Of the most important nutrients are among the hardest to absorb. LiveOn Labs changed that by introducing the first supplements made with a liposome encapsulation technology, the goo. LiveOn Labs' lipospheric supplements help my cells absorb and use the nutrients I need to nourish my nervous system, support my immune fight oxidative stress, maintain my cognitive health, and produce energy. Magoo is packed with brain supporting nutrient choline and no sugar, no glycerin, no artificial flavors, or
any other junk ingredients. Just the nutrients my body needs delivered in a way that I can finally absorb. When I take these, I can feel the difference. Sometimes I'm so stressed that it can be hard to absorb things and it just goes right in. Whether it's the vitamin c, the vitamin b, the glutathione, I feel an immediate state change. That's why I go for the goo and why you should
too. For listeners of this podcast only, Live On Labs is giving free samples of all 6 only, Live On Labs is giving free samples of all 6 lipospheric supplements, which is a $30 value free with your first purchase. Go to liveonlabs.com/maston. That's liv0nlabs dotcom/maston. Liveonlabs.com/maston and follow the instructions on the page. With the money back satisfaction guarantee, what's the risk of trying a smarter way to supplement? Join me in going for the goo and never looking back.
Mia, welcome to the podcast today. I'm so excited to have you on today. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be on your show. The term nervous system is being thrown around so much these days, which is important. It's a beautiful thing because we all have 1, we all need 1. And I think that when people think about nervous system regulation and think about, healing trauma, they think about performance and and how the nervous system is involved, I
think a lot of focus has been on somatic work. A lot of focus has been on mindset work or how they can shift their emotions. But I think the missing piece is nutrition, and, that's why I'm so excited to have you on today to talk about how, nutrition helps us regulate our nervous system. And I would love to understand because, you know, for folks who are just meeting you, what is sort of your background in nutrition, and why is this such an important topic for you to talk about?
Yep. Okay. Well, I'm a board certified nutritionist, so I've got my masters in nutrition and integrative health, but I'm also a classically trained chef. So my journey into nutrition and my nutrition practice is really based on my absolute love of food. In my early twenties, I was working in restaurants, which I loved, and I I love to travel. I like to be social. I like to have dinner parties, and I love to
experience other cultures through food. This is truly a passion of mine, but I couldn't figure out how to feel good while also doing that because, of course, it could just lead to overindulgent meals, alcohol, sugar, late nights, all the things that just didn't really align with some of my personal goals and who I wanted to be. So, my grandmother was actually, she studied to be a dietitian and so she was just always a wealth of knowledge around food
and very passionate about it. And so I decided to follow her path and go back to school and, study nutrition. And, and here I am. I still love food. I love dining out. I love traveling. I like entertaining and all those things, but I like to do it in a way that makes me feel good. And that's what my practice is really centered around. And when it comes to the nervous system, you know, nutrition
is so much more than we eat. But I genuinely feel like the purpose of my work is to just help people feel better in their bodies. And if we were to only focus on the calories and the macros and the vitamins, those things are obviously very important and I'm really passionate about those, but we'd be missing a really big component because our mental health, our vagus nerve, how we're gonna talk about the gut brain connection, all these
things. These are so deeply connected, not just to our food choices, but also how our body is able to metabolize the food that we eat, how we digest it, how we absorb it, and, yeah, all of that good stuff. I love that. I think what you said is so it's I feel like it's such a simple concept and so hard to experience, which is I just wanna feel good. Right? Like, if you just if
you think about, like, I wanna feel good, that's a relatively simple statement. But when you think about everything that's happening in the world today, all the stresses that we're having, in life, and then on top of that, people are uncovering past traumas or they're trying to, you know, start to grow a family, and there's all this stress that's continuing to be added on and piled on and piled on and piled on. I think feeling good is easier said than
done. What I love about your approach is that we're not talking about prescription medication. We're not talking about some intense psychedelic experience. We're not talking about getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning and having, like, the first hour and a half of your day be cold plunges and saunas and all the things. Like, all that stuff is great. I think it just started with first principles, best practices, which is nutrition, and I love that
so much. And I used to be in the camp where I was like, food doesn't impact how I feel. What are you talking about? Like, that makes no sense. Right? Because, like, I had a I think, like, a dermatologist tell me that once or something like that back in the day, and then they put on Accutane. You know? So I just kinda like thought like, okay, that that must be the case
and that I've learned obviously over the years that that's so different. So can we talk about just, for someone who's just getting started, like, just almost like beginners. Right? What is nutrition and what is the purpose of it for our body? Can you help us understand that at like a really like because I think people understand think nutrition is just food or something like that. But, like, what is nutrition? Well, the root
of the word nutrition is nutrients. So the purpose of eating is so that we can extract nutrients from the food. And these nutrients are required for every system, every organ, every process, every cell of our body needs these nutrients function and not just to you know, what I'm looking for as a nutritionist is not just, okay, have enough of these nutrients to survive, but how can we optimize our nutrient
intake so that we're thriving? I love that. So I think it's important for everyone to take in is that nutrition is not like just eat this salad because it's healthy or whatever. It's like your body needs things. Right? So my understanding is that lipids, fats, are precursors to hormones. Amino acids, proteins are precursors to neurotransmitters. Right? And carbohydrates are precursors to all kinds of things, including the glucose your brain needs to function. Can we just talk at
sort of a basic level about why it's important? I know there's like, we start getting into diet. It's almost like debating religion in a way where it's like, who is the right god? And it's like, is it the paleo god? Is it the keto god? Is it the vegan god? You know, like, the liver king god. What whatever. There's so many different options that people are so
passionate about whatever their thing is because they find what works for them. But could you just, at a basic level, help us understand why our body needs the micromacronutrients beyond and and beyond, like I wanna try to, like, take the food this this dogma around the food, like, diet approaches and just kinda take it down to first principles of, like, why this is so important for us to have our macronutrients the way that we do
in the micronutrients. So the macronutrients are the nutrients that your body needs in larger amounts to function every day. So that's the protein, the fats, and the carbohydrates. Alright? So the import what you're gonna see a difference by focusing on the macronutrients is you're going to notice your blood sugar. So the macronutrients really impact your blood sugar. So this is going to affect your mood, your energy levels, your cravings, your weight, your sleep,
your stress levels. So many things are impacted by these macronutrients. Also, as you beautifully, you know, very eloquently said, you know, that we obviously need protein, fat, and carbohydrates for other functions in the body as well. The micronutrients are the nutrients that we need in smaller amounts, in order for all the cellular processes to take place. So these are vitamins,
minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants. So, you know, while you might be trying to get a 100 grams of protein a day, you don't need, you know, a 100 grams of potassium. So, you know, these are things that you just need in smaller amounts, but you still wanna make sure that
you're getting every single day. Right. And so, like, independent of someone's dietary preference, would it be fair to say and this just sounded so ridiculous, but would it be fair to say that every human being needs the macronutrients? The proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. So we're so we're not demonizing any of the not as bad carbs of these things. And I'll take a step back here. So you do need these nutrients. So there's essential
