TA Ep. 173 Sarah Greenfield – Gut Health: The Emotional and Physical Path to Healing

Leigh Ann: [00:00:00] Hello, happy Monday, welcome back to the Accrescent Podcast. I’m your host Leigh Anne Lindsay. First of all, I just want to quickly say that I am gonna keep today’s intro as short as possible because I am on the tail end of a little sickness and so my voice is definitely a bit more gravelly than normal and I’m so excited for today’s guest, Sarah Greenfield.

I really wanted to start the year off with some amazing guests covering some of the basics of general health and wellness. That way we can go into the year with some really great actionable practical things that we can take with us into the rest of the year. This guest, Sarah Greenfield, as well as last week’s guest, Dr.

Shivani Gupta. These, both of these episodes are just so full of so many wonderful, practical things that we’re all going to be able to carry with us throughout 2025. So, a quick introduction to Sarah. She is a [00:01:00] functional medicine dietitian, poo affixionado, and if you’re familiar with human design, a 5 1 generator.

She has created programs and products for large wellness brands, like Nutribullet. Dr. Hyman and Hume Nutrition and has been featured on BuzzFeed, Self Mag, Men’s Health, and NBC The Today Show. Currently, she is running her private practice, The Fearless Fig, where she personalizes science and energetics of digestive healing for highly sensitive humans.

So we go deep, deep, deep into digestive health today and so many amazing, great takeaways from this. Sarah is such a wealth of knowledge, and it was So, so fun to have her on. So please enjoy this conversation with Sarah Greenfield. So one of the products on my 2024 Holistic Holiday Gift Guide is the Higher Dose Infrared PEMF Mat.

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And so in the morning I use the PEMF frequency for energy to kind of wake up, get my system going. In the afternoon, I might use the grounding frequency that kind of replicates the same frequency you would get if you were going to be grounding on the Earth’s surface. And then they also have like a beta theta frequency that helps slow you down, that I’ll [00:03:00] put on at night.

And then oftentimes, during the day, after workouts, if I’m feeling a bit run down, I’ll use the cellular recovery frequency. So, I am literally on this thing two if not three times a day. And it is one of my absolute favorite products. Sometimes I travel with it, but if I was, if I ever lost it, I would be replacing it immediately because it’s such a staple in my routine.

So I’ll put a discount code below. I know Higher Dose is having a Black Friday holiday sale that’s coming up pretty quick. I’ll put the code below, maybe even the dates below. Um, and then check out the rest of the Holistic Holiday Gift Guide for some more gift ideas for loved ones and yourself. Sarah, welcome to the Crescent podcast.

So glad that we can make this happen.

Sarah Greenfield: Thank you for having me. I’m excited to dive into this conversation.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, it’s been a little bit since I’ve had someone on talking about gut health specifically. So I think it’ll be really fun, especially cause it’s been a few [00:04:00] years and we know how fast studies change and like information changes and what we were doing five years ago for gut health might be completely different now, at least in some sense.

So I think it’ll be really fun to have this great refresher with someone who, you know, Lives and breathes the gut.

Sarah Greenfield: Exactly.

Leigh Ann: With all that said though, I love an origin story. I was listening, you know, I always do some research for guests and I listen to some of their other episodes that they’ve done. So I know a little bit of your story, but for anyone who’s new to you, to the fearless fig, can you give us a little bit of an origin story?

Sure. So

Sarah Greenfield: I have been in the wellness industry for Almost 20 years. I started as a dietitian, so I came in very conventional and I always was kind of on the edge of the conventional world. Like, I never felt like I fit in and I was like, there’s got to be more than what we’re doing in a hospital prescribing, you know, low sodium diets and just like sending people on their way.

And I was like, I’m going to get into [00:05:00] like, prevention. I feel like my impact as. A health educator is going to be more powerful before people are already in the hospital. So I did a lot of different things as a dietitian. I worked with big wellness brands. I’ve built programs for Nutribullet. I’ve developed probiotics for, um, home nutrition.

I’ve helped Dr. Hyman with some of his books. So I’ve done a lot in this space and I just love. Challenging people on what they think is kind of these conventional standards and saying, like, let’s think outside of the box and let’s really get into the body. And for me, that biggest connection has always been the gut and poop.

