When it comes to the food we eat daily, it’s astonishing to learn how our farming practices have changed so much over the decades. It used to be possible to consume all our necessary vitamins and minerals through food. But now, it’s become a bit of a minefield to ensure we’re reaching recommended daily values and consuming food from sustainable sources.
Or listen & subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts | Android
On this episode of Couch Talk, I’m joined by Autumn Smith, co-founder of Paleovalley, to talk about how she healed her body by switching to a paleo diet. It was almost out of nowhere that, as a teenager, Autumn started showing symptoms of autoimmune diseases such as SIBO and IBS. However, at the time, not much research was done into this area of health, so doctors were stumped as to what was causing her to feel unwell.
As a professional dancer, Autumn was fit, but she describes herself as unhealthy as she gives us a glimpse into what a typical day in her life would have been. But with the help of her husband, she completely overhauled her diet. These changes included grass fed and grass finished beef, plenty of leafy greens, and getting loads of Vitamin C in her daily diet.
In fact, her healthy changes supported her through a wonderful pregnancy and postpartum experience!
Her companies, Paleovalley and Wild Pastures, offer customers a chance to get the highest quality beef and other meat products, supplements, protein, and snack bars that you know will be of the highest quality and freshest ingredients. Through our chat, it becomes clear how passionate Autumn is about the paleo way of life and how this is reflected in her healthy vibrance that exudes throughout this episode.
Autumn tells us what micronutrients she feels are vitally important to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and I have to agree with all of her recommendations! We also talk about how exercise is so necessary and beneficial to support your healthy lifestyle.
Do you think about your micronutrients on a daily basis? What type of exercise makes you feel like you’re bursting with joy? How do you prioritize you and your health every single day?
In This Episode:
- What a day in Autumn’s life looked like before and after she found the paleo diet
- How you can be fit but unhealthy
- How you can heal both SIBO and IBS through the paleo diet
- How to have a healthy, vibrant pregnancy and postpartum
- Why you need to prioritize yourself
- How our food culture has changed over the decades
- Why we should strive to get our micronutrients through food, not supplements
- What micronutrients we need on a daily basis
- How you can work an active routine into your daily life
- What the benefits of yoga are to a stressful life
- How we can start raising our children with healthy habits
Subscribe to Couch Talk w/ Dr. Anna Cabeca on Youtube
Quotes:
“But what I was noticing is I was really fit, but I wasn't well. And it was kind of like my clients, people I was working with, they were working their buns off to look great, but not necessarily energized. They weren't joyful all the time.” (4:55)
“[I had to] prioritize my health in every sense of the term. And that's kind of what it's been like to get me here. [Even now,] it's not like I've arrived. I'm still working at trying to prioritize appropriately.” (9:36)
“Ask yourself, if everything burned the same amount of calories, what would you do? Like, don't listen to me. Go out there and find something that makes you feel like happy in your heart. For me, it's like a little dance party that I never dread. I look forward to it. I leave feeling amazing.“ (28:45)
Links
Follow Paleovalley on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Follow Autumn Smith on Facebook
Products Mentioned on the Show:
Use code cabeca10 to get 10% off!
- Grass Fed Organ Complex
- Essential C Complex
- 100% Grass Fed Bone Broth Protein
- Superfood Bars
- Wild Pastures
If you liked this episode, you should probably check out these past episodes:
- 139: The Hormone Fix w/ Dr. Anna Cabeca
- 137: How Essential Oils Can Help Reduce Chronic Stress, Migraines & More! w/ Dr. Mariza Snyder
- 036: Are You Paying Attention To What Your Poop Is Telling You? w/ Dr. Marisol Teijeiro
Transcript
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Well, hello, everyone and welcome to Couch Talk.
Today, I'm interviewing a beautiful woman named Autumn Smith. She's one of the founders of Paleovalley, a company that I researched, and trying to find good kind of my Keto-Green on the go, additions to my program. So, really excited to share her wisdom with you.
You know, it’s really hard sometimes for us to stay Keto-Green on the go, and also to know what food sources, know and trust the source, of what we're eating. So that's why I'm happy to introduce you to Autumn.
To tell a little bit about who she is and what she does. She began her academic career in psychology and a minor in dance from the University of Montana. She had struggled throughout her young adult life, and for several years with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) and was really struggling, despite being in the fitness industry.
I mean, she has worked with Tracy Anderson, and also completed a world tour with Jennifer Lopez. I mean, that was her life.