and non essential nutrients. It's really important to understand a nutrient that is essential is something that your body cannot create. So we can't make it in our body. Like, for example, cholesterol is not an essential nutrient even though it is essential to life because your body makes cholesterol. Okay? It's still okay to consume cholesterol. We can get onto that debate in another podcast, but, you know, that's just an example of a nutrient that's not
essential. Omega 3 fatty acids, they are essential because our body does not make them. So there's central nutrients and nonessential nutrients. So, you know, the purpose of eating is so that we can get these nutrients so that our body can
perform all the things that it has to do. I mean, when you really think about all the things our body is doing on a, you know, second by second basis, like digestion, digestion, you know, maintaining your reproductive system, growing nails, you know, seeing, I mean, all the things our immune system, like, our liver detoxifying thing. I mean, it's really remarkable what the body is healing. I mean, what the body is able to do,
and we need all those nutrients people to do it. That's right. So I think that's a first principles approach. Right? Because I think when we start talking about nutrition and food, people immediately start to kind of, like, dogma up, and it's more like,
okay. Here's the basics that human beings need to live. And I think we'll talk about, like, how to make it delicious and all those things in a moment, but I wanna kinda keep with this first principles approach of just understanding nutrition at a level that's beyond the dogma of, like, what food
program we're supposed to have. So I think that, in my journey to understand how to get my body the energy it needs to heal, grow, and restore, which we'll tie it, we'll talk about that in a second, how it ties into nervous system health. But could you just help us understand? Because I think a lot of people don't get the difference and or importance of digesting their food and
then absorbing their food. And I think more people understand maybe digestion than they do absorption, but we've talked about getting the body the micronacronutrients that you need. What is the role that why is digestion important? And what's the and why is absorption important? And what are the differences
between those things? How does that work at our system? Okay. So digestion is the process of breaking down the food that we eat, and absorption is transferring the nutrients from our food into our bloodstream in order to make its way to all the cells that needs it to function. So digestion actually begins in the mouth with chewing. We have salivary enzymes, and they're even those enzymes were even sending signals to
the stomach when you start chewing. Okay. There's food coming that's preparing for this digestion and absorption process. So it's both are integral, to your overall health, but, you know, digestion is the first step, and that really starts to prepare your body to be able to absorb the foods. And absorption's happening in the small intestine while digestion starts in the mouth. So so, basically, we just think
fundamentals. Right? So we have these macromacronutrients, and then we need to digest them, which means if we're not chewing our food, that's gonna impede things. And then let's just say we chew it well, is it people I mean, you think about chronic illness and autoimmune issues and all the thing people are under stress and stuff like that or gas or bloating and stuff like that. Like, in your experience, how healthy is our general digestibility as a culture? Like, are we
digesting our food? Like, actually being able to break it down. I would say a lot of people are not. Yeah. That's my sense too, because, I mean, I know for me, like, I have a a friend of mine, Adam, who, we used to have competitions on who could chew the sl chew their food the slowest, basically. And it would just be like an unannounced competition at a dinner table where just one person would start chewing slowly and the other person would notice.
And, you know, he's studied all this stuff and helped me understand because I used to just scarf stuff just just down. Like, it would just go down because that was more just about, like, I don't know, the dopamine and all the analgesic properties of highly malleable foods and stuff like that. But I started to understand, like, dude, you are not helping yourself. Could you help us understand, like,
hydrochloric acid, stomach acid, like, stress? Like, how how does our lifestyle impact, just before we get to absorption, our ability to digest? Yeah. Well, first of all, I wanna take a step back there and talk about there's a reason why we eat emotionally. I'm really fascinated by, you know, evolution and our primal instincts as far as eating eating is concerned. Remember, refrigeration is maybe
a 100 years old. The fact that I can, you know, air travel, the fact that I can go to the grocery store and buy a pint of blueberries, 3 165 days a year and store them in my refrigerator is really remarkable. And this is such a blip in the span of human evolution that our brains have not caught up evolutionarily, to technology. So, you know, I'm basically a lot of our primal instincts like, you're never going to outsmart your primal brain. Right.
Totally. So the reason why you get a dopamine hit or hormonal rush, that pleasure reward center lighting up when you eat food is because we have to eat. Otherwise, we will not we'll die. So we have to eat. And so we're gonna get this, like, you know, fire up of these sensors in our brain. It's gonna feel good. And now we have so much food available to us, and so much of it is so highly processed and engineered to really light up that pleasure reward center, but it's really difficult to
stop. And another theory, you know, we have this nutritional wisdom, and I think that if you look at animals in the wild and I'm digressing. I apologize. But, like, if you look at animals in the wild, they know exactly how much of what to eat. They have this, like, in seed nutritional wisdom, and I genuinely believe that we have that too. But a lot of our food, if you think fast food, processed food, it doesn't have a lot of nutrients, and so it's not
very filling. We go back to the macronutrients. Protein, fat, and fiber, which is a type of carbohydrate, are highly satiating. Okay? So you if you eat those 3 macronutrients, you are going to feel full and satisfied. But when we look at a lot of the processed food, it's a lot of refined carbohydrates and sugar, which That's right. Has this fiber taken away from it, and maybe high fat, lower in
protein. And so it's just not quite as satiating, and it doesn't have all of these macronutrient micronutrient, excuse me, and so we are insatiable. We can't stop eating. And and then also, like, it's like if you can't stop eating and you're having maybe too much, you're probably it's hard it's it puts a lot of stress into your body to digest. And then also on the other side, maybe I know for me, I could fluctuate between either
eating too much or never enough, basically. But it seems like it seems like that there's this barrier to getting just the fundamental building blocks of what our body needs because we cannot digest our food under stress. We cannot digest our we if you put a bunch in there, it's just it it kind of like I don't know how what's what would be a good analogy? It's it feels like it just like slows down the body's capacity
to do that and you're overwhelming the system. And if you don't have enough, like, hydrochloric acid in the stomach or whatever it might be too, then you're, like I mean, what happens? So your body is a finite resource. I always like to think we cannot do everything all at once. It has to prioritize tasks. So we have this thing called our HPA
access, the hypothalamic pituitary access. So your hypothalamus and your pituitary glands, they're in your brain, and then your adrenals, they, you know, sit on top of your kidneys, and that's what releases your stress hormones. So when you perceive a stressor and then going back to this primal brain of ours so this would be like a bear, the classic example, fight or flight, of a bear running towards you and you're trying to run away or someone's gonna grab your child or something like
that. So what happens is our HPA axis starts firing. We start releasing cortisol, adrenaline, you know, all those stress hormones so that we have the superhuman strength to run away from that bear, to save our kid, you know, do the things that we need to do. It has to take those resources from somewhere. It
does sit like get that extra energy out of nowhere. And so one thing that it does with it with relation to the digestive tract is that increased cortisol will slow down digestion, and it does that by reducing hydrochloric acid secretion, which is what helps break down our food. And it also can reduce peristalsis, which is the movement of food through our digestive system.
