Listen to the interview here:
Romilly Hodges: Hi, everyone. Welcome to this short podcast about the supplements that we’re using for our Health Reset programs. And just to set the context a little bit, we are running quarterly, six-day, online Health Reset programs that are designed to replenish and restore your body, and also gently and effectively detox your system as well, and all in a very straightforward way.
Our next one is coming up on January 18th. We’ve just had such phenomenal feedback so far since we launched these that we’re just so excited about. And even in just six days, we’re seeing that folks can have really a tremendous improvement of symptoms such as fatigue and brain fog, pain, arthritic pain, skin conditions, allergic symptoms, and many other things as well.
It’s not necessarily surprising since we do know from the scientific research that our metabolism is really very responsive even after a single meal to the nutrient signals that it’s receiving.
And also doing a regular, restorative cleanse is a great way to take care of your health over the long term as well.
So the Health Reset has various components and obviously, food and lifestyle are big ones, and we need to consider all those aspects together. But the supplements we use are also a really important piece. And so I wanted to invite Nina Stout here today, who is from Xymogen, the supplement manufacturer that we’re using for the Health Resets.
In fact, we’re using their six-day detox kit.
She’s going to just highlight for us what those supplements are, and why they’re so important and effective.
So Nina is board-certified in holistic nutrition through the National Association of Nutrition Professionals. She’s been involved in the field of functional medicine since 2002, both as a clinician and a nutrition educator.
So Nina has also promised to give us some pointers for any consumer who is in the market for supplements in terms of what to look for generally to be sure that we’re getting a high quality product in what to choose and what to avoid.
Welcome, Nina.
Nina Stout: Thank you so much. It’s such a pleasure to be here today. Thanks for inviting me to talk with you about the kit. And it’s really so exciting. I started getting all happy hearing about your initial results with your pilot program back in the fall and all the great results that you had with that.
And like you said it’s not surprising, but it’s always fabulous to hear the stories. And again, it’s not surprising because of what you had indicated with metabolism and being able to really impact the physiology with one meal. And then everything that goes into the body with these supplements during that six-day window of time.
And so we can sort of start a whole philosophy behind the Detox Renewal Kit. There are four different products, as you know, in the kit. And they are meant to address the different organs and systems that are supportive for detox. So we’re not just looking at the liver. We’re really looking at all of the organs of elimination.
So the products from the kit support the liver indeed, of course, but they also support the kidneys, the colon and the whole gastrointestinal system in general. So it’s really ever a broad spectrum support approach.
I had questions I’m sure you have before. There are so many different products out there on the market and whereas some do only support the liver, some are just really, maybe, a liquid only approach. It doesn’t really provide a lot of nutrition.
As some of my mentors had educated me (and over the years, you’ve just understood and learned in the Nutrition Guild), detox is a nutrient dense process.
I love that mantra. Detox is a nutrient dense process. Take just for instance the liver, you have all of the nutrients that are necessary in phase 1 detoxification where we really start pulling toxins from the tissue and the cells and then phase 2, we’re really flushing the toxins from the body. If we don’t accomplish, especially if we don’t accomplish phase 2 after accomplishing phase 1, we’ve just got toxins circulating in the system. We need to really eliminate those through different pathways of elimination, detoxification. But we need to have the nutrition in order to support those different pathways.
Your listeners don’t need to know all of the different specifics, but just in case they’re familiar with things like sulfation and methylation and glucuronidation, those are just a few of the six different pathways that we need to be active and we need to support through nutrition in order to complete the detox.
Romilly Hodges: It makes so much sense. And it’s true that the phase 1 part of detox that occurs in our body actually creates these metabolites that can be in that intermediate stage more toxic to the body as well.
And the design there is that it makes them also more reactive so that they can be paired up with other molecules in the body. You can get rid of them more easily. But if you don’t have a very strong system for that phase 2 that does that pairing, then you can be left with almost an increased toxicity as well.
So what I love as well is that you include all those nutrients that really support that phase 2 to move those toxic metabolites onwards.
And tell us a little bit more about why the elimination piece is so key.
Nina Stout: Being able to have the liver go through that process of really binding those toxins is important – and then that elimination piece. My other mantra is we never want to detox a constipated person because, again, you’ve just got these toxins that are circulating and they need to be passed through the body.