I mean, poop is really like, my claim to fame was just like, really. You know, promoting and getting people excited about their poop and looking at their poop and talking about their poop and normalizing that conversation about poop. And yeah, it’s just been such a huge passion of mine for a pretty big portion of my life.[00:06:00]

Leigh Ann: Yeah, well you would fit right in with my family because we love talking about poop. Maybe not in the way you’re thinking.

Sarah Greenfield: I know, I’ve kind of identified, we went and did a program, we were in Italy for a little bit and I was like, we’re the poop family and everyone was like, oh. Okay. And then there was so much poop in Italy because people don’t pick up after their dogs that I was like, I don’t, I don’t think I can claim that as my thing anymore.

Like, I was just overwhelmed with poop. So it’s been, it’s been funny.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, it’s completely. Well, I think a really fun place to start is cause I went back and I was listening to an episode you had done a podcast interview you had done. A few years back, and then I was going through your website and kind of where you’re at today, and it did feel like there has been a little bit of a shift in maybe what you emphasize.

Obviously, all the foundations are still there, but I think that’d be a really interesting place to start of how has your approach to healing the gut, to healing the [00:07:00] gut changed over the years, even within this holistic space?

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah, and it has changed a lot in the past couple of years. So I used to primarily do Functional testing and functional stool testing.

I mean, all the functional tests, genetic tests, hormone tests. Like, I love to have all the data and that was amazing. And I was like, okay, we can take it so far with people. I mean, the people that I support are. Typically women with digestive issues. And what I was seeing is that we get all this amazing data and we’d have this pretty clear path of the physiology of the body, but there’s this whole other part of the body that are emotions, embodiment, the stories we tell ourselves and you can’t.

Diet, you can’t supplement. You can’t like, you just can’t override that and say, well, I have my supplement protocol and pair that with a belief system that says my body is trashed and my metabolism is never going to [00:08:00] return. And my gut is a mess. Like, if that’s your underlying story and you have the sensations and feelings that go with it.

It doesn’t matter how many probiotics you take, how many onions and garlic you eliminate from your diet. You’re not going to get as far as you could when you take an even more holistic approach. So I always looked at functional medicine. I was like, functional medicine is the holistic approach because we’re looking at all the body systems.

Yeah. Yes, and we have this whole other energetic emotional body that has to be a part of the equation. So, over the past couple of years, I had to step into my capacity as a practitioner to hold that space for other women because I didn’t feel comfortable in that myself. So, that was kind of my journey over the past couple of years is how can I show up and be witness not even just like singing as an educator, but, like, really bring my authentic self and my feelings.

Thanks. And it just felt like being in a hospital, being in, you know, the corporate world, my feelings had to be like [00:09:00] shut down and eliminated from my work and practice. And so I was getting a lot of women that were also in that space of like, but in order to be productive, I can’t be crying all the time.

And it’s like, well, yes, we have to cry sometimes to really heal and nurture the gut. So it’s been a really deep dive into, okay, here’s this functional lab supplement piece, physiological piece. We have that part of the body and then what’s this more sensitive, vulnerable, raw side of being a human with digestive issues.

Leigh Ann: Oh my gosh, you’re speaking my language. So I don’t know if you know my, what I do other than the podcast. I, um, I’m getting my PhD in depth psychology, which is all about the unconscious mind and I work with cancer and chronic illness patients to work on emotional root causes to disease. So it’s like, Oh, you’re speaking my language so much.

And there’s a couple of pieces I want to highlight here. To the point you made in the beginning, you [00:10:00] can’t out supplement chronic fear. You can’t out supplement chronic shame or resentment and, and everything is interconnected. And I just love that you are bringing this in. And I think this is where everything needs to go.

And to the point you made also, holistic medicine, I think, There is one more layer we’ve got to get to with this of truly mind, body and spirit, everything is being addressed, maybe not all by one person, because that’s a lot to know and, you know, be an expert in, but, um, yes, this really deep, deep approach to emotional wellness.

As a part of physical wellness. Yes.