One thing that she says that I love, she was really fit, but not well. Well, as a result of getting married to Chaz, the co-founder for Paleovalley, she was able to restore her health, adapt the Paleo lifestyle to improve and completely eliminate her IBS symptoms, plus getting pregnant with her son and a very healthy pregnancy.
So that's super exciting. She since has studied with the Institute for Psychology of Eating to become a certified eating psychology coach and Hawthorne University where she obtained a master's in holistic nutrition.
So Paleovalley has been around since 2013. And it is a fabulous, fabulous company with really strong values. So you'll hear about that, in the discussion.
We're going to talk about some of the key nutrients that matter and what are some key fitness routines that really matter and make a difference? So easy ways to incorporate that into your diet.
I look forward to sharing this episode with you.
Welcome, Autumn. It's great to have you here today.
Autumn Smith
Thank you for making me your guest. I'm very honored to be here.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Well, I'm excited for you to be with us and to share your wisdom with our community. And I introduced you and I would love to hear more about your story.
What has brought you to this passionate place in your life?
Autumn Smith
Okay, well, if it's a tumultuous one, because I was a, you know... I grew up in a really loving home. But something happened around the teenage years and I kind of just flew off the rails. I started to have like, really bad digestive issues, that, you know, my parents diligent as they were, they took me to see doctors who just told me I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome and, and then I just need to take Beano or Gas-X and then kind of it kind of snowballed into some mental health stuff, some anxiety, we did the psychiatry, we tried antidepressants, that just made me feel terrible.
And I, kind of, just learned I'm not going to get rid of this. No one looked at diet at that point in time. And so I learned to manage it. Not healthfully: drugs and alcohol and all this stuff.
Until, really, I, kind of, you know, I was functioning but until I met my husband, and until we met actually moved in together, and after dinner, he would notice that my stomach was like I was pregnant. And he finally just said to me, “sweetheart, what's this? What's going on? Like, why are you living like this?”
And I explained, you know, that I tried all the doctors and, and nothing could help me. But he decided that wasn't good enough for him for his new wife. And so he got on the internet and did some research and found the Paleo diet.
And this is, you know, back like 10 years ago. And so there wasn't a lot of people into it, but we tried it.
And in 30 days, my symptoms were basically resolved, at least in terms of digestion, the mental health kind of, you know, figured itself out, as I progressed into all the lifestyle and diet, you know, everything else put all the pieces together.
But at this time I was working for Tracy Anderson as a fitness trainer. And it was really cool experience. But what I was noticing is I was really fit, but I wasn't well.
And it was kind of like a my clients, people I was working with, they were working their buns off to look great, but not necessarily energized. They weren't joyful all the time.
And so I realized I have to share this dietary piece, this foundational piece that a lot of people are missing. I went back to school, I got my master's, I just love to learn. So I've been doing eating psychology and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition.
And then we decided there's a lot of people with a lot of good information. But what the big gap is, in the market, is products that make this realistic for people. And so that's why we found Paleovalley with my other family members.
And since this day, since then, we've just been trying to disseminate good quality information and products that are food based so that people can feel awesome.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Yeah, and choosing because there's a right way and wrong way. Right.
One of the things you said is that you are really fit but not well. And that's one of the things especially as as we age, we want to not just look well, we want to feel well and that's more important. That we think well you know, we sleep well, we love well... I mean, all of those aspects are really critically important.
So, Autumn share with me a day in your life before you went paleo, and a day in your life now.
Autumn Smith
Oh, man, no one's ever asked me this. And I'm so glad. But here it is.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
You’re glad that no one’s asked you?
Autumn Smith
Yeah!
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Well, there’s more of those to come.
Autumn Smith
I'm excited because I'm an open book these days.
But ok, let's say this is wasn't even me at my worst. This was just when I was working for Tracy: I’d probably wake up and have some sort of energy drink, because I had a lot of working out to do. And that was just what I eat.
And then maybe I would go do a few workouts, probably wouldn't eat much. And then I'd have some sort of sandwich, you know, wasn't picky. Then I come home and I loved, you know, naan, like garlic naan, or maybe some pizza.
And then I probably have a few glasses of wine, and maybe even a cigarette.
Terrible. Terrible. Lots of candy, too.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
And you’re a fitness instructor, right? One of the best. I mean, you traveled around with J-Lo, right?
Autumn Smith
Yeah, I wasn't as bad a bad J-Lo was post-paleo.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Perfect.
Autumn Smith
Yeah, but in the very beginning, yes, I was just eating terribly. At night, I would come home and cry, like cry. Because, it was caffeine, I found later but my mood was tanking.
