The Power of Food

A lot of people's behavior and erraticness today is due to the food they consume, which is not nourishing. Most of what's on grocery store shelves is not real food. The body's systems are interconnected, and what we eat affects our overall health. The power of food was demonstrated when a child's hyperactivity improved after removing artificial colors and flavors from their diet. Functional medicine looks at the root cause of health issues and focuses on diet and lifestyle changes. The body and mind are connected, and what we consume, both physically and mentally, affects our health. We need to be mindful of what we put into our bodies and listen to our body's signals. Education and awareness are key in making healthier choices. A lot of what we're dealing with in the behavior and the erraticness of people today is the effect of the food in their body that is not really food, it's not nourishing. I call most of what's on the shelves in the grocery store food-like substances. 80% of it didn't exist a hundred years ago. Medicine separates us into endocrinology and OB-GYN and all these different systems, cardiology, and as though it all is in its own little boxes in your body, but it all works together. And we need to recognize that the things I'm ruminating on are going to affect our body. Welcome to CHANGE, Community Helpers Affecting Growth and Education. Join us as experts and community helpers come together to share with you wisdom, tools, strategies, and ways that you can evolve into the best version of you. I am your host, Rebecca O'Rourke, behavioral expert and master hypnotist. I look forward to guiding you through all of these tools and strategies that will assist you to becoming the best version of you. Here we are, another episode of CHANGE, and we are so fortunate to welcome Kelly Lettman. She is a functional medicine health coach. So welcome, Kelly. Please tell our audience how you are helping people. Oh, thank you so much. I'm delighted to be here with you today. As a functional medicine health coach, I work with people to identify the root cause of what's going on in their bodies. And I've been fascinated with that since years back when I discovered, as I was homeschooling my son, I discovered that he was ADHD. What was I going to do with that? I found a book in the library, because this was before the internet, a long time ago. I found a book in the library that was titled, Why Your Child is Hyperactive. It was by a Dr. Benjamin Feingold, who was a pediatric allergist and had identified that a lot of hyperactivity was actually an allergic reaction to artificial colors and flavors in food. So we decided to embark on his two-week protocol of completely removing those foods from our diet. And as we did it as a family, I had three boys, and I wasn't going to say, you can eat this, and you can't. That wasn't going to be challenging. But it was amazing to see the difference in his behavior at the end of that two weeks. He was calm. He was able to sit and focus on math without constantly dropping his pencil. He could look at you and have a conversation. And it was just, all we did was change our food. Wow. The power of food. And so it was kind of one of those, you know, a glimmer of, I'm curious about this. I wonder about this. And I started to research, and I started to explore, as I continued homeschooling my boys, that after they graduated, the last of them graduated from high school, I went back to school for me. Because I wanted to be able to share more with others about the power of food. And then beyond that, with the, you know, walking people through diet change, through lifestyle changes, learning the functional medicine approach helped me go even deeper to explain the why behind the food and the lifestyle changes and the effect it has on our body. And that, to me, has been just a delight to watch other people discover, wow, I can feel this good in my body. You know, when they thought they were destined to a lifetime disease diagnosis. And they've been able to reverse chronic disease. Because we've worked step by step, providing the body what it needed, but also removing what was working against it. Incredible. Right. And the body is amazing. It truly is. You know, it reminds me of a story that I've, this couple, and it was an older couple. They lived on a farm, and they took in children who were severely behavioral children. So these kids had been in and out of jail. They had been kicked out of group homes. They had, you know, kind of been tossed to the side with their behavior was so severe. So this family would take in these kids, or this couple on the farm would take in the kids. And their whole motto and mission was the idea that they would feed the kids whole foods grown from the farm. And give them chores and love. And that would be enough for them to start changing and, you know, feeling confident. And, you know, changing the behavior as far as how they were hurting themselves and the world around them. And it was incredible. Every child that they took in was incredibly transformed with this foundation of food and chores and love. Yes. Yes. It's powerful. In fact, I read a book early on. It was written by a parole officer who worked with her parolees, her clients, to change their diet. And it changed their behaviors also. A lot of what we're dealing with in behavior and the erraticness of people today is the effect of the food in their body that is not really food. It's not nourishing. I call most of what's on the