And so this can cause a lot of digestive issues, namely, like, one really common issue I see that related to chronic stress is SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth because the food is just, you know, we don't have that hydrochloric acid to break down our food and then we don't have that movement to That's
right. Remove the food and that bacteria into the large intestine, the colon, and so it ends up with this bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, which is really uncomfortable and to, you know, maldigestion and malabsorption. That's right. So so, basically, when you're stressed, your body diverts energy from digesting food and moving the excrement and the and the and the poop, basically, through your system to the extremities because you need to run away from
stuff, which makes a ton of sense. The problem is we sit down and we're stressed all day long. We're in that sympathetic nervous system all day long. All day long. Right. So then let's talk about then, and also how I love what you said about cortisol reducing HCL. This is a little bit of an anecdote, but one of my friends and, colleagues, doctor Helen Messier, who's a PhD MD, functional medicine doctor and she has a PhD in molecular
immunology, but this is a little anecdote. I don't know the research on this, but I remember her saying that, like, a lot of times when you have low HCl also, what happens is your oral oral microbiome, which is like bacteria, goes into the stomach but isn't actually killed off and passes through into the gut microbiome, which can be a source of, gut dysbiosis, which randomness side, but fasting, thing to think about also that that age shells like a
boundary for, you know, microbes is not supposed to be down in your gut. So so okay. So then so let's so we're not digesting, but can we talk a little bit about absorption? Because I think I feel like more people don't know about absorption. Like, once the food is let's just say that we have the miracle of being in a regulated nervous system state and being in that ventral vagal sort of, like, calmer rest digest place.
Let's just say that we are able to show our food. We are able to have the salivary gland enzymes, all the things that we're supposed to be doing. How do we absorb nutrients? So the nutrients will be absorbed through the cell walls of your digestive tract. So your digestive tract is actually made of endothelial tissue, which is skin, which, you know, I like to think of us as more like doughnuts rather than closed
systems. Yep. Kinda gross, but it's true. And so, you know, our skin, which a lot of people forget, your skin's your largest organ. And it's not, you know, it's semipermeable, so it's not a permeable membrane. Meaning, things can pass through it. And that's how, you know, your digestion happens is that the nutrients are literally passed through this semipermeable membrane in order to,
reach your bloodstream. And I know we're gonna talk about liposomes, but this is why liposomes are so impactful because, let's say, that there is some, dysbiosis in the gut. There's reduced hydrochloric acid. There's your oral microbes hanging out in your gut, things that shouldn't be in there. Maybe there's environmental toxins. Your food has pesticides on it, all of these things. Great thing about liposomes is that they've got these phospholipid
bilayers. Now that's a very fancy term, but every cell in your body has a phospholipid bilator bilayer. And that's what allows things to pass in and out of the cell. And so these liposomes are, you know, basically these little spheres, and it's like a life jacket that is surrounding the nutrient. So it can get to the cell wall, and then that nutrient can pass through. That's right. So so food is not
digested. Basically, what I'm hearing you say is that and when it gets down to the where it needs to be absorbed, it's like you want too big Oh, yeah. Exactly. Like, you'd just gonna be much more yeah. It's gonna be too difficult to absorb the nutrients. It's like it's like trying to take, like I don't know. Like, I get this idea of, like, trying to take this big pouch to this tiny home door if you're moving and you can't get it in the door
or something like that. So it's like it hasn't been broken down into smaller pieces. So, basically, you just have expensive poop and pee, basically. Is that kind of how that works? Like, if you're, you know, not absorbing it, just kind of the nutrients you're trying to, supplement pass through, basically. With supplements, yeah, it can certainly
be expensive excrement. That's right. So, yeah, so so that's like so, like, if you see food coming out when you're go number 2, it sounds like you have a digestion and absorption issue, basically. And, also, this could be an indicator of, like, low energy and some of that because you're not getting what you need. So let's talk about liposomes for a second because, you know, you and I you and I met through, our mutual
sponsor, LivOn. And, I was very excited to meet you because I've been using LivOn for, I'm not sure now, 10, 50 something years. A functional medicine doctor gave it to me. And, basically, they said, like, this will help you get the stuff you need because I was taking all these different supplements and stuff like that. And I don't know, I just didn't feel that different and,
I didn't really understand what liposomal was. I didn't really understand, like, why I loved it or why it worked so well, until I kind of got into the research
I read it recently. But it kinda sounds like what you're saying is is that if you have, let's just say that you you're under stress, and and, you know, from polylegal terms, you're in sort of a sympathetic nervous system dominance or dorsal vagal shutdown where, you know, your subdiaphragmatic vagus nerve is, kind of like overriding everything and kinda shutting down a lot of things. It sounds like your digestion is gonna be not great. Your absorption's gonna be not
great. And, of course, we want to regulate the nervous system and get those systems turned back on, but a lot of us in day to day life don't have the ability to just do that really quickly because of all the different stressors. Can you help us understand, like, I you said something about, like, something lipo. I heard something lipo in the gut. There's, like, you use the word there was I saw I heard lipo and then there's liposome, so there's lipo in there. So what's that about
it's like they have similar wording. Like, how do those relate? Yes. Well, because it's lipid meaning fat. Right. And liposome meaning It's like a little what a liposome is, it's like a little microscopic sphere that's made of these phospholipids. And they wrap around the nutrient, and they protect it from being destroyed in the digestive digestive process. And it makes sure that it can be delivered to the to where it
needs to go, to the cells. Got it. So so would it be fair to say and I I won't use the word hack, but would it be fair to say that liposomes aid us in getting nutrients that we might not be able to get if we're not digesting and not absorbing, things properly because we're under stress. Like, it's kind of like a way to kind of, like, help our body get the micronutrients that it needs.