I thought, you know, I have these severe mental health issues. And it was, I was just treating my body so poorly.
So today, today, everything is, you know, pretty thoughtful. I'd say at least 85% of the time. And so I usually intermittent fast, but then I'll have like a golden milk in the morning, or you know, some butter in my coffee, something like that.
And then I have this daily salad that I do, where I try and just get at least 10 different vegetables in it or you know, nuts, seeds. Really awesome. High quality protein. My snacks are things like carrots, I make these chocolate fat bombs.
And then for dinner, we usually have a try to have a lot of fish and a lot of Brussels sprouts. I'm kind of obsessed with Brussels sprouts.
And sometimes, it's so rare because I'm still breastfeeding, maybe like a fourth of a glass of wine and maybe once a week. That's what no caffeine, sugar is maybe like once every three months so… much happier.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
I love it. Wow. You know, I mean, because you definitely are the epitome of health now and you feel it and not just look it.
Autumn Smith
Thank you!
Oh my gosh, I'm a momma to a three year old and, like, this morning was crazy. And if I hadn't had my health, you know, it just wouldn't go well, I wouldn't be here talking to you. But yeah, I feel, like, I feel great.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
So, I mean, that's huge. And, you know, just understanding before and it sounds like you had Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, along with IBS to have that huge amount of distention.
So what was your process of correcting it?
Autumn Smith
Oh, it was so... I mean, it wasn't hard. It was just step-by-step.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
It was all new, right? It was all new at that time. So understandable…
Autumn Smith
Yeah, and fortunately, I had a lot of support from my husband. So we just started going to farmers markets, we did the dietary piece.
That was cool. I’m the kind of person who can just be like, “Okay, this is what we're doing.” But then, you know, it wasn't completely resolved until I realized I had a parasite, and little B-Hominis, so I had to do some healing protocols there.
And then I started, after that was all done, I got into the supplements, and also my lifestyle, and I'm kind of a Type-A person. So I think, it wasn't only what I was eating, of course, it was, you know, how am I relating to life, had to address that, had to start doing a lot more yoga, and basically get better sleep - just prioritize my health in every sense of the term.
And that's kind of what it's been like to get me here. And it's still you know, even now it's not like I've arrived. I'm still working in trying to prioritize appropriately. And all those things.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
I'm so glad you said that. Because it's a practice and a process. Right? And then every time we're faced with something like okay, well, how am I gonna do this, or there's highs and lows and, and the adjustments that we have to make.
And especially as our hormones change what worked for us in our 20s and 30s, not necessarily going to work for us in our 50s and 60s.
And so understanding standing that too, so being flexible, okay, well, you know, this is the next right step, there's always going to be another right step. And that leads us to, you know, the perfectly imperfect process.
Autumn Smith
Exactly, yep. It's never Oh, yeah, I'm done. It's like, no, here I am in the ring again, going to learn a hard lesson probably, really soon, but still going to keep at it.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Yeah. And so and healing that now, you healed your IBS and your SIBO before you became pregnant, right?
Autumn Smith
Yeah, I did.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
And how it was pregnancy and the postpartum period?
Autumn Smith
You know, it's funny, it was actually awesome. You know, aside from you know, your body's changing as a dancer and as a fitness trainer, that was tricky, but you know, manageable because is, you know, it was all worth it.
But I felt great. I felt terrible, the first 10 weeks, and then awesome. I still hiked every day. My husband literally had me on my nutrition protocol. So he was making sure I was taking all the supplements.
He called himself Chaz The Chewla to which he meant Chaz The Doula. He was always kind of making sure I was doing things.
Postpartum was great. And I think it is, I learned early on that sugar doesn't work for me, high carbs don't work for me. I gave myself a little more leeway during the pregnancy. But I just made sure that I was really being mindful of that. So I wasn't having the energy and mood dips.
And it was kind of as graceful transition as it can be, you know, I know it takes like a year to birth the mother. And so there were those tricky spots. But I also did the placenta thing. And I was on top of the supplements. So, I felt great.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
What do you mean, did the placenta thing? What’s that mean?
Autumn Smith
We had dried the placenta, and I actually took it, like, in a pill form. And I've only an end of one, you know, I've only had one child. So I think don't know if that contributed. But I like to think it to.
Do you have experience with that?
Dr. Anna Cabeca
No, no, but I know the placenta is rich in stem cells, is so, you know, rich, and there are traditional societies that would ingest the placenta.