shelves in the grocery store food-like substances. It wasn't. 80% of it didn't exist 100 years ago. Corn isn't even listed as a food on the food guide anymore. And here it's in, like, every packaged thing that we buy. Exactly. Well, in Europe, corn is only a feed for animals. It is not a food for people. Or a fuel for vehicles. There you go. There you go. It's the one that our cars work normally. It is a wonder, yes. So amazing. You're really helping people change their lives with what they're putting into themselves. And I'm sure that has to do with food, but it probably has to do with also, you know, what they put into themselves in their mind, what they put into themselves, what they breathe in, right? Because, you know, we're constantly absorbing the world around us. So talk a little bit about that. Well, it's what we don't realize. We think, you know, our head is somehow separate from our body and is doing all the dictating down to the body. But when you look at physiology, the vagus nerve connects the back of the brain all the way through the torso, connecting and touching all the main organs. And the majority of it is focused on the digestive system. And it is a two-way street. It's the longest nerve in the body, but it's two-way communication. And they say 80 to 90% of communication is gut to brain. So what's going on in your gut based on what you're eating or even how you're thinking is going to affect your gut, but what you're eating is going to affect your brain and your thinking. And we just don't realize, you know, medicine separates us into endocrinology and OBGYN and all these different systems, cardiology. And as though it all is in its own little boxes in your body, but it all works together. And we need to recognize that the things I'm ruminating on are going to affect our body, you know, in the pandemic. If you watch the news, you couldn't resist being fearful. They were professionally building and just stirring up the pot to be fearful. Fear binds or hinders the immune system. Absolutely. We were setting ourselves up for more problems because we kept watching the news and all the information and the negative. And finally, my husband and I just stopped watching it. It's like, it doesn't matter what the stats are. We have to focus on keeping ourselves healthy. And this is not healthy. So you need to be mindful of what's happening in your thought process. You're consuming everything you see and hear. Even as much as, you know, working with my kids and the music that they listen to and the messaging and some of that music. The lyrics, yeah. And based on what I do for a living, I'm going, you know, this is like subconsciously programming you in the background, right? Oh, mom. So, you know, but it's true. Whether it's news or the music you listen to or the people that are around you, we're absorbing this, you know. And like you said, we're a mind and body. And I found quite often a lot of times people, they will cut off that communication simply because, you know, maybe like for me. And like I didn't know all this stuff back when I needed to know it. I didn't know what was hurting me and what wasn't hurting me until I really got sick. And I had to go on a journey and learn all of that, right? And so we really, we've got to look at this idea that people need to educate themselves. Yes. And they need to be open to more than just what they see and hear. But we don't tend to be taught to listen to our bodies. Right. Listen to what the messages are. You know, when we think, oh, I've got a headache, we reach for the pill and the water. Maybe all you needed was the glass of water because you're dehydrated. That's right. Not causing your headache. So I encourage people, you know, get the pill, just pick up the glass of water and let it just get into your system a bit. Or, you know, my muscles are sore. Are you thinking really frustrating, aggravating thoughts that are tensing your body? And do you just need to relax and focus on breathing for a little bit? There's things to respond that don't have to be super difficult and technical and challenging to us. We just listen to what our bodies are saying. Well, I find that a lot of times people will cut off that communication because they don't like how their body looks or they don't like how their body feels. Maybe they're in some sort of chronic pain. Maybe, you know, they were, you know, insulted about their body and their childhood. And so, therefore, they never really learned to love and accept their body. So they walk around, like you said, like they're this sort of logical head and this rational being and trying to be smart about everything. When, you know, when we sit down and eat, we need to sit down and feel what's happening. We need to be connected with, you know, how do we feel when we take that bite, even the first bite, not just when we're full, but that connection between the mindfulness of eating and being aware of what you're eating and sort of making those choices based on how you do want to feel. Absolutely. Right. Giving yourself the opportunity to just eat instead of you reading or scrolling on your phone or, you know, watching TV or something. Just sit down and eat. One of the things that I really work with my clients on is chewing because so often we pop a bite in the mouth and it's chomp, chomp, swallow. And we're not really setting our body up for successful digestion because digestion starts in the mouth. That's right. The chewing and the saliva that mixes in enzymes and then it goes