Sarah Greenfield: And I always really see the gut as kind of this emotional expression epicenter and when we repress and when we don’t feel, you know, we stick it in our gut and we stick it in all of our body, but it can start to physically manifest [00:11:00] pretty. Pretty directly in the gut and yeah, it’s like I tried to avoid it for as long as I could because I would always say I’m a scientist.

I’m not a therapist. And then I realized, but to be a full human to have full health. You can’t separate the two. Like that was my conventional training is, you know, the GI doctor focuses on the gut and the cardiologist focus on your heart and therapist focuses on, but it’s like, it’s not that we’re not segmented.

We are these like very complex beings and. There’s a lot to peel back when it comes to healing.

Leigh Ann: And I think the more we can have practitioners who, again, maybe aren’t expert experts in every single area, but have a sense, have an idea of how everything is interconnected, then they can speak to it. And if they need to refer out to someone who can address, you know, this piece of it, address that piece of it, but in a deeper way, but to be able to have that [00:12:00] foundation of education of, Hey.

I’m really great at addressing the physiological things that could go on in the gut, but I need to send you, you also need to be doing this kind of work with this kind of practitioner. So powerful. And it just makes me think, I feel like I’m jumping way ahead of the gut, but we might look back. We’ll talk about the gut eventually.

Um, it just, I feel like emotions. Our root cause in one way or another. We’re talking about the gut today. So absolutely. I’m sure you see people coming in who, you know, maybe they’ve got parasites in the gut. Maybe they’ve got hormone imbalances or whatever. Some of these other things are, and it could be really easy to point at that and go, well, that’s why the guts off.

And certainly that is a contributing factor, but we have to ask the bigger question. This is often what I do with cancer patients. What is taking up the [00:13:00] capacity? Of the mind, body and spirit such that a parasite could take root. You know, that a parasite could thrive in my body. Yeah,

Sarah Greenfield: really exactly. And I always think of it as like, we absolutely have a physical body and the physical body has symptoms and presentations that we can feel and understand.

So we can’t. Just say like, oh, well, that’s not important because if you just feel your feelings, then you’ll you’ll clear it out because it’s not that either. We do have imbalances in our body. We do have a physical body that needs to be addressed. So it is that ability to hold both and say, and just at least recognize, like, to me that I look at it in 3 ways.

I say we are energetic. We are then emotional, and then we are physical. So, like, energetically, there’s going to be things that are shifting and changing and then we’re going to get the emotional opportunity to express. And then if we can’t really clear it through that, we’re going to have a physical presentation.

So, it’s like, I always think, like, you were saying, I, I always think of it, like, energetic, emotional, physical, and how do we move through those and support [00:14:00] both of all 3 of those areas.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, because even I’ve thought about this a lot. I think I was even thinking about this listening to your What a previous interview you had done where it’s like, yeah, there can be nutrient different deficiencies mineral deficiencies But if we’re not asking that deeper question why for we’re talking about parasites here Why could a parasite thrive in this environment just clearing them isn’t actually getting to the root cause and this is where I do think Emotions, past trauma, unresolved experiences play a big, big role for why these things.

You know, the, the original sort of weakness or imbalance took place. And then what happens is unfortunately it becomes this nasty spiral of there’s some big emotional imbalances, which then create a hospitable environment for parasites, which then deplete our nutrients even more, which then creates more emotional, like it becomes this whole spiral.

Sarah Greenfield: Absolutely. [00:15:00] And so it’s never just like, Oh, well, if, if we just eliminated the parasites, we’d be fine. It’s really this big. Picture and, and it’s not easy. I think that’s the other thing, like, stepping into this space and stepping into a place where you are vulnerable and open and looking at your pain is really challenging.

And I always tell my clients, I’m like, you know, you made the choice to step into longevity and sustainability. That’s where we’re playing. We’re not playing in this quick fix, you know, like, you take the anti parasitic supplement and all of a sudden everything improves. Like, yeah. It’s not linear like that.

So I always like to remind people that this is a commitment and this is a journey and it takes so much courage and curiosity to end up in a place where you’re like, I want to honor this, this vessel and really understand what does it mean to heal? Like that is, that is, that’s a big question. So I always, I’m so just like in awe of the people that step into this world and that [00:16:00] are listening to this podcast because you are courageous and curious to be in this space.