Absolutely. Because here's the double edged sword. Right? This is the lose lose situation Is as you know, the vagus nerve is responsible for our autonomic nervous system. These are involuntary, bodily functions like digestion. So the vagus nerves need certain nutrients like choline, b 12, magnesium, calcium, omega threes. Alright? So if you if you if there's some sort of, you know, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, meaning you're not digesting food well because you're very
stressed all the time. Okay. Let's just, for argument's sake, say that you are consuming those nutrients. You're eating salmon and nuts and seeds and leafy greens and all those things. But because you're so stressed, you're not absorbing those nutrients. So now you've got an extra layer of vagal dysfunction. Right. Yes. And so, you know and then you've got the physical or emotional stress that you're handling as well. So, you know, I think that diet this is where, you
know, it's a chicken or an egg type thing. Okay? I am a nutritionist, so I believe that nutrition is at the center, and everything else in your life is a spoke on the wheel. Alright? So if you are in a cycle where you are stressed, you're not sleeping well, you're not eating well, you have to break the chain somewhere. Okay? Yep. And it's very difficult to say, well, I'm just gonna sleep better because you have to kind of enact some, you know, routines in order
to do that. So I like to start with nutrition. Of course, I'm biased. It's my job. But I you know, if we can start by regulating your blood sugar, cutting out processed foods, excess sugar, and alcohol, and, you know, eating high quality, high quality foods,
tons of fiber, adequate protein. I really think that that's gonna help to regulate your sleep, which is going to improve your stress levels, which is gonna help to calm the nervous system so that you can better digest the nutrients from those healthy foods that you're eating. But sometimes, you gotta start somewhere. So, you know, in those moments, I think working on your nutrition and taking high quality supplements can really, really help to start moving the hamster wheel in the other
direction. Yes. And I think, I did a survey recently to our audience, and I was trying to understand their perspective on, supplementation because I I feel like it's like such a sketchy world sometimes, you know, where it's just like it's not regulated and all these different types of things. I am so I am so finicky and picky about the the supplements I put into my body. And one of the things that, was a big concern with our audience was this
idea of, like, can I even get the thing that I'm taking? Right? Or will I just have, like, the expensive pee or whatever it might be? And what's really interesting for me with LivOn because they were they're they've been the pioneers of the liposome technology, and they've had people that are ripping them off, in terms of their positioning who actually aren't producing liposomes in the actual, like, product itself. It's actually like glycerin, which is, I think, gly, glycerin, glucose.
I don't know if there's some type of, like, relationship to sugar there, but seems like their enemologically could be. I don't know, but it doesn't say lipo. It's glycerin. And so that's not the same thing that's creating the absorption, that the liposomes are creating. What was one of the funny stories about Livonia that works so well is that I every once in a while, when I don't feel well, I've told this story, to you before this,
before this, podcast just to see if it's cool to talk about. But basically, like, I'm not recommending anybody do this, but I had a doctor friend of mine, like, if you're not feeling well, you need to do this vitamin c flush. And you're supposed to take buffered vitamin c and take a certain amount every, like, 15 to 30 minutes until you have so much vitamin c built up in your gut area that you release, basically. Okay? And that lets you know that you have, like, all this extra vitamin c
in your system, and it's flushing things out. Right? Because, like, the gut can only handle, like, so much, vitamin c at a time. So I had gotten back from a trip from Spain. I was not feeling well, and I was like, I'm gonna do the vitamin c flush. So I grabbed my, like, LivOn vitamin c packet, which is this, like, this guy right here. Just like a little a little packet. And this has, like, this has, like, a 1000 milligrams. So I you're supposed to do, I think, like, I don't know, like, a 1000
to 5000, something like that. Like, maybe 2 or 3 of these packets, basically. Well, no. You're supposed to do, like, 1 to 3000 milligrams every 15 to 30 minutes. I'm not getting exactly right, but this is not an endorsement of this protocol, by the way. This is just the crazy shit I do. So, like, I kept taking it. And normally, after an hour, hour and a half, like, it's complete, basically. I'm, like, 3 something, 4 hours in, and I've taken, like, 30 packets of this stuff
and nothing has happened. And I'm like, what the f is going on? Like, why is this happening? So I start, like, looking at, like, oh, you're supposed to, like, buffered vitamin c. And I started looking at the digestibility I'm sorry, the absorption rate of it, and it was, like, significantly less. I was absorbing all this vitamin c, which was net good to support, you know, my immune system and all these things, but it was so good at absorbing that it couldn't accomplish the flush.
Right? So can we just sort of talk about whether it's vitamin c, you know, or magnesium, which, of course, we can talk about the role magnesium has in the nervous system. Like, why would certain vitamin c supplements cause one to, have a different experience than the one that I had? Like, what is that absorption thing about, and, like, what's your take on, like, the
liposomes rolling out? Because I was shocked and surprised, but it was it was funny afterwards during, it was very uncomfortable because I I took way more than you should. But could you help me understand, like, what's like, what probably happened there and why these liposomes are superior? Well, I'm not a doctor, but I think that that is a very, clear case of This is all conversation versus excretion.