down. And, you know, I tell my clients, just imagine your Mrs. Frizzle from the magic school bus down in the stomach and bites of food are coming down. And if they've only been chomped a couple of times and then swallowed, they're coming like meteors. And you are being bombarded. And yet the stomach is supposed to break all that down and get it down to a liquid chyme to go into the small intestines. But it's going to be a lot of work if even done successfully. It could be that it will go through the intestines not really properly digested and that sets up for other issues further down. So chewing that food, and I even do an experiment with my clients if I'm meeting with them in person. Take a bite, even a bite of a chocolate bar. Don't just swallow and chew and swallow quick. Let it just melt in your mouth and notice the change in taste. The longer it's in your mouth, that's the effect of the enzymes in your mouth working on the food. And you can do the same with your bites, noticing the change in the texture, noticing the flavors because most of our food has multiple flavors involved in a bite. And it can be fascinating to just relax, calm yourself down, don't be thinking about the next thing. Because if you're in fight or flight, if you're all uptight about what's coming next or you pick up fast food and you're driving to the next appointment, your body's not actually set for digestion. When you're in fight or flight, high anxiety, your body has shut down digestion and reproduction in favor of the cardiovascular system, the eyes, the muscles being ready to run or fight. That's right. And it's so important that we help our bodies do the digesting. Yes, and I'd also like to add, I work with weight loss clients too, so we're teaching them these things to kind of help them lose weight as well. Sure. And if you're not chewing slowly and you're not following these sort of instructions, then you're going to consume more food. Right, right. We have an enzyme called cholecystokinin. It is released by the body about 15 to 20 minutes after you start eating. That is the signal to you, I'm full. I don't need more. But our tendency to wolf our food down, you know, sometimes I used to say, oh, my son, did you even taste pasty today? Because it would go in so quick. But if you don't, if you wolf too fast, you can eat a lot more before that cholecystokinin comes in to say, I'm full, I've had enough. That's when you can get overloaded. And then your body has a lot more work to do because you're full. And then there's, you know, things that spiral from there. Yeah. So would you please tell our listeners a little bit more about the book that you wrote and how you're helping support cancer patients with functional medicine? I wrote a book. It came out almost a year ago now. But I wrote it in response to a friend of mine who was going into breast cancer treatment. And she emailed me one day and said, Kelly, I have a binder almost two inches thick, full of all the details of my treatment protocol. And all it says on one page is, for nutrition, drink Ensure Incarnation Instant Breakfast. And I cringed just reading those words. And she went on to say, I've known you long enough to know there's more and I need you on my team. So I did join her team and coached her in the background of what she was going through and the protocols for her treatment. It did for her for knowing that. Yes. Yes. I was so thankful for that. And then she brought that to me as a, hey, there's a need out there. A lot of people are being told the same stuff when they're in treatment and they don't know you. And so it just kind of set that fire inside. I need to write a book. And the book I wrote is called Thriving Through Cancer, A Holistic Approach for Your Journey. And it is designed not to not to cure the cancer patient, but to support the cancer patient in supporting the rest of their body through the journey. Because the whole body gets exposed to cancer treatment. And it's designed to kill certain cells. But if all the body cells are getting exposed to it, you're going to struggle. It's understandable. It's very distressing to the body. But if you support the body, body, mind and spirit, because we're whole beings. If you support with good nutrition, if you work on what's going on in the mind, how are you working through the fears? Because, oh, my goodness, you just need to hear you have cancer. And it's the immediate reaction, fear. Am I going to die? What's this going to mean for me? Life has changed. But you can process that information. I provide some guidance on how to process those thoughts, how to make sure you have people around you that are thinking the positive, that are thinking the pro outcome, instead of, oh, no, the EORs in our family, the EORs that we know that are just always kind of low and negative. We don't need them in our environment when we're in cancer treatment. We need to make new alignments for a period of time to support and protect ourselves. And then for spirit, it's grasping that hope, grasping gratitude for all the things that are going well right now. Gratitude is magic. Yes. Gratitude is magic. Exactly. And, unfortunately, it's not a regular practice. Well, it is unfortunate. So just a variety of resources in the book to guide them, to help them know what to feed their body, what's going to nourish and what not to feed their body that's going to, you know, it talks about if you've got the story, if you've got two dogs in the fight, which dog's going to win? The dog you feed. So