Leigh Ann: Absolutely. I want to talk about healing as like a lifestyle versus an end destination, but I’ll save that for later. So let’s backtrack. I, you know, zipped us ahead a little bit. I want to backtrack to So yes, how, how does it look like now, then the way that you approach this, if a new client comes to you, what, you know, one of the things you said at the beginning was I used to do tons and tons of functional testing, what does it look like now, if someone were to come to you, what’s sort of the kind of process or some of the big.

Steps that you would take with them.

Sarah Greenfield: Yes. So now I do four month containers, and I’ve narrowed it down to really just focusing on gut healing. That’s what I love. That’s what I spend all my time doing. So we look at food sensitivities. We do stool test analysis, and we also do a comprehensive blood panel that I build based on.

[00:17:00] Whatever is coming up in that initial consultation. But typically it includes, you know, thyroid, panel minerals, nutrients, uh, cortisol, your CMP, like just, you know, the general blood panel with additional pieces. So I can get that comprehensive look at what’s going on in the body. And to me, that’s all the data that I need.

I don’t need to do, you know, the, ugh, so many other ones just because I’ve done this for so long that these are the most. Impactful labs that we can have access to so we still run these labs and we still look at how do we optimize the microbiome from a supplemental perspective from lifestyle perspective.

So I’m still using my. Functional training, my conventional dietetic training to really build out lifestyle pieces, dietary pieces, and the supplements that will support that. Additionally, now, the things that I’ve added, so I’ve narrowed it down, but I’ve also added somatic support with a therapist. So I have a somatic therapist in my practice who is [00:18:00] amazing and she supports my clients 1 on 1 and they have sessions with me.

They have sessions with her because it just gets so into. Like, it’s just beautiful because it no matter what you’re going through, you’re going to have that moment where you’re like, oh, I’m frustrated. I’m back in my old habits. Nothing is working. My body is broken. Like, that always happens, even in a 4 month window where we’re healing.

Like, yeah, we’re gonna have all this beautiful progress and there’s just going to be those days. And so when they have the sessions with Kara, who is our somatic therapist, it gets into that deeper layer in real time where it’s like, oh, my God, I am. Self sabotaging here, and I didn’t even realize that or I’m having all these energy leaks.

So that’s just a beautiful addition And then the final piece that I bring in is human design and that’s just such a wild cool piece to have in there because it gives context to things that are very Non tangible, [00:19:00] so it really gives us kind of this energetic blueprint and it’s not like, this is who you are and this is who you are, but it’s more of.

Here’s how you kind of are energetically designed. Does it resonate and so I tested this for a while before I like officially brought it in and every time I went through human design with my clients, they were like, oh, my God, it’s me. So we started integrating that. And that’s just been a beautiful.

Permission slip to be your authentic self is really how I, I bring that in. And so now we have the emotional, the energetic and the physical all combined in this, like. It’s just beautiful. I’m so honored to be able to do that type of work and it’s deep and it’s impactful. And, um, it’s really cool.

Leigh Ann: Oh, my gosh, so many questions I have.

First of all, what’s your human design?

Sarah Greenfield: I am a 5 1

Leigh Ann: generator. Okay. I need to look up my numbers. I just know I’m a manifesting generator. I don’t know all the other things about it, [00:20:00] but I, I have loved it and it has been very resonant for me, too. And it’s, it’s just another lens to look through. I don’t like live or die by any of these personality tests or whatever, but I love the way it really is kind of helping you understand here’s how your energy is meant to be used, really.

Yes. And it was so profoundly impactful for me, especially being a business owner and like how I run my business, how I coordinate my schedule. It’s been massive. So

Sarah Greenfield: yeah, especially when it comes to decision making because if you are stepping into a healthy lifestyle, changing your habits, you have to understand how you make decisions and what is.

Alignment for your highest and best good because you’re constantly going against that it’s gonna make your physical body sick So it’s just oof. It’s deep and it’s juicy

Leigh Ann: Yeah, well, I want to lean into that just for a second of more of you So, um, when you were stepping into your own, maybe self discovery [00:21:00] or really just a vulnerability, maybe you were always doing that, but it wasn’t something you brought to your practice, what did that look like for you?