So certainly, we do cord blood and harvesting, harvesting cord blood for future use of stem cells. But now I think that's fascinating. And also that you've maintained such a healthy postpartum because so many women, too, will deal with and, as an obstetrician, you know, I've taken care of a lot of women in that postpartum period with the depression, the mood swings, the exhaustion, crashing exhaustion. And so coming back from that, again, discipline and a practice.
Autumn Smith
It's so so true.
Yeah, like you said, you just got to really prioritize yourself within all that chaos and just do the best you can. And on the placenta thing, I thought this was fascinating. My friend is from Singapore and he says the women will actually get together and make a soup out of theirs and share it with their friends. Yeah, just, it’s a thing!
Dr. Anna Cabeca
It’s interesting and it birth lives!
But I think that, you know, on a separate note from that, when it comes back to our nutrient loading, and we'll talk about that too, especially about nutrient health for mood disorders and nutrient health and the perimenopause, menopause, you know, let alone, right now and you're breastfeeding, lactating.
So a really high focus on, you know, the purest time period ever, right? Like what's going on your body, in your body, and the amount of nutrients you're getting? And how important was.
What were some key nutrients that you were missing in the past that you now have added into your program?
Autumn Smith
Basically, the things that I've added that have made the biggest impact lately, or my leafy greens? Oh, man, I have a juice every day that I call my happy juice. And it's just like, four servings of leafy greens, maybe like one berry, some flax seeds, basically, that is a staple, and when I feel myself tanking, that's where I go first.
The other thing is organ meats. And I know, I don't know how used to hearing that your audiences, but they're basically nature's multiVitamins.
I don't eat them. I can't eat them. I tried when I was pregnant, they don't taste good to me. And so we actually made a product that puts them in capsules from grass fed animals.
My hair, I've never had here that long, and my nails you know, just all the little things I didn't even notice really. I thought I'm just getting older. But that's all changed.
Definitely collagen, too, having the bone broth in my life. And sometimes I would do my little Chronometer. Do you guys use Chronometer ever?
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Oh, yeah, sometimes.
Autumn Smith
And potassium. So sometimes when I eat too low carb, my potassium suffers. And so just making sure that I'm getting those avocados and a sweet potato every now and then. And all of the things. Those are the kind of the ones I'm focused on right now. Folate, of course.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
You know, and we used eat organ, and your products like Organ Complex, I think it's a brilliant idea, because we used to all parts of the animal, right? We used to eat the chicken hearts and the livers and tongue, I mean, just name it. And so that's important.
We now we supplement with thyroid hormone, right? It's no different, right? We're looking at, the desiccated thyroid from porcine. That's thyroid hormone, you know, that's Armour Thyroid.
And so think about those aspects. We used to do that. And still so many cultures around the world eat the spinal column, name it every part is used, brain, and the list goes on.
And it's a beautiful thing to incorporate that. It's necessary. It's like, again, medicinal foods.
Autumn Smith
Yeah, it's amazing. And the liver is like the most concentrated source of Vitamin A and B12 on the planet.
And actually, when you break it down, I know there are many different ways to measure nutrients, but gram for gram, when you're not demonizing fat, it's probably the most nutrient dense food at all. So it's fascinated me, for sure.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Yeah, that's awesome. So in your Organ Complex, you have liver… what else do you have in there?
Autumn Smith
We have liver and we have heart and we have kidney. Now we used to have brain... because I know, you know, it's a huge hurdle for people to get there. And so it was a sourcing issue actually.
We want everything to be domestic, we want to be supporting American farmers, grass fed, grass finished, and it was like holding up the process to keep the brain in. So just kidney and heart right now and the liver. But it's mostly liver, because my favorite benefit, is the energy it gives you an anti-fatigue factor and so I knew the liver would definitely make that more of the capsule would work well.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Yeah, I know it sounds like we might… My philosophy’s Keto-Green, sounds like you're completely on a Keto-Green philosophy as well.
And the Paleovalley is right in line with that. We have had your, you know, turkey sausages, your beef sausages, and we love them. I like to put them in my daughter's lunch as well as they’re my “to-go food.” Actually, you'll have to check out my Keto-Green on the go. I have your Paleovalley meat sticks in there.
Autumn Smith
Oh, yeah, that's so awesome.
I’m glad you said that for lunch, my little guy gets one all the time. And the summer sausage for kids is like super mild. So that means the world that you love them.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Oh, yeah, we'll have to try that one. So. So let's talk about nutrient, like looking at nutrient loading and for perimenopause and menopause. And let's talk about that a little bit.
What's your experience there with client?