you don't want to be preferentially feeding the cancer with sugar. You want to remove the cancer, the sugar, from your diet so that the body is able to nourish. And you can go a long way without sugar. It's a shock for a lot of people. But you can really cut back on the sugar that you consume and still find food is tasty and food is nourishing. Specifically about white refined sugar, right? Added sugars. Yeah. Added sugars. Some cancer patients avoid even fructose from fruit. But if you're eating the fruit whole and you're not eating it all day long, I think there's an aspect that's okay for that because you're getting the fiber with the fructose. Okay. How about like honey or maple syrup? What do you do? I like raw local honey primarily because it's got a lot of the nutrients. Raw honey has a lot of minerals and nutrients to it. Local honey has your local pollen that actually can help you against allergies. That's right. It's a beautiful thing. So there's benefit. But you're not going to load it on. Just a little taste of it. Maple syrup is another one that can be very beneficial for you. In moderation. Not overload. Yeah. Spoonful. I don't know about you, but when I stopped eating sugar and then I went back and had something like honey or maple syrup, I was like, whoa. Whoa. Yeah. Your taste buds adjust. Yeah. And then something tastes super sweet. Yes. Yes. So that was interesting. That was cool. Yeah. There's so many things to learn about the food we eat. And I encourage cancer patients, get support if you need help with making food, cooking food. The benefit of cooking your own food is you know what's in it. Right. If you're getting it prepared at a restaurant, you don't know what shortcuts they're taking in the back. You don't know what other ingredients are added to it. And so you can control a little more of what's in it if you're preparing on your own. Or if you get some friends to help you with the cooking, provide the recipes for them so that they're not doing their shortcuts. Right. Right. Good suggestion. Are you sharing all this in your book? Is this the kinds of things that people? This is the kind of stuff that I have in the book. But there's one step beyond. I probably interviewed about 25 patients in preparation. I wanted to know what they were told, what they wished they'd known, what worked for them, what didn't work for them, that sort of thing. But I was amazed at the number of patients that I talked to who met with a nutritionist as part of their preparation for treatment. And I asked, you know, what were you told? What was the instruction? And mostly it was, oh, they didn't really teach me anything. They gave me books to read. Okay. And I thought, whoa. So my next question was, did you read them? And they usually said, no. I was not in the mindset to read them. There's some dust on the shelf over there, but you're welcome to read it to me. Yeah. But then I thought, oh, great, I'm going to write a book for you to read, too. So what I ended up doing was I created a book portal, a website that's accessed through a QR code in the book that provides ten of the chapters in video form. Cool. So I picked the ten chapters that I felt were the key to get going, and I put those in video form so that they could listen, they could watch. You know, sometimes just seeing me, the person that's talking about this, can reinforce for them this isn't someone way off in who knows where. You know, I'm talking about these information, these things. And then I provide recipes on the portal. I provide other resources, guidelines, things like that. So there is a resource page that they can go to and get more information. Not an audio book yet, but I'm playing with that as the next step. So we'll see. But it's available on Amazon. People can reach out and get copies from me that are signed if that makes a difference for them. Or if they want to give a gift to someone, I can sign it for them and get it shipped off that way. You know, what a nice gesture of someone that you love that might be, you know, going through this challenge to do you send it? So could somebody, like, call you or get in touch with you and buy the book and get a signed copy and then have it sent to a loved one? I can send it directly to the person, yes. Although sometimes I really recommend sending it to the person who's purchased it so they have a chance to read some of it, too. And then when they give it to the person they have in mind, they can say, hey, I learned this from the book. And I picked that up more from when the book was launched and many of my friends bought it who didn't have cancer. They just bought it to support me. But then they started reading and realized it's about supporting the whole body. Eighty percent of the book applies to everybody. We all have bodies. This is true. And so I call that a win-win and a more positive way to share a book with someone when you can say, oh, I learned this and this from it. I think it might help you as well. Instead of, oh, you have cancer. You must need this book. Fair enough. That's a good approach. Well, I mean, I'm just thinking somebody who might be, you know, not in close proximity. That's true. In that case, I can definitely send it to them. Right. So you and I are in two totally different countries, yet I can still learn from you. I can still order your book. You can still learn from me. You know. Exactly. Internet is an amazing thing. So, you know, we have options here. We do. And to be able to offer support to somebody that