How did you maybe break through any of the fears or resistance in doing that? And then, yeah, what, what did you find supportive in doing that? Where did you get into somatics?

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah, so I, I’ve done a lot of different things, but it kind of started. I would say the most impactful thing for me was being in a women’s group and sitting in circle with some very safe and trusted.

Friends and holding intentional space where we could speak and be. Witnessed and not be fixed and not be solved and to really be challenged to stay in that place of this is how I feel not like I’m thinking this and this and this and this and I went and it’s just like. Really singing into what do I feel and oftentimes finding I don’t know what I feel and I don’t know what I need and that was very [00:22:00] disorienting to be, you know, a business owner as well, a human, a mother, and to be like, I don’t even know how I feel.

I feel numb. Like, most of the time I was like, I feel nothing because I had so many really good tools to kind of cope with. The craziness of the world that I would just shut down and be just like, totally disconnected and having digestive issues growing up. It also helped me get really good at getting out of my body.

So I would just kind of like, shoot off into outer space and not be there. So coming back into a space of like, all right, I’m going to arrive. I’m going to speak. I’m going to use my voice not to educate because that’s where I feel really comfortable. I feel comfortable giving people all the ins and outs of the microbiome and the body.

But like, when it’s me, and you’re asking me about me and how I feel, oh, dear God, so sitting in that and really being like, I am a human and my work and my passion is to connect with other [00:23:00] humans and to help them step into their humanness and allowing myself to be vulnerable. I, you know, I will often cry in a lot of my sessions with people, because it’s just this really beautiful, intense human experience that’s happening.

And I feel a lot of gratitude and, and all I’m in all a lot. So, I think it’s just been that allowing, like, almost as simply as just, like, allowing myself to cry when I feel that I need to cry. Yeah, often when you are a human holding. This journey for another human there, there are a lot of big feelings and I don’t get lost in those sensations, but I can have that compassion to connect with another person going through it.

And just, you know, really. Create a deeper connection and a deeper trust and, um, I think the biggest switch for me to going through this was as a, if we want to go to human design. As a 5 line, there’s a lot of it’s a big [00:24:00] projection field. So a lot of people will pedestal me and say, you’re going to save me.

And this happens with a lot of practitioners, right? Like, oh, you were doing this thing and you’re going to save me. So that was pretty early on in my career. It was like, you’re going to do all these tests. You’re going to save me. And so I’ve had to be really intentional about my connections with people and say, I’m not going to save you.

You’re going to save you. We are going to step into a relationship together of collaboration. I’m going to hold your fear, but ultimately you’re going to be the one showing up and doing the work. And so having that kind of dialogue shift and energetic shift has been so impactful and then also trusting that I can hold that.

Like I needed to expand my capacity and really tap into my nervous system to be able to say I can hold your fear That’s a big one.

Leigh Ann: Something I use myself often and recommend to clients often too is the Apollo Neuro wearable device. This is a wearable device that helps regulate the nervous system, has been [00:25:00] proven to increase HRV, helps with sleep, focus, and a couple of things I really love about that. The Apollo wearable is it’s super inconspicuous.

So it’s something you can have on all day at work, at home, wherever you’re going and no one’s really going to notice it. And I love that because a lot of the nervous system regulating devices out there or supportive devices out there aren’t that practical. You really have to do them at home or it’s not something you’d really want to be doing or using in public.

But the Apollo wearable is so inconspicuous and easy, and it uses vibration haptics that basically send these safety and regulating signals to the nervous system to allow for uh, More focus, better sleep, calmer state. They have won so many awards for this product, and I feel like there’s a million more things I could say about it.

So I’ll encourage you guys to [00:26:00] check the show notes below for a link to learn more about the product. I also have a discount code below, and I think they probably have some holiday sales coming up as well. But it’s something I use very very often, and I really feel Feel like it has helped train my nervous system to have a lower baseline.

My baseline is so much more regulated. And likewise, when I’m in a moment of stress or a day of stress or a week of stress, I make sure that I’m wearing my Apollo every single day, just to give my body that extra support, those extra safety signals without necessarily needing to think about it. You can just put it on.