So, yeah, I mean, that's such a I remember you telling me that story when we first spoke and, like, such a remarkable experience. So unique. It's, like, too good or something. Right? Like, it's the absorption is, like, too good. Is how would you say that as a as a nutritionist? Obviously, we're not giving medical advice. We're always clear about a scope of practice on this podcast. But, like, what like, would you just say that liposomes
are just, like, better? Or, like like, what, like, what's your take? They've been using liposomes. Liposomes are not new. And, you know, LivOn has been around for around 20 years. And, you know, they use liposomes for medication as well to help deliver, you know, the drug, make sure that it doesn't get killed in the digest digestive tract. Because that hydrochloric acid, those
digestive juices, the enzymes, like, that's powerful stuff. You know? It's trying to break down everything that comes into body, including supplements. And, you know, when I was getting my master's, you know, a while ago, I I was a very idealistic young nutritionist, and I thought, well, we can get everything from food.
And I wanted to you know, we don't need to be relying on supplements. We should just be able to get, you know, if you eat a whole foods diet and you do this and you do that, you should be able to get all the nutrients that you need. And then, you know, I just started practicing, and that's when, you know, you really get smacked in the head. And I run micronutrient test on, like, a NutriVoxel or metabolomics from, Genova Diagnostics on a lot of my clients.
And I realized, oh, I took my own micronutrient test, and I realized, oh, wow. Okay. I am not absorbing all the nutrients from my food. Look at this. I've got b vitamin deficiencies. I've literally never ever run a micronutrient test that had come back with, adequate magnesium levels. Never. And so and I saw a lot of antioxidant depletion from glutathione, vitamin c, vitamin a, alpha lipoic acid. You know, it's just really, really common even when people are eating
really well. And you have to think that the way that we live our life, in some ways, it's a blessing. We have access. We have liposomal supplements. Like, what a great, you know, development of mankind. But we also Yes. Travel. We also are on screens all day. We our food traveled from, you know, Mexico or Chile or, you know, Florida or wherever. You know? And they're, you know, we're not getting the nutrients that we would if we were just growing everything
outside of our house. I'm a huge proponent of regenerative agriculture. But if we look at all of these, like, you know, innovations in agriculture that we're moving towards, especially with climate change, like regenerative farming, like, that was just, like, how food was grown.
Yep. Exactly. Not too long. I mean, so, you know, we're kind of that's like going back to how to have really nutrient dense soil, which was slightly interesting about, you know, why we why I think we need supplements in the first place is that if you look at the deficiencies in the soil, they mirror common deficiencies in humans. So we live in our houses, in our cities, and all these things.
It's very easy to feel disconnected from the ecosystem that of this Earth that we are a part of of where our food comes from, but it's really all connected. If there are is if there are missing nutrients in the soil where our food grows, then we're gonna be missing those nutrients too. So let's talk about that for a second. So, like, when we think about, like, for example, magnesium. Right? So we're with multiple clients and multiple experiences
with doctor Messier, who I talked about earlier. And one of the things that we would look at is, like, someone's, like, I don't know, like their trauma history and then when, like, when chronic illness would onset and there's a not a causation, but definitely correlation timelines many times. And one of the things that she would do with the people that we work with together at a retreat or event, or 1 on 1 would be a magnesium
deficiency questionnaire profile. And basically, to your point, basically, everybody came back with, like, all these symptoms of, like, magnesium deficiency, and it wasn't a diagnosis. It was more just like a general, like, this is something to check out and go get the tests that you're talking about and get medical advice. But how common would you say magnesium deficiency is in the world today? And, like, what are the general signs and symptoms? Because magnesium plays such a role in so
many processes in the body, including our nervous system. Could we talk about why magnesium is important, and then what are the common signs out there without saying, you know, like, hey, if you have these things, you this is the diagnosis. But, like, what do you see in your practice? So there's a difference between suboptimal levels and a true deficiency. And so I think that we have to delineate
that because Okay. When we look at government guidelines and you look at an RDA, the recommended dietary amount, then that really is looking for the the least amount that you need in order to prevent a deficiency. So that is survive, not thrive. Right. Yep. So for example, protein. This is a really great example. The RDA for protein is point 8, grams per kilogram of body weight. So that is so far below. I think it will help you to really thrive in this world and feel your absolute
best, but that is the minimum amount to prevent deficiency. So that's what we have to look at. So the statistics say that 50% of Americans do not get enough magnesium. My opinion is that that it's much, much higher than that. Yes. I I called the lab because I was so there's wonderful doctors that work at the lab and, you know, they let you call whenever you want. So I I'm on the hot the lab hotline a lot. So Hey. What's going on here?
You know? It's like on speed dial. So I was like, hey. What's going on with this? When I first started running the test, why does nobody get enough magnesium? Is it just my clients? What's going on? You know, this doctor told me he'd only seen 1 in his career, one person that had adequate magnesium levels, and he thought that that was because of the soil health. And the interesting thing about magnesium, it's involved in so many processes, over 300 processes in the
body. A lot of them have to do with either physical or mental relaxation. So Yes. The physical side, digestion. You might soak in an Epsom salt bath after, you know, which is magnesium, after a, you know, tough workout to help relax your sore muscles. And it's also integral to the stress response. It's part of Yes. PA axis. So in this highly stressed world, we're cycling through more magnesium. And on top of that, we're not getting enough from our Yes. That's right. I
know I'm not supposed to play favorites, but magnesium, I think, Definitely. Well and and and, I mean, like, it's crazy how, like, I would see clients that would, like, add all they would do is add magnesium, and they thought they had all these different problems. But that was, like, one of the core issues was just, like, a lack of because it it plays the it plays so many roles in the body, including Yeah. Nervous system regulation, and all that type of stuff.
And neuropathy, it's very much involved in, the the the neural mechanism inside the body and communication with all those I mean, there's so much that it goes into in terms of the roles that it plays in the body.
So what would your recommendation be to somebody who is, like, stressed, not able to do this like, all the somatic work or take time off for, you know, retreats or, like, there's, you know, practical suggestions around, for example, if if they're not feeling like, what would be some examples of, like, magnesium deficiencies and what could be some things people could do about them?