might be needing some support in the best ways that you can and know how, using your book is one of those tools of support, I think, is a really loving, kind gesture that people can do. It's been really special to me to be able to mail and write a note in the front of the book addressing it to the person who's receiving it, but also saying with love from, you know, from whoever sends it and be a part of extending their love to someone else. Yes. And if you are in close proximity, then, you know, maybe helping your loved one get set up with the videos because, you know, it's not everybody's great with technology. Right. QR code, what's that? Depends on your generation. Yes. So, you know, one of the beautiful things that I love seeing is the young generation helping the older generation with technology. So, it brings them together where the older generation can share wisdom and stories and the younger generation can help them, you know, play cognitive enhancing video games. And navigate. Yes. Yes. And just to support and because, you know, if I'm not sure about how to handle some technology, I'm calling one of my sons or a grandchild. That's right. Yeah. Exactly. So, you know, if you know someone that you love that's, you know, suffering with this process of dealing with cancer, then, you know, whether you can support them immediately face to face and help them get set up with the videos and all the different things that Kelly offers as resources, that would be fantastic. But if you're so far away, there's still a love that can be sent with lots of learning and messages through sending your book. Sorry, order Kelly's book and sending it to your loved one that way. Yeah. So, amazing. Is there anything else that you think would be really helpful to share with any of my listeners that might be, you know, moving through cancer or needing some advice or feedback that could help them? I think the biggest message is empowering them to know that their body is resilient. I have watched as clients, you know, together we work to reverse IBS, to reverse type 2 diabetes, to reverse chronic disease that normally is expected to just be your life sentence. Wow. And I've seen the body bounce back. And I know cancer is a whole lot rougher, but I still see the body bounce back when it's supported with the nourishment it needs, with the balance, the breathing, so many things we can do to bring an environment of healing. That's a key too, is letting yourself slow down, letting yourself take the time and listening to what your body is asking for so that you can team up with your body instead of expecting your body to serve you and all the things you want to do. Right. Now your body is asking you to support it. Yes. It's kind of, yes, absolutely. It reminds me of the idea of a placebo effect, right? Yes. And a lot of people know what a placebo is, but not everybody does know what a placebo is. So, you know, can you share with people the idea of using what you're doing to help them believe in the healing and the belief of taking care of themselves for that healing and how that impacts things? Well, it's the whole idea of placebo. In medicine, placebo is kind of poo-pooed because it's like, oh, this was a weird opportunity when they believed something and it happened. Even though they were taking a sugar pill, they had healing in this testing. And it's just the placebo, we'll push it off. Why not take advantage of what the body and the mind can do when connected? And pull in the placebo effect with absolutely speaking life to yourself, looking yourself in the mirror and speak life. You are powerful. You are resilient and capable. And you will come through. You will thrive. You know, people question me when I name the book Thriving Through Cancer. I don't mean thriving in terms of, thriving doesn't mean sitting on a cloud eating bonbons or, you know, perusing through easy. Thriving means growing and expanding. We talk about infants having failure to thrive syndrome and it's when they're not growing at the normal rate. They're not expanding and moving into stages as they normally would. But you can thrive through cancer despite the hard days when you're focused on this is not my permanent. This is temporary and I am coming through the end stronger. And you just speak that into your life, into your head, even if you have to listen to it on repeat in headphones. That's right, repetition. All the many ways you can do that just to, you know, breathing in, I am alive. Breathing out, I am thriving. And with your breath, you can do so many things to shift your mindset. And sometimes you have to counter what's been spoken to you by your medical team. I really believe this idea of expectation equals realization. Yes. And so if you expect that things are going to suck and you expect that they're going to be hard and painful, then it's very much more likely that that's going to be true. If you expect that you're going to be supported and you're going to get better and better as time goes on and that your body is resilient and it has the power to heal. If you expect all of this, then it becomes more true. Just like, you know, the belief or expectation is sometimes one of the most powerful things that we can use to, like you said, thrive regardless of the situation. You can. You can make it positive. You can even set it up, set the intention as you go into an infusion center to make it a good day for the staff. That's there. Instead of focusing on yourself, focus on the staff and lift them up and