Set it in the app and it’s gonna go do its thing all day long. So check the show notes below. You can also Check out the holiday gift guide where I list so many of my other favorite products for the year and also just products That I use every single day or all the time. One of the foundations of Jungyeon depth psychology [00:27:00] Is the, you can only go, your patients can only go as deep as you yourself have gone with yourself.

Yes.

Sarah Greenfield: Oh, I love

Leigh Ann: that. And, and so to be able to have, yeah, a practitioner who goes to the depths herself so that she can hold space for you to go to those places is such a gift.

Sarah Greenfield: And it’s so powerful. And it’s a totally different experience than You know, being the scientific investigator, which I love, too, and I still do that, but being able to take that and sink into the human experience is just a beautiful, beautiful and it fills my cup up as much as I’m helping somebody else.

I feel deeply inspired and deeply regenerated by these. Clients that I get to support. It’s really incredible.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, and I think speaking of energy. There probably is something that really is felt in that rather than maybe before. It’s like, okay. Yeah. [00:28:00] Yeah. She sees my physical body. And that’s nice, but to be able to sit with someone who is like, Whoa, she is seeing all of me, that in and of itself is healing.

Yes. And is a gift and is, you know, restorative. So yeah, it’s beautiful. Yes. Beautiful. I, I would love to get into what are some of the, the themes though that you do see? And here’s some themes of what, you know, root causes of gut imbalances, gut disturbances in some of the testing you do of just, yep, I see this time and time and time again, I’d also be really interested if you, if you know, your somatic therapist, if she sees themes in emotional stuff that comes up in sessions.

Kind of across clients. Yeah.

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah. So, um, I actually developed the gut archetypes because I was seeing these pa, these energetic patterns of people, they don’t always directly correlate to the physical presentation ’cause those can be [00:29:00] different. But the energetic patterning is so clear and. There’s, um, the, the chameleon gut is the 1 that I see the most and that’s kind of like the people pleaser.

And so when we’re in this people pleasing mode, it really outsources a lot of our own power and we don’t have a lot of digestive fire and digestive capacity and just nervous system capacity to be able to. Be in our bodies, so that was an archetype that just kept coming up over and over again and seeing that.

I mean, when I look at a stool test. There can be so many different variations, but I’m either seeing either dysbiosis on a level of all of these overgrown good bacteria or bad bacteria, or really, really low levels. So, typically, I would say, actually, people that have been in this. Kind of health conscious world for a really long time.

They can skew more to the sides of low beneficial bacteria because they’ve been in these very strict [00:30:00] elimination diets or supplementation or doing all these protocols that have been killing the gut bacteria. Because there’s a lot of like, when you look at gut healing, a lot of people will use a 5 hour protocol and it’s all about remove.

And kill and attack, and it’s like, oh, God, we can’t do that. We don’t know enough about the microbiome to really be like, aggressively killing. So, that’s kind of like, in these people pleaser type. Archetype presentations, I will kind of see that dysbiosis on either either side of things. Usually people that are just coming to me that have a lot of issues that have never stepped into the space have very overgrown commensal and opportunistic bacteria, but that’s.

It’s it’s almost like pretty split where it’s like see the low diversity or this this dysbiotic picture.

Leigh Ann: Mm hmm. Okay. Oh, yes Get into some more of the archetypes. That is so fascinating

Sarah Greenfield: to me. Yes. Okay So chameleon gut is kind of like this people pleaser, you know, like we’ll [00:31:00] just blend into whatever environment is That they need to and not, like I said, take so much of your energy.

There’s also the discerning gut, which is more of a kind of like, that’s more of like, you’re burnt out caregiver mother. That’s just like, giving everything to everybody else and then is so depleted and has no energy for themselves, or they can barely like, extract a nutrient from whatever they’re eating.

They’re just so, so, so depleted. Um, and then we have the sage, Sage. Gut who is someone that’s been typically in to see a lot of practitioners that has done been on the journey a long time. And it’s just kind of missing. Really that somatic integration, they have a lot of labs, they have a lot of testing, but they’re missing that deeper work, the vulnerability, the feeling, the sensation.