Like, in terms of symptoms, like, if you have, like, these things, these are commonly associated with magnesium deficiency or or suboptimal levels of it. Constipation, you know, or sleep. So basically, everybody. So sometimes it's a symptom of a magnesium deficiency or, you know, a part of it. No. I don't know if it's that cut and dry. It's like that's definitely a magnesium deficiency. It's probably a magnesium deficiency paired with a few other things. Right. Or something could be perpetuating
a magnesium deficiency. Like, maybe you have a magnesium deficiency because you're stressed, but you're also stressed because you have a magnesium deficiency. So Yes. So so so, basically and, also, I think that if if it's it's hard to calm down, if it's hard to sleep, if it's hard I think a lot of times, when I think about, like, a regulated nervous system, there's mechanisms of action that go with that. Right? So for example, our nervous system
is expecting to have oxygen. If we don't have, like, enough oxygen, that's gonna be a problem. Right? Same thing with glucose. Like, our brain uses glucose as, like, its primary fuel source. So it doesn't have enough of that. So I'm not a fan of keto ketosis for long periods of time outside of, like, medically recommended things because your brain needs glucose to operate, not ketones. And so the nervous system has these things. Magnesium is one
of those other things. And so if you think about it practically, right, if you're either at suboptimal levels and not getting what you need, of course, you're gonna be stressed because your body is, like, stressed because it's not gonna if you don't get enough oxygen, that's hypoxia. You're gonna die. You know? If you don't get enough, water, that's dehydration. So,
like, there's an appropriate response. And sometimes people think I had this stress issue or I have maybe IBS or whatever it might be, but it's actually just like I don't have the things I need in my system to make my system operate, efficiently and to do the things it needs to do. And then we start thinking about, like, how stress down regulates so many different issues in endocrine and immune system. That's one of the things what I love about the vitamin c supplementation is it supports immune
function in so many beautiful ways. I mean, don't do 30 in 5 hours like I did. That's a bad idea. Not recommended that. But can we talk about, like, how, like, lipospheric supplementation of, say, magnesium or vitamin c, like, you know, we're coming into flu season, and people are having immune issues. Everyone's gonna be traveling soon, and doing all the all the stuff. Like, could that be a way to kind of at least start to get things going if you don't have the time or don't have the resources
to, you know, you know, do all the things that we're talking about here? Would that be a practical, like, next step, and how could people be benefit from that? So you can always do something. I think supplementation is a really important part of someone's overall health and wellness routine, but it can't be the only thing that you do. The word supplement, it means it's an in addition to. It's not increased. It's meant off. Exactly. Magic bullet. No. There's no magic bullet. We would love it if
there were, and we keep looking for them, but it doesn't exist. You gotta eat well. You gotta sleep. You gotta do things to work on your stress levels. You know? And life is crazy. You know? I mean, my life is crazy. I've got 2 kids, 1 and 5. I have a full time job. I've tried to make dinner every night. I mean Yeah. It's it's sometimes I, like, think about my day, and I'm like, that was freaking nuts. And so I have to eat well. Because if I don't eat well, everything is gonna fall apart, and
I'm going to be unhappy. Yes. So it's not like, oh, it would be great if I was able to do this. It's like, I don't have the luxury to not do this. Because when 5 o'clock rolls around, if I'm tired, I can't be like, you know what? I'm just gonna chill tonight because I dinner. I got bath time. I got, like, you know, 3 very intense hours ahead of me before I can chill, and then I get about an hour to myself before I have to prioritize my sleep.
I'd love to stay up and watch Netflix till midnight, but, like, I have to go to sleep. Otherwise, you know, I gotta take my magnesium. Otherwise, you know, it's just gonna the next day is is gonna suck. So, you know, I think that when life is crazy, oftentimes, we feel like, oh, let at least what I hear a lot is, oh, I don't have time to focus on my nutrition right now because I'm too busy. Like, this
is the time when you would benefit from it the most. Right. Yes. You should take that magnesium supplement so that you can sleep better so that you will you know, when you're tired and you're stressed, you crave more sugar because you need that energy. You need that dopamine hit to get you through the day. And so you're looking for those stimulants.
You're gonna have an extra cup of coffee. You know, and by the end of the day, by the time you finally get the kids to sleep or whatever, you're exhausted, but you're also kinda hopped up because you've had all these stimulants. And then it's like, okay. I need a glass of wine to come. Right. Yep. And so and then it just kinda that's gonna mess up your sleep, and it just you know, the whole thing happens again
the next day. So like I said before, you gotta break the chain somewhere, and I think nutrition like, if you can dedicate 3 hours on Sunday or to go grocery shopping and just to, I don't know, precook some chicken, buy some prewashed greens, get a rotisserie
chicken, whatever. Like Right. Do the mental prep, so that you have some nutritious food available to you, so that you can eat well and take your supplements so that you can get on a better cycle of sleep and stress management and having better energy levels throughout the day, I mean, it'll make a huge difference. I love that. So if we could, like, think about so one of my one of my friends is doctor, sorry, professor not doctor. Professor, he's the PhD, but
professor, BJ Fogg. He's at the behavior design lab at Stanford. He wrote a book called Tiny Habits and a book, Autonomic Habits, was inspired by that book. And he talks about, like, what has to happen if people take action. Right? And so when things are really hard to do, you need high levels
of motivation to do it, and motivation is this finite resource. And so one of the things he recommends, and I try to instill this in all the things we do, is, instead of trying to have high levels of motivation for do hard things over time, which is really difficult, why not make certain things that are usually hard to do easier to do? And if they, like, do you like that's why it's called tiny habit. Like, what's 1 or 2 things someone
can do? So it sounds like when you think about, like, what could be some habits you could Yeah. Start to instill to start to improve digestion absorption and or if those aren't quite there yet, to be able to, help you get there. It sounds like carving out some time at, maybe on a Sunday, to just think about your nutrition for the week and to even have some of the basics in place that are non highly palatable foods that are not super sugary, that have more protein, that have more fiber,
that where you have that stuff kind of ready to go. And also it seems like, being able to say, hey, like, obviously, we love LivOn. Let me get my LivOn vitamin c for the week, my LivOn magnesium maybe for the week, and my LivOn maybe glutathione or b for the week and have that ready to go because the magnesium is gonna help with it's gonna bypass and get through,
all the issues we just talked about by digestion absorption because of liposomes. My little anecdotal story is crazy proof of that, that it's like you're gonna be able to get that. And then that I feel like that will create, like, a positive cycle for people because I know for me, like, when I don't take my magnesium, I don't take my vitamin c, I feel different in my body and not in a good way. Just like if I don't get my steps in,
I don't feel good. And so it's important to have, like, some of these first principles. So what would be some habits, especially for people who are busy, to be able to, like, focus on to be simple? Would it would it be, like, maybe that Sunday, carve out a little bit of time for meal prep, and then have your supplementation? Like, what would the what would those habits be? Your is there First of all, Atomic Habits is my favorite book. I think I must read for