And so, that’s why one of the reasons why the ColonX is one of the products that we have in our kit. It supports digestion and elimination. And it includes mag citrate, Cape Aloe and Triphala (an ayurvedic three-herb formula). That really just opens the pipes, if you will. It’s highly effective.
The kit recommends that the patients start two days before with the ColonX. And again, it’s just going to get things moving and keep things moving, which is great.
And the other product that actually has started at the same time as ColonX is our homeopathic detox formula. And so again, we’re really approaching detox from many different angles because the body has these different systems and pathways for elimination. And so our homeopathic remedy addresses liver, colon and kidney and it’s just a different modality, a different approach.
We combine that with the ColonX to start moving things gently, if you will, with the Drainage and with the ColonX to eliminate in the first two days. And then the shake is something that comes up in on day 3 essentially.
Did you want me to go into that a little bit more?
Romilly Hodges: Sure, yes. One of the interesting things about the shake when we include this good complimented protein is that not a lot of people realize that protein itself and the amino acids that make up different proteins are so essential for detoxification.
And so compared with something like a juice fast, or a cleanse where you’re not getting sufficient or ample amounts of protein in the diet, there is this risk that we’re not adequately supporting that phase 2 that uses those amino acids and the protein.
So yes, I’d love for you to go into a little bit more about that, and the other ingredients that you have in that protein powder.
Nina Stout: Absolutely! OptiCleanse GHI, I think it’s actually very well-named as well because the G stands for gastrointestinal, the H is for hepatic support, and the I is for anti-inflammatory effects that the different ingredients in this product have on the body. So it’s an easy way to remember that this product is really approaching this from a detox and support from so many different angles.
It has 26 grams of vegan protein, which is a really very robust amount of protein that’s, like you said. It actually provides 100% complete amino acid profile.
And actually, I’m sitting here with the canister right here in front of me (and as your patients will see when they get the product) because this canister is so much wonderful information. It tells you the exact amino acid profile per serving. And one thing to really highlight is that it has almost 5 grams of l-glutamine which is, of course, a very important essential amino acid that’s going to be supportive on so many different areas in the body, the gut especially.
A therapeutic dose typically of l-glutaminethat most practitioners recommend is about 4 to 8 grams of l-glutamine once or twice a day. I’m sure you’ve probably go with a similar recommendation or you’ve probably recommended that with patients that have gut health issues, looking at healing the gut, leaky gut and things like that. Would you agree?
Romilly Hodges: Right, right! No, exactly. That’s within the ranges that we use as well, especially in terms of maintaining gut health. And even if you don’t know that you have a leaky gut, a lot of symptoms that you can have can associate with leaky gut and intestinal permeability.
So doing this intermittent gut restoration is also a really important part of restoring health and maintaining long-term health as well.
Nina Stout: Excellent! Yes. And of course, in times of stress, the glutamine, we burn through it, if you will, a lot more quickly than in others. And of course, it’s hard to get away from stress these days.
So it’s really an important ingredient in this product that supports so many different health needs. So yes, almost 5 grams of the l-glutamine.
And then like I said, our branched-chain amino acids, that’s important to point out. We have leucine, valine and isoleucine. Those make up just about 4 grams, 4 to 5 grams almost of those three branched-chain amino acids. It’s so important for supporting lean muscle mass.
So when we’re doing any kind of a detox, it’s frequently a nice benefit. We want to maintain the lean muscle mass and lose that as much as possible. So when we’re taking in those branched-chain amino acids, we’re really protecting our muscle health and that’s of course is going to end up being a boost to metabolism.
So when we have a lower body fat and a higher lean muscle mass, we have more effective metabolism.
And so it’s just some of the information about the branched-chain amino acids and of course the 26 grams of vegan protein. That is our proprietary Xynogen blend called VegaPro. Roughly about 99% pea protein is non-GMO pea protein and 1% rice protein. And so that gives it that 100% amino acid, essential amino acid profile – or I’m sorry, it’s the amino acid profile, both essential and non-essential.
So that’s a lot of protein. So you might not be used to having that much protein, but it’s really important. And what’s great, I assume you’re having your patients take one shake in the morning, that’s the time when cortisol is high and it should be. It gets us up in the morning, ready for our day. But cortisol can be catabolic and that’s a term for breaking down muscles. So when we put a good quality protein in our body first thing in the morning, we’re supporting muscle health and preventing that catabolic effect of high cortisol that can be detrimental to our muscle health.