So that’s really important for for that archetype. And then we have the heroic archetype, which is that type a, like, high achiever, like, I don’t need anybody’s help. I don’t, you [00:32:00] know, I can do this on my own. And that comes with its own complications. Yeah, so that’s generally the archetypes. And it was just, I was seeing this over and over again.

And I was like, uh, huh. Yep. I know that you’re going to have these types of gut issues. I know I have different labs that are associated with 1 like sage. God is typically a little bit more pro inflammatory. Um, so there’s all these different, like, little nuance pieces, and I’m still extracting. I have so much data.

All of these stool tests to, like, really get in there and see, is there a correlation between the actual stool test and bacteria that are overgrown and not overgrown? So it’s really. It’s a really cool project that had been working on.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, I love that. So kind of what I got from that is. Correct me if I’m wrong within a first meeting with a potential client or a client, just kind of based on the personality that you’re assessing, you can kind of guess the general state of their gut.

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah, pretty much.

Leigh Ann: That’s so wild.

Sarah Greenfield: [00:33:00] And it’s yeah. And it’s an energy that really is. That’s why these are more energetic profiles. And I’ve gone deeper into like shadows. I mean, you were talking about archetypes and, um, Carl young and his work and like, there’s all of these shadows that are associated with each archetype.

And every time I do a presentation and like, I like to do, I always like to test things before I make it larger. And so, in these presentations, I’ve been giving people their shadows and like, what they can work with. And every time they read it, they’re like, oh, my God. So, like, okay, this is this is this is real.

This is something, um. But yeah, it’s really wild to see that correlation.

Leigh Ann: Can you get into a little more, like, can we go through each of the types a little more and some of the themes you see with each of them in terms of the physical manifestations that you’re seeing? Like, you were saying the sage tends to be more inflammatory issues.

Chameleon tends to be more dysbiosis one way or the other. Yeah, um. [00:34:00] And, or, or just other general, like, Things that you see come up a lot in terms of physical.

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah. So heroic gut can often be more correlated to constipation because it’s that really intense. Like, I can’t let go of anything type of energy.

And I’ve seen that just time and time again, be very paired with constipation. So that can often be something that I see hand in hand and discerning is like, we just need to regulate the nervous system. Like that guy can be that gets a grab bag, but really when we start to get into nervous system regulation and looking at energy leaks and boundaries and just like bringing, it’s like, just about bringing that nervous system back online.

That’s kind of like, for all of them, they all need nervous system regulation, but discerning is the 1 where we really have to prioritize that.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, completely. This is something that’s coming up more and more. I have a. A doctor friend locally who, um, does a [00:35:00] lot with mold and, um, mast cell activation and she was like, sometimes we can’t even get to mold detox until we’ve calmed their nervous system.

Nothing will even work. Nothing will even take.

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah. Yeah. I, I see those clients too. And it’s so interesting. I mean, so many people, I feel like identify with their diagnosis or they identify with, oh, but I have mast cell activation. And while again, right, we do have a physical body when we look at. Okay.

But what’s under that? And what’s under that? And I had a client that had all of those things. And I was like, I’d like to be really intentional about my words. And I was like, if I say we’re going on a wellness journey. What is that? What does the word wellness mean to you? Right? Because like we could have different definitions of wellness and she was like, wellness to me is something that is unachievable and I’m like, okay So we can’t call this a wellness journey because then energetically we’ve already put that intention out there that this is an unachievable journey for you And I was like, what’s a better word?

And she’s like, [00:36:00] freedom. And I was like, great. So we’re on your freedom journey. But even just that little bit of a tweak, getting away from, you know, she’s been to so many practitioners being like, it’s a histamine issue and you have mast cell and it’s SIBO and it’s this and it’s that. And so this poor woman who’s very young came to me and she’s like, I have all these things.

And we did all of the, all the tests that I like to do. And I was like, no, you don’t like your body is actually not broken. And what does it look like when we start to You know, just honor in that capacity. So there’s always those moments. I know there’s people that also have very dysregulated immune systems and have been experiencing these things for a long time.