Autumn Smith
So, in general, like I think a lot of us are, you know, doing the keto thing or looking at the macros, but I don't think enough of us are living in the micronutrients. They’re the workhorses of the body, so important.
So, the ones that I run into for most people, number one is Vitamin D, I think, have you ever I mean, it just it's good for…
Dr. Anna Cabeca
100%, right?
Autumn Smith
For your bone health, for your mood, for your immune system for everything.
And the trouble is, we're just not outside enough anymore. And I know when you're nearing the later stages in life, you’re not getting the Vitamin D, your hip fractures, things of that nature, you'll be more at risk.
And so I just really like to bring awareness around the issue. Dietary sources are tricky. You can get it from, you know, herring and salmon and some egg yolks and some liver, and some cod liver oil.
But also, you know, just making sure that you're getting outside.
And then when it comes to supplementation, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, too. I like to do it in the food form, because Vitamin D is so important in concert with, you know, Vitamin A, Vitamin K two, and magnesium and all those other things, they kind of all work together and all keep each other balance.
So that's kind of my approach on that. What do you think?
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Yeah, well, I'm a big in favor of Vitamin D supplementation, especially as we get older, and D3 with K2, always as my listeners know.
Vitamin D says, “deposit calcium,” Vitamin K says, “where?”
Vitamin D does so much more than that, right? We need it for progesterone, we need it for hormone receptors, we need it for our autoimmune system, I mean, we just needed it's really a prohormone, that's what, you know, we know now, versus a Vitamin.
And one of the the other ways is, even though, you know, it's hard to get the amount of sunlight exposure we need to, because we get so much more than, you know, Vitamin D from the sun, we really need to, and especially getting, eye exposure, you know, sunlight exposure right to our retina in the early morning, and you know, late afternoon through the early evening, is so critical for hormone processing and resetting our circadian rhythm.
So I'm with you. As much of nature, there's, you know, we can certainly supplement but there's a lot more that we get.
Autumn Smith
Yeah, so Vitamin D, for sure. And all those things like in concert. I also want to mention, I noticed a lot of women concerned with looking like they're aging or aging more gracefully.
So Vitamin C's a big one that I really like to bring up. Not only, you know, collagen is going to keep your skin from saying, it's gonna help your immune system. I know you talked about oxytocin, and it's a necessary part of creating oxytocin, that bonding hormone even keeps your blood vessels healthy.
And for me, I've noticed also lots of energy. I know women at time of perimenopause, menopause, kind of are looking for more energy. So that definitely helps me get there.
And just oxidative stress. If you think about it, Vitamin C is an antioxidant. And oxidative stress is kind of a link to all those diseases of aging.
And so I just really like to have people be mindful of taking in Vitamin C. And I like to, from my approach, and maybe yours is different, I like a little, a lot. Like, just trying to take like a whole food source.
Because most of the time, you know in back in the days, we we got it from fresh fruits and vegetables. And so that's obviously the best way to go. But if you're going to supplement I always like to do a food based one. And then just take a little bit throughout the day.
One last thing I want to mention about Vitamin C that I think is so interesting, is that in menopause, a lot of times sugar cravings are a sign of Vitamin C deficiency. And that's because, back in the day, when our body and knew we needed Vitamin C, we would get it from those berries and from the sweet things from the only sweet thing we had, rather than, you know, donuts and whatever else we had. And those things were Vitamin C rich.
So I just find it’s my favorite nutrient. And I know it's so nerdy to have that, but Vitamin C makes me means feel awesome.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Linus Pauling won a Nobel Prize regarding Vitamin C and so it's really important. I agree. 100%.
What are your some of your favorite food sources for D and C?
Autumn Smith
Ooh for D and C!
So for Vitamin D I love the egg yolks and I love the liver. And I love you know, fatty fish. So liver is going to have some Vitamin D and again, our capsules are going to be good for that. Cod liver oil, too, I know there's some controversy around the fermented cod liver oil. But there are companies that do it in a really great way. So I kind of like that.
For Vitamin C, obviously the more fresh fruits and vegetables you can get the better. But, in our complex, I found unripe acerola cherry, so…
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Oh yeah, acerola was in my Mighty Maca plot. I love acerola.
Autumn Smith
It's amazing, right?
So camu camu berry, amla berry, and unripe acerola cherry. And the unripe part is really cool. Because as fruit ripens, you know, its nutrient levels decline. And so, this one has 120 times, just like in one of our acerola cherries, that have an orange.
So these are like amazing super foods.
And so I just opened a little capsule and put it into that daily green shake. And there we go, it makes a noticeable difference for me.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Energy wise, and everything. Okay, so we've got Vitamin C, Vitamin D.