So that’s really designed well. The way that you really want to have a cleanse is to have that high protein or detox protocol. The proper way of eating is to have a high protein meal in the morning.
And also it’s nice because I think a lot of people are confused about like what to have for breakfast that’s healthy. Some people get so confused they just don’t have anything. They just have some coffee or some tea or some fruit and there’s no protein in any of that.
So you’re giving them a really nice, great tasting way to start the day. And it’s very simple. It can be mixed with water to shake and it tastes really good. You probably have some recipes for them for smoothies possibly.
And so in addition to that protein and it tastes great, again, because there are 26 grams of protein, we have an amino acid proteolytic enzyme rather that helps break down amino acids. It’s called Aminogen and that is a patented enzyme for breaking down protein. It’s to assimilate and digestion, et cetera.
Then part and parcel to the formula, we have micronutrients such as all of the vitamins and minerals. We have only the activated B vitamins. We have methylcobalamin, and 5mTHF – Quatrefolic is our folate – and we use the P5P for the B6.
So that’s for anybody who’s paying attention, your patients who are really looking at some of these micronutrients. But really, what it means is that it’s very bioavailable. It’s immediately available to people. More people are talking about genomics and SNPs and things that prevent them from assimilating vitamins and minerals and things like that. So it’s very easy to absorb and make use of.
And we also use the Albion chelated minerals which means that they’re all, again, very, very bioavailable.
Something else that your patients will note when they look at this canister, there’s a fabulous table on the back and it breaks down the specific ingredients that supports the three areas that this shake addresses.
So you have the gastrointestinal support. Again, we mentioned the l-glutamine. Quercetin aminogen is the enzyme I mentioned. So again, that’s going to help with gut health and elimination.
We have the Preventium in there. That’s the potassium d-glucarate. That helps with actually metabolizing estrogen through the gut, just keeping a healthy balance of estrogen in the body.
And then we’ve got the ingredients that support liver detox. Those are things like NAC (n acetylcysteine), sodium sulfate, watercress and ellagic acid. And these are all just natural ingredients that are known to support liver health.
And then some other things that actually support the anti-inflammatory aspects. This product is curcumin. Everyone talks about curcumin these days. It’s highly anti-inflammatory and a natural ingredient from the turmeric roots.
That’s one of the things you have mentioned as one of the symptom reduction was with pain. And certainly, the curcumin is very, very helpful with comfort, muscle health, muscle comfort and joint comfort and things like that.
There’s another anti-inflammatory aspect to it as well, the bioflavonoids, the rutin, and things like that.
That’s a summary of what you’ll find in this formula. There are so many things that I didn’t even mention like green tea and ginger. That’s going to be great for the gut.
It’s a very comprehensive formula.
Romilly Hodges: And that’s one of the aspects that really put us into using the Xymogen product. It’s this nice compliment of these different botanicals and nutrients that you have in there as well that all play into various aspects of health, anti-inflammatory, and also up-regulating those detox phase 2 enzymes as well to really drive the toxins out of the body and support that.
The things that we want to avoid is creating detox symptoms because sometimes when people go through a detox, if they get symptoms while they’re detoxing, that make them feel temporarily worse, it can be because we’re not supporting that phase 2 well enough to help the body process that additional toxic load that is creating as it draws those toxins out of the tissues. So I feel like that’s a really important aspect to cover.
With that amount of protein as well for the breakfast, we found that that works really well in terms of keeping people satiated. People were surprised that they were able to really stick to a healthy way of eating and follow along with some of the recipes that we had provided for them as optional recipes.
Part of it is having that good balance of protein especially first thing in the morning to help regulate your metabolism, help avoid getting that cycle of cravings and crashings, and then reaching for unhealthy food.
So it became something that was very easy for folks to follow along with. And that was surprising to them, but great feedback as well.
Nina Stout: And do you find that everybody found the taste very palatable?
Romilly Hodges: They did. They were surprised that they were able to drink those super green smoothies that we had given them recipes for that they weren’t sure that they were going to like but actually with the – I think the protein powder in there plays a good role in blending those flavors together. And they actually found them really enjoyable. So that was a plus.