absolutely everyone. It's the best book. So much of nutrition. I love the science. I'm really passionate about the science, but I would say 90% of it is just practical implementation. Knowing what to do is great. Knowing how to do it is better. Yep. Totally. So, you know, we all what I find what I find to be the biggest roadblock I mean, if I had a nickel for every time someone said to me, like,
I know what to do. I'm just not doing it. To me, what that says is you don't know what to do because you can't figure out how to fit it into your life. Okay? Maybe you have to dine out a lot for work and entertain or travel or maybe you work, you know, non typical hours or maybe your partner gets home really late and wants to have dinner at PM every night or you know, there's a million different reasons why people might do what they
do, and that's why I help people with every day. But I think starting with one thing. So what I find and, of course, this is gonna be slightly different for everyone. In my one on one practice, this is what I'm doing with people. I'm figuring out, okay, what's the one thing that we can start with? Okay? And so the first thing you eat in the day is really important, and I don't care if that is at 7 AM or at
1 PM. It's the first thing that you eat is going to set the tone for your blood sugar levels, your energy, and your cravings throughout the day. So if you can have that first meal, have 30 grams at least of protein, That is going to set you up for success. Love that. So if all you did was just figure out how to get 30 grams of protein, at breakfast for that or whatever that first meal is, I think that
that will change your life. Most sustenance foods in America are really sugary or really high in carbohydrates, you know, oatmeal. I mean, I've got a 1,000,000 smoothie recipes that are not high in carbohydrates, but I have my husband wearing a continuous glucose monitor right now, and he's at the office really early. And the biggest spike is from the healthy smoothie bar downstairs, like a 70 point spike. And I'm like, you can't have the banana and the date, like but
he doesn't. So you know? But, like, to me, because this is my job, I'm like, of course, you can't have that, but, you know, it says, like, healthy protein smoothie. Like, he doesn't realize that it's got, like, 60 grams of sugar. Right. Even if it's, like, from bananas and dates or, I don't know, whatever they put in there. So if you could start the day with a blood sugar balancing breakfast, 30 grams of protein, you're gonna notice a huge
difference. So that could be Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt a serving of Greek yogurt has probably, like, 17 to 19 grams of protein, which is amazing. So you can have a serving and a half, maybe some chia seeds on there, you know, some berry blueberries for antioxidants, you know, something crunchy for some fiber and some blueberries. Like, that's gonna be an
incredible breakfast, and you're gonna feel really full for a while. You wanna make sure that you're not getting a super sweetened yogurt because that's dry off your, blood sugar, but that's a great breakfast. You can make a protein smoothie. I make overnight oats, but I do, like, a little bit of oat with, like, a lot of chia seeds and flax seeds, and I put some collagen powder in there, to increase the protein. Eggs are wonderful. Great source of protein. So if you can start the
day strong, it'll really set you up for up for success. Because, like, let's say you have, you're running out the door because you didn't have time to do anything, and you go to Starbucks and you get a vanilla oat milk latte and, like, an egg bite. Alright? You're like, I'm gonna get the healthy choice, the egg bite. Okay? The vanilla oat milk latte probably has 30 grams of sugar. Right. Carbohydrates, I should say. A bowl of pasta has 40. Right. And the egg bite, I don't know.
I'd have to look, but maybe it has 7 grams of protein. Right. So the ratio is not quite where you want it to be. Not quite there. So you're gonna feel really hungry 2 hours later, and it's not time for lunch yet. And you maybe don't have anything with you. And so you're like, okay. I'll just, like, grab this snack from the office, or I'm gonna stop in and get this. Or maybe you don't eat anything. Then by the time lunch round rolls around, you're so
hungry that you're in line getting something. You're like, I just need to eat these chips while I'm waiting for that because having a blood sugar low. That's been my experience, big time. I mean, I I don't know the research on it, like what PubMed would say, but my experience has been that if I start the day with a healthy protein and fiber, my cravings don't seem to be anywhere near as intense throughout the rest of the day. And obviously, I care about, you know, energy balance and
and calories, stuff like that, but I that has definitely been my experience. And when I don't do that, what you're saying has also been my experience. Like, it's like if I get to the end of the day and I'm, like, really having a hard time with, like like, cravings and stuff, I look at how I started today.
It's exactly what you just said. Totally. You know? So I don't know if there's a PubMed ID on that, but my personal lived anecdotal experience, a 100% lines up with what you're saying, and we could probably find the PubMed ID. Well, it's just straight up your prescription spike. Sense. Yeah. Exactly. If you have a
blood sugar spike, it spikes quickly and then it crashes. And when it crashes, you're gonna have hypoglycemic symptoms and you're gonna be there's that primal brain again saying, I need carbohydrates. I need chips. I need this. I need that. You need a stimulant. I want candy. I want chocolate. Whatever. So what happens in, like, you know, of course, there's the laws of thermodynamics, calories in versus calories out.
But just by prioritizing your protein, you might not need to be so, obsessive over counting calories because you're gonna have less cravings. You'll be satiated. Yeah. You'll feel satiated, and you're gonna have less of that, like, periphery food, which is really caloric. You have to think of nutrient dense versus energy dense. So if you have some scrambled eggs, with spinach and mushrooms or something, that is a very nutrient dense meal. Whereas if you have a pancake, that's a very
energy dense meal. Meaning, if you look at the maybe they both have I love it. 400 calories. But one, you know, the eggs is gonna have 400 calories of protein and healthy fats and all these micronutrients, where the pancakes gonna have 400 calories that are coming primarily from carbohydrates. So that's not going to keep you satiated, and then you're just gonna end up eating more throughout the day even if you do the
same 400 calories to start. I love that. So it sounds like prioritizing, first meal of the day, the healthy protein distribution is important. And then what are your thoughts on, like, in terms of, like, a habit they could that we could do supplementation wise, as we start to wrap up? Because I know that, like, so many people I mean, we're coming into flu season and immune systems, you know, issues and,
you know, people are traveling and around families and stuff like that. So, you know, assuming that not everyone can, regulate their stress and or that they're still likely fall into categories of digestion absorption issue. If we prioritize our food, first meal in the day, meaning we're taking some time on, you know, Sunday or something like that to kind of plan that stuff out, what should we be doing
supplementation wise? So if you're gonna take one supplement, let's say you're having you feel stressed and you're having trouble sleeping or with your digestion,
I would a 100% go for magnesium. Okay. That's where I start because if you can sleep better and feel a little bit less stressed, that might start to help prime your digestive system for better absorption and also help you to feel more rested and clear minded so that you can make better decisions, have more energy to exercise, to prepare your own meals, etcetera.