Autumn Smith
Yeah, and I think the other two that I want to mention: B12, especially as you age, I feel like is so important. Because when we age, we lose stomach acid, I think like one out of every three women suffers from low levels, which just interferes with your ability to absorb.
B12 is important for your mental performance. And for obviously, energy for your mental health. If you're looking at levels of like homocysteine in the blood, just all the B Vitamins will help keep that in check, which is preventing cardiovascular disease, dementia and maybe even depression.
So Vitamin B12.
And you have to eat it regularly in order to keep your stores up. So I just really like, you know, high quality version of protein at every meal, like around three ounces, making sure that you're chewing your food and, like, slowing down. And also, of course, liver, oysters, shellfish is a really great source, too.
But knowing that, you know, you don't probably want to just go out and supplement with any B12, you want to keep it again in concert with the B complex, with the folate, so important for your DNA repair, and providing B6 for your mood again, for your sleep, for your hypoglycemia for all those things. So B Vitamins.
And my last one’s probably Zinc, just because it's made such a difference in my health. And I think again, a lot of women I work with, don't notice that they're not super, they're not taking in a lot of Zinc.
And I actually worked with quite a few women who say they're not as hungry anymore. And I think if you're not being really mindful of your micronutrients, that's a sign of zinc deficiency. And your brain is going to suffer, your immune system is going to suffer, your mental health is going to suffer without enough zinc.
So I just really like for women to be mindful. And obviously, it's very, very involved in reproductive health and hormonal health as well.
So those are the ones I really like, yeah.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
I make an agreement. Those are fabulous. So Zinc, too, which is so important, especially to support stress, right? To support our stress hormones. So we really need to, like, rebalance Zinc. And Zinc to Copper ratios are very, very important for reducing the risk of cancer.
So healthy Zinc to lower copper ratios. And that can make a difference think will displace some copper. So if you're starting to supplement with zinc, we want to supplement slowly, and then work our way up. If you have hair loss from stress: Zinc, hundred percent right? So important.
So yeah, that's great. What am I going to just thinking popping into my head, one of my favorite conditionally essential amino acid that I've recommended in pregnancy is Carnitine, L-Carnitine.
Have you used that? And would you use that in your practice?
Autumn Smith
You know, it's not something I use in my practice a lot. But it is something that I used during my pregnancy because I was having trouble breaking down the fat. And I couldn't tell you, because I had this huge amount of supplements I was taking at the time. But yeah, so it was definitely helpful and prescribed for me at that time.
But it isn't something that actually use a lot. Tell me tell me how you use it.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Yeah, no. So Carnitine’s great, too, for you know, fatty acid metabolism, for sure. But also as a conditionally essential amino acid for neuro development of the baby.
So for brain development of babies, I really found that essential to add because we don't get enough of it really in our diet, like so many of these now. We want to get as much food based as we absolutely can. 100% with you on that.
There's another energy that comes into the food when we're enjoying it, and we're eating it, and we're enjoying the people were eating with - all of those things make a really big difference to how our body responds.
And so those are some factors to that can really help especially, too, as we're getting older, just considering adding in an l-carnitine supplementation to help with cognition, to help with brain function and memory.
But again, we don't want to over supplement.
There's definite downsides to that always taking holidays in our supplements, just like drug holidays, or hormone holidays, things like that are very, very important. So we have to think about that too. And we're recommending, as we're recommending supplements, keep your body flexible, essentially, versatile, and responsive to what we're using.
Autumn Smith
Absolutely. I kind of like to be on my regimen for the week days. And then the weekends I kind of give my body a chance to, you know, me to remember, “Okay, what do I really feel like without all that? And what do I maybe need to be focusing on?” So I love that. That's awesome.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
So now and like creating that healthy lifestyle as a fitness expert, what about some fitness suggestions for women as we're aging, or, you know, really to help with, you know, to not overtax our body and overtax our adrenals, what's a great, like, weekly physical regimen?
Autumn Smith
Oh, I love this question. This is good.
So what I would do is, I've noticed, you know, obviously, if you have physical limitations, you're not going to be able to do a lot of cardio. But in those events, like I try to, you know, maybe try some swimming or some bike riding or something.
So doing cardio just a few times a week, not killing it, like knocking on the treadmill or whatever doing like an hour of it. But you know, 15-20 minutes, maybe you can even just do intervals, I think that is going to do you a lot of good in terms of your brain.
Brain derived neurotrophic factor, I mean, that's like fertilizer, it's going to keep your brain super healthy, you're just going to feel awesome.