Nina Stout: That’s fabulous. Very, very good. I wanted to just make sure I also hit on the fourth product in the kit which is probably one of my absolute favorites. It’s the Probiomax Daily and that’s our probiotic. That is four different species of good bacteria in one capsule. It’s a 30-billion colony-forming unit, or 30-billion CSU. It’s the terminology with these probiotic formulas.
The species of the good bacteria, we have the lactobacillus acidophilus which is probably one of the most common ones that maybe your patients are familiar with. And we have the strain for bifidobacterium lactis.
What we notate with each of our species is that they are strain-specific. So, for instance, the lactobacillus acidophilus, they use a specific strain called LA14. We know based on studies that that particular strain is very anti-inflammatory. So that’s very important because of course we’re trying to reduce inflammation in the body as much as possible. That’s going to lend itself to a person feeling so much better over time.
Some strains of lactobacillus acidophilus may be pro-inflammatory. But if you don’t know specifically the strain that you’re taking, you don’t necessarily know if you’re taking possibly a pro-inflammatory strain of a lactobacillus acidophilus or an anti-inflammatory strain.
But with the Xymogen Probiomax Daily, the strain of lactobacillus acidophilus in there is anti-inflammatory which is really terrific.
Then we know that bifidobacterium lactis, that one is HN019. Again, that’s not important to remember. But when your patients see this information on the box, it may jog their memory that, “Oh, yes. That strain does that sort of what-have-you.”
So that HN019, it was chosen over 2000 other strains because of its ability to adhere to the epithelial cells in the gut. And so that’s really important because that’s what it’s all about. If it’s not going to adhere, it’s just going to get flushed out of the system. And you’re just spending good money on products that’s not going to really do anything.
So that’s a really important aspect of probiotics, one thing that we know about the bifidobacterium lactis is that it actually helps to degrade gluten. So for anybody who has sensitivity to gluten or a person has Celiac disease and they are taking this product, and they have a cross-contamination situation and they’re taking this product, they will be, in some ways, protected against some of the negative aspects of gluten in their system because the bifidobacterium lactis will actually help to degrade that along with that protein. That’s why that one is a really, really important strain.
And there are two other strains in there that has some fantastic attributes, the lactobacillus plantarum, the LP-115. That one, actually, Dr. Perlmutter talks about it and its impact on brain health because it really helps to support the healing of leaky gut. He talks about the connection between leaky gut, leaky brain, et cetera. He really talks about that one a lot.
And the last one is the bifidobacterium longum, in particular strain B105. That one is actually known to boost the antioxidants and to then support the benefit of ingesting antioxidants.
And one thing that’s really interesting with, say lactobacillus acidophilus, one of the reasons why we put the probiotics in a detox kit like this is to support a person’s gut health and how well they feel of course. Probiotics help to either increase or decrease transit time depending on what a person really needs. The good bacteria, it really helps normalize things.
And of course, if we don’t eliminate things as we were talking about earlier, toxins get stuck in the body. That’s really counterproductive to what you’re trying to do.
But there are some studies that show – and it’s a really interesting one with laboratory study with animals. The animals were treated some probiotics. Both groups were exposed to bisphenol A (BPA). The ones that were given the probiotics actually have a significant decrease in the blood bisphenol A. They also excreted more BTA in the feces and things like that.
So again, that’s the lab animals that were supplemented with probiotics. They were able to detox the bisphenol A.
Romilly Hodges: That’s so fascinating. That’s a great, great study to bring up. I think it just plays into this whole understanding of the fact that detox is such a broad – it needs to be addressed from multiple angles, including the healthy gut bacteria and the types of strain that can help us even process some of the toxins that we’re exposed to as well as then supporting liver function and elimination and all the other areas as well.
So that’s fascinating. Thank you.
Nina Stout: Absolutely. It’s my pleasure to be on the call with you today, and to look at the various products and the detox kit. So I wish you all the best with the upcoming group program that you have ahead of you.
Romilly Hodges: Great. Well, thank you so much, Nina. This has been very, very enlightening. Just to remind everybody the next Health Reset is coming up on January 18th, but we’re running these quarterly, and we’re offering early bird pricing through December 21st. So remember that and remember to sign up in time to receive your supplements as well.
I hope to see you there.
Nina, thanks so much. We hope you’ll join us again to talk more about supplements.
Nina Stout: I would love to. It’s been my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Romilly Hodges: Take care.
Nina Stout: You too. Bye.