encourage them. And then you're not so caught up inside you. You know, it makes everything hurt. Yes. It's a very valuable point because, you know, for someone myself who deals with, you know, chronic, severe pain, one of the most useful strategies that I have and that I help people with is the idea of being other sorted. When you're self sorted, when you're focused on thyself, then you're really in your own pain. You're focused. You can feel it so much more. But when you're other sorted and you're thinking about what others need and what's going on with them and you're curious about their model of the world and how they feel, and it actually becomes somewhat of an escape from our own reality. Yep, it does. It does. It's a beautiful thing when you need it. It can be an escape from our reality, but it also can be a blessing to the people that we're chatting with and complimenting and thanking. Everybody's favorite subject is themselves. Yeah. It's true. Everyone loves talking about themselves. So, you know, to give people that sort of time and space to get out of, you know, the, I don't know the right word, but the hardship of what you're experiencing and just be with others and what they're experiencing. You're going to notice sometimes that everybody's going through something. Right. And that, you know, sometimes we can look at what other people are going through and it can offer us some perspective and appreciation for, you know, what we're, you know, making big, which is actually really small when we compare it to what somebody else might be going through. Yeah. There's a lot of times that I can see the people that are going through cancer and these treatments and the roller coaster ride of medical professionals and getting the right people on their team and getting the right advice and the right tools and strategies that there is this element that people really need to, you know, I can look at it and take some appreciation from the fact that I'm so grateful for where I am. And I hope this doesn't sound insensitive in any way because that's the last thing that I want to do is sound insensitive. But there's an appreciation that I have for my life when I look at how hard some other people have it. And I have loved ones that I've seen go through cancer, you know, a husband and wife going through it at the same time. And, you know, the wife survives and the husband passes away. And now she's, you know, she's having to deal with survivor's guilt and the things that come from that. And, you know, so I, you know, go through something and then I look at them and go, well, my something is certainly small potatoes. I can let it go. Yeah. Yeah. If we are able to look beyond ourselves, we can put things into a better perspective. So I wanted to just say thank you to the people that you're helping, to the people that are listening, to the people that are really going through these hard struggles for showing us strength and resilience, for, you know, helping us see that what we're going through is small and minuscule compared to what you're going through. But also that your mind frame and the way that you see it and the supports that you're taking and the actions that you're taking make the biggest difference in yourself for your life and your journey. Yeah. They do. Yeah. And you're a beautiful soul for helping people navigate this. It's an honor. It really is. And such a delight to watch people come through and overcome. The lady that inspired the book for me, you know, I worked on the book and actually read it and wrote it fairly quickly and then the process of editing and all that. But as I was in the editing process, she was getting married. She had been divorced years back and she remarried, marrying her high school sweetheart. Aww. And I got to set up so we could go in by Zoom and watch the wedding from all the different distances and stuff. But it was such a celebration. And the two days before the wedding, she got the all clear from her oncologist. Aww. Added to the celebration. Beautiful to focus on. Yeah. Healing. Yeah. From love. Yes. It was a spectacular time, you know, to just know that she had come through, that she celebrated. And yes, she had rough days, but she pushed through and has a fabulous life on the other side. Yeah. So it's what do you want to focus on, right? Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So amazing. Is there anything else that you want to share with our audience today? Other than, you know, if you're interested in the book, that's great. But I also have a biweekly newsletter if you are dealing with cancer and don't need to worry about that, but you're curious about health and about how to support your body for better function. They can always go on to my website. I think it's going to be in the show notes. And then they can opt in for a newsletter from me and find out some more. It will be in the show notes, but give it a shout out right now if you don't mind. Okay. It's Pursue Wellness For You, all spelled out in words. So P-U-R-S-U-E, wellness, W-E-L-L-N-E-S-S-F-O-R-Y-O-U.com. Amazing. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your wisdom and sharing your tools and strategies, and I'm very grateful for you today. Thank you again. You are so welcome. Thank you for having me. My pleasure. We are so grateful that you joined us today. Tune in again next week where we have another amazing professional giving you tools and strategies for change. I am your host, Rebecca O'Rourke, and you can find me at Coorsahypnosis.com.