So but also, lifting weights, load bearing exercise, if you don't want to do the weights, that's going to keep your lean muscle mass kicking, that's going to just keep you younger, and prevent, you know, accidents.
And so all of those things, I love to lift weights, probably three times a week, sometimes even more, I actually have to dial back the amount of time that I want to work out because I just love it so much.
But it's going to be a good 30 minutes of something… find a great fitness trainer, try Tracy Anderson, of anything I've ever found. It balances your body in a way that's like preventative, you know, injury wise, because if you're in the gym, and you're just, “here I am just I'm going to do all the basic muscle groups,” what happens is you become imbalanced, your posture can go and then basically everything thereafter kind of just takes a dive.
So, really working, focusing on the back. And doing like functional movements. Like movement that you actually do in your real life, I think is so key.
The other part of exercise I just think is so important is like, ask yourself, if everything burn the same amount of calories, what would you do? Like, don't listen to me. Go out there and find something that makes you feel like happy in your heart. For me, it's like a little dance party that I never dread. I look forward to it. I leave feeling amazing.
And so I just encourage people to find that for you. If it's being outside and hiking, if it's swimming laps in the pool, you know, if it's just walking, you know, and then maybe lifting some weights later, you can tolerate that.
I think it's just equally as important that we enjoy the exercise we're doing as the fact that we're doing exercise.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Yeah, I agree. I think just having fun with it. And also knowing no matter how you feel going to work out, you're going to feel better coming out of the workout.
Autumn Smith
It’s never something you regret. That's what I always remember on those days. And I'm like, “Oh!” I always just tell myself, you'll never regret it.
And yoga. I'm so sorry that I didn't mention this. But I noticed, you know, everyone goes through seasons. But if there's a stressful period, I feel like transitions in life, they are stressful. And I feel like yoga find helps you find a way to kind of be present, be still, breathe through it, and see different perspectives. And so for me yoga is transformational and really important when I know I'm going to go be going through something. So it's helped me a lot.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Yeah, I'm with you on that, too. I need to re-initiate my yoga practice, because I've been out of it a little bit. So, but definitely in the winter. I love my hot yoga. Let me tell you!
Autumn Smith
Oh, me, too! I just rejoined core power and I am they're pretty much daily. It's the best
medicine.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
You know, when I experienced a most fabulous experience with Angela M. Davis from Soul Cycle. Now I wish we had a Soul Cycle with us. Have you done that yet?
Autumn Smith
I haven’t!
Dr. Anna Cabeca
You've got to try to her class! Soul Cycle. I mean, I hate cycling. But anyway, just being in her presence. Whoo. It's amazing.
Autumn Smith
Is it cool? Yeah, I always walk by those classes. Yeah, and the music is going and everyone is so high and you're just like feeding off each other.
You're right, I have to do it. I just have like so many types of exercises that I love that. It's like
where's the time?
Dr. Anna Cabeca
But I can add one more, can add one more. But see how that is for you.
Well, tell people how we can get in touch with you and some of your key products. I know I've loved your sticks, I have your Organ Complex, I'm going to try that too.
And, just love what you've done. You've really a great example for people all around you. And I know for like we're in multigenerational health, right from all stages. And it's really important to set, create community, and you've been creating a community of healers, right?
A few people that are taking initiative within themselves and then healing their family. Like your child is off to such a better start than you were, you know, starting up, right? That just makes a huge difference.
And, you know, again, we also have to invest with our consumer dollar into our health, to make the choices, like what is the better choice for us, you know, as much as possible that we can make it let's do it.
Autumn Smith
Yeah, I love that, like a few things, I want to say. Like my friend, Leanne Ely put it so beautifully. So she's at the Boulder, right. So I get to see her a lot.
But she said basically, if you think about preparing a dinner, you're holding the destiny of your children in your hands, like just giving them that start and just an awesome, wholesome dinner every night. So I just I think that's really powerful for me.
And also, the thing you said about voting with your dollars, I think it's more important than ever, and I love to do these talks, because I have both experience, I do the practitioner side. And then I create the products.
And you always say yes, choosing with your fork.
But there's also this other ugly side where manufacturers use this clever marketing to kind of trick you and convince you that some of our products are as good as the others. So it's like it's just, it's tough out there.
And so I think it's really important to just say, “Good on you all for watching this and taking control of your health and being here and showing up.”
But my favorite products of ours and the first one is a new one. So I just have to tell you about this. So nutrient deficiencies are kind of a thing I worry about, and my family worries about.