One of my favorite supplements or I'll say my favorite supplement for the holidays is glutathione because when you're traveling, glutathione one thing I love about glutathione, it's your body's master antioxidant. It's also really supportive of your liver. Your liver is like the sewage plant of your body. So it is having to sort through all of the things that we ingest, from our food and from our environment, medications, Advil, whatever it is that
you took, alcohol. And, that's a hefty job, especially if you're traveling or you're having indulgent meals or whatever it may be. And glutathione is really supportive of of the liver, and it's also going to help to combat free radicals. So that is, you know, as an antioxidant, what that does is it helps to repair any cellular it helps to repair cellular damage.
Yes. Yeah. Big time. And I so that's actually almost my complete stack. So my my primary stack is the LivOn, glutathione, the magnesium, and then the vitamin c. I don't I don't I don't do 30 at a time at that one time, but, I do wake up and I wake up and I go to bed with it. And it has been for me like a personal game changer because I feel like
how should I put this? Like, in somatics, sometimes if you're gonna go do hard work emotionally, you have to resource a safe person or a safe figure to go there with you because it can be scary to do that by yourself. And I feel like nutritionally resourced when I'm starting the day, like you said, but also giving myself the sup the supplements that I need without having to worry about, am I digesting and absorbing them
because they just go straight in? So with that, what are your thoughts on vitamin c too? Do you think that'd be a good part of the stack? I love vitamin c, and I can tell you take a lot of vitamin c because your skin is glowing. And so one of my favorite, albeit a little bit vain benefits of vitamin c is its support of collagen production. And, you know, there's all these topical products for
vitamin c because it is such a powerful antioxidant. We, you know, love to rub that all over our face, but also ingesting vitamin c is just so good for the skin. And one thing about your skin is it is your largest organ and, you know, we can see changes. So if you're noticing changes in your skin, that's such a wonderful, reminder or feedback mechanism that something is happening in your body. So if your skin feels dull or tired, dehydrated, or you've got some sort of irritation on your
skin, then that's a sign that, okay. Hey. Something's going on in my gut. If you get you know, if breakouts when you're stressed, that's because of the relationship of your brain and your gut. And so, you know, I I love vitamin c and glutathione for their benefits on your skin. I mean, those antioxidants can really help give you, you know, the glow. Totally. Well, I mean, you know, I mean, like, I'm not you know, people some I mean, I don't know. People mistake me to be in my early
thirties all the time. I almost 43, so I don't feel like I'm doing that bad for 43. So thank you. Vitamin c. Vitamin c is a big one, but all of it and also the glutathione is a big one. Mhmm. The reason why I started taking glutathione is because I have 3 traumatic brain injuries, and I work with the Aimen clinics. And we figured out that, like, Adderall XR is the best thing for me. I don't my my brain doesn't produce dopamine at the same level, because of those traumatic brain
injuries. So one of the things that I decided to add in was, like, a lot of glutathione. And for a long time, I was getting, like, the IV version of it, which is super expensive. And then when I switched over to LivOn, that was super helpful because I was still the the thing about the IVs is I wanna get it in my system. I don't wanna just have, you know,
expensive pee. And so, like, the reason why I do the glutathione also because I'm an entrepreneur and I'm stressed is that all of everything you just said, you know, the the Adderall, the stimulant that I take, produces a lot of the free radical stress that you have talking about. So I see it as a way of, not just that, but with my general lifestyle to kind of, like, counterbalance it. And I've been really happy with the results so far, but that's
been the stack for me is the vitamin c, the magnesium, and the glutathione. And I love the LivOn version of it because I'm actually getting it, into the system. And if I had any doubt about that, my experience at Atheros Pain, is is just like the other
proof for me personally. So I really love what you've thank you for helping us understand the the the basics of, nutrition, what it really is, the basics of absorption, the basics of digestion, what how those things work together, how to start to think about our days and our weeks so that we can give ourselves the things that we need, and then also why it's important to do the supplementation for the mac the micronutrients so that and the way that, you know,
works with someone who's stressed and not able to necessarily break things down in the way it's possible. So as we wrap up, are there any sort of final things you wanna leave people with? Yeah. You know, nutrition is about feeling good. So I always say joy is a nutrient. Oh, I love that. Yeah. It's really easy in this very stressful, highly polarized world to feel very stressed about nutrition.
And if you're struggling to follow some sort of, like, diet or whatever your friend does or you read that this is the best way to eat, you know, give yourself a break. The whole idea is to find a way eat a way of eating that works for you, not change your life to conform to a way of eating. And I think that that's, like, the most important principle of nutrition. And when you find your
sweet spot, you have to like the food. All my clients know that I have two rules is that the food has to taste good and it has to be easy. Because if it doesn't fit into those 2 buckets, you're never gonna do it and you're still badly about yourself. That's not good for your nervous system. That's not
good for your health. It's just that's it's futile. So we want this to be a positive experience and doing the work to figure out what makes you feel good, understanding the science, and figuring out how you can incorporate it into your life in an accessible and enjoyable way. You'll never look back. Yes. I love that. So well said. Perfectly stated. Totally cosigned and agreed on everything you just said. I love that joy is is, always thought about joy too. That's so
powerful. So if people wanna follow you, get to know more about you, where can they find you online? So I'm on Instagram at Mia Rigdon at Mia underscore Rigdon. I also have a substack. Every Sunday, I send out a meal prep email with 5 dinner recipes and a shopping list. So it's really fun. You know, it's my mission to encourage people to eat more home cooked meals. So you can hop over to miarigdon.substack.com, to find that, or it's in my Instagram bio as well. Perfect. Awesome.
Y'all will y'all follow Mia. Sign up for her Substack. Get your LivOn supplements. Get your week set up. This has been such a powerful conversation to help us learn a different approach for nervous system regulation beyond somatics, the emotional work, and mindset work that's, like, so foundational and so important. So, Mia, thank you for your time today. Thanks for having me.