: http://restormedicine.com Related Resources: Lyme-Ed Course Interview Date: October 21, 2017 Disclosure: BetterHealthGuy.com is an affiliate of Lyme-Ed. Disclaimer: The content of this show is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any illness or medical condition. Nothing in today's discussion is meant to serve as medical advice or as information to facilitate self-treatment. As always, please discuss any potential health-related decisions with your own personal medical authority.

In this episode you will learn: • About Dr. Ducharme's new book, “Lyme Brain” • How gluten can weaken the blood brain barrier • About neuroplasticity and positive thinking Dr. Nicola Ducharme is the founder and medical director of RestorMedicine, an integrative medical center based in San Diego, CA. Having done her naturopathic training and completed her Bachelor of Health Sciences (Naturopathy) in Australia, she moved to the United States and obtained her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine, starting a private practice soon thereafter. She is the author of The Lyme Diet: Nutritional Strategies For Healing From Lyme Disease, as well as a chapter in Connie Strasheim’s book Insights into Lyme Disease Treatment: 13 Lyme-literate Health Care Practitioners Share Their Healing Strategies.

Dr. Nicola McFadzean Ducharme is the founder and medical director of RestorMedicine, an integrative medical center based in San Diego, CA. Having done her naturopathic training and completed her Bachelor of Health Sciences (Naturopathy) in Australia, she moved to the United States and obtained her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine, starting a private practice soon thereafter. She is the author of The Lyme Diet: Nutritional Strategies For Healing From Lyme Disease, as well as a chapter in Connie Strasheim’s book Insights into Lyme Disease Treatment: 13 Lyme-literate Health Care Practitioners Share Their Healing Strategies. She conducts clinics in Australia twice a year, helping Lyme-sufferers navigate the testing and treatment options for tick-borne illness; and is the Medical Advisor to the Lyme Disease Association of Australia.