So we're taking the highest quality grass fed and grass finished meats from domestic farmers, utilizing rotational grazing practices. And then we deliver it straight to people's doors for the lowest possible prices.
Because I'd always be in my practice, like, “Hey, you know, everyone needs to be eating the high quality meats.”
But for some people, it wasn't accessible. And I just didn't think that was fair. And also, I think the the fact that rotational grazing when done right, on a well managed system can actually sequester carbon, and it can be a part of the environmental solution.
So it's really, really awesome. I just want, we're trying to create this network we launched in Denver here. And we're going to try and replicate it everywhere.
But that's called Wild Pastures. So at the moment, that's my favorite product.
But then we also have our Organ Complex, of course, that was born out of my needs to give my baby awesome nutrients and myself. And then our Vitamin C Complex, which is just that unripe acerola cherry, amla berry, and camu camu berry. And that's just, it's the most potent natural Vitamin C's on the planet.
You know, some are made from GMO corn that comes from China, and some people actually react to that. And, I think like you said, there's something else that happens when you eat whole food. It's kind of like, you could take the wheel of a car or you could just buy the whole car. And I think like taking food based supplements is kind of doing that.
We also have 100% grass fed grass finished bone broth protein. And why it's special is because when we got really interested in collagen, we always do our homework, and we called all the collagen suppliers and said, so the grass fed and grass finished right? And everyone was kind of like, “Well, no, they're grass fed and you know they're finished on grain. That's what every collagen supplier does.”
So, we just weren't really satisfied with that. And so we found a company, this one is actually international, and they do grass fed and grass finished.
And we have a lot of other products in the work. Our flagship product the B6. We love those because encapsulated. citric acid is a nasty little ingredient that you don't have to label in normal B6, you'll just find it even healthy ones. It'll just say citric acid, it'll say lactic acid on the label. And it can be derived from GMO corn and then hydrogenated oil. And they just put these little pellets into the beef and then it melts into it.
So it's just something you're eating. So we fermented ours. And not only does it avoid that, but it allows us to have probiotics and a little bit of a moister texture, which is it's more like a hickory smoked summer sausage than it is like a jerky.
And we have superfood bars. We had them. We have been out for maybe about a year because we had to start our own bar facility because the quality control it every other one was pretty atrocious and we just don't - we'll never cut corners. So those will be coming soon.
We always have stuff going on, but you can visit me!
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Sounds awesome!
Autumn Smith
We're really excited about our products. But we will have a 10% discount for your listeners because we adore you. It's cabeca10.
You can reach out to me with any and all questions. We are 100% transparent company at autumn@paleovalley.com.
You can also just visit us at paleovalley.com and wildpastures com.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Perfect. Perfect. Thank you for that.
So paleovalley.com and I know I've been to your store. I've ordered your products. I’m glad for the quality standards and that you just state that you're following your principal, you guys! And you're in Boulder, right. You're in Colorado.
Autumn Smith
Yeah, we're in Boulder. We just moved from San Diego…
Dr. Anna Cabeca
It’s in a movement. That whole city is just starting a movement. I hope it spreads to both coasts.
Autumn Smith
I do too. I think it will. There's a lot of really passionate people here and I'm really excited for the future. I think it'd be good.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Well, thank you so much for sharing your time with us and also your advice and also that coupon code. Ao an extra 10%, I love that!
Thank you!
So for our listeners, cabeca10 and Autumn thank you for being with us today.
Autumn Smith
Thank you for having me. It was an absolute pleasure.
Dr. Anna Cabeca
Now, can't you just feel the energy of Autumn in that episode? She is so energetic, so vital.
Imagine that she was at ever at a point where she just, even though she was fit, she didn't feel well and now she is you can just feel the radiance through the energy of her voice, even.
So, in this episode, I really hope you take him these key points of some of those key nutrients they're so basic, but they're so important.
Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, B12, and Zinc, but getting them from the right whole food sources. And then so that is why I love Paleovalley as a company and certainly their products. They taste good too which is really important.
So I love their beef sticks and their turkey sticks for those times when I need to stay Keto-Green on the go, as well as tuck them in my daughter's lunch bag or sports bag for her day away.
And I think that really, that all of those really makes a difference so please check out paleovalley.com and also visit me at dranna.com.
You know my book is being released and The Hormones Fix is just getting such great reviews and so many practical things that you can incorporate into your lifestyle. I look forward to hearing about how you love the book and any of the products.
Please tag me on Instagram or on Facebook. And I look forward to catching up with you in our next episode which you're really going to love.