But it’s just such again, like, so important to look at the whole picture rather than just being like, oh, you are mold. You know, like people are like, I’m a moldy and it’s like, okay, yes, you’re experiencing an issue with, but you shouldn’t, like, we have to be just intentional about identifying as a person that is mold or is [00:37:00] SIBO because they’re just, let me pigeonhole ourselves into something.

And yeah, there’s a lot of terminology. That’s not, it’s like the SIBO one is my, you know, my, just like, I’m like, ah, you don’t have SIBO.

Leigh Ann: Oh my gosh, I want to get into this a little bit more and yes, I’m, it’s so funny, I use that exact word where it’s, you’re experiencing cancer, or you’re experiencing MS, or you’re experiencing something, it is not you, it is not who you are, you don’t own it, and I think that verbiage is so, so, so important.

Sarah Greenfield: Yes.

Leigh Ann: But when it comes to diagnoses, you know, I’m, I’m in the emotional wellness world. So we, you know, there’s diagnoses like anxiety and depression. Those are real, that’s not to dismiss them, but I do think there’s a fine line of over diagnosing and also over identification with diagnoses. What is your perspective on that when it [00:38:00] comes to gut health, gut diagnoses?

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah, I mean, so I’m not, like, my scope of practice, being a dietitian, kind of at my core, I am not, I’ve never been in the diagnosis world. So I always veer away from that. And then stepping into functional, I never Well be like you have leaky gut or you have it’s always like how interesting this is what’s happening now And let’s look at correcting that like you are showing an imbalance of good and bad bacteria.

So I always really try Very much to get away from diagnosis, and I do work with conventional practitioners because I’m not I’m not in the wild wild West being like, there’s not disease here. Like, yes, there’s disease. And I recognize that diseases are present. And so, for me, if I see something that looks patterning towards.

A concern. I’m like, all right, you need to go to like, I had a client the other day having digestive issues. This comes up a lot because the thyroid and the gut are very linked [00:39:00] and I looked and we measured her TPO antibodies. And those were extremely elevated. So, I’m like, you need to go and talk to your doctor.

You need to go to an endocrinologist and just, just like, get their perspective so that you and I can work on your gut. And we’re also holding space for what’s going on with your thyroid. And I always tell people go to the doctor. Gather the information and then we can talk about it and understand like, okay, from that information where you want to go now, but I do think it’s important to have a team and perspective on the body because like, yes, we do have physical imbalances and we do have diseases.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, yeah. Do you find when clients come to you with a diagnosis they’ve been given in the past? Has it been helpful to them to receive that diagnoses

Sarah Greenfield: in very few cases? It has been that’s more of the heroic people because they’re very much like, give it to me. I’ll fix it. I’ll solve it. So, sometimes I, I [00:40:00] do think that people find comfort in having an explanation for their issues.

Like, I’m just thinking, you know, I have a client that has ulcerative colitis and getting that diagnosis and understanding. Okay. This is what’s happening in my body right now. This is this inflammatory process, but also her being an extreme advocate for herself and saying, I hear that. You want me on all of these medications, but I’m going to go work on decreasing my inflammation in a different capacity.

So, like, I do see it as a way that people get context and clarity more. So, and then. They decide how they want to move forward with that. The people that are going full conventional treatment are not my ideal. They’re not my typical client. My clients are the ones that are like constantly looking for an outside of the box way to interact with their bodies.

Leigh Ann: Yeah. I want to ask, what are some of the, when clients first come to you and tell you what they’ve done in the past, some of the big, what can we [00:41:00] call it? Missteps or things that they might’ve done that. you see as being very counterproductive or just not impactful. Some of those big things that you’re like, Ooh, okay, we’re going to do this differently.

Sarah Greenfield: Easy. Like I have many answers to this. The first one. Is the low FODMAP diet. I think so many people are just going on that and finding relief, right? Because you’re eliminating everything that’s fermentable. Not everything, but a good chunk of food that is literally intended to break down and ferment and feed your microbiome.

But with all of our imbalances, it creates a lot of discomfort in the body. So when people go on that. They feel relief. And so now I’ve been seeing a lot more GI doctors just being like, Oh, you’re, you’re experiencing diarrhea or you’re bloated. Just go on the low FODMAP diet. And then people go on it for a long time.

And I’m like, Oh, no, because those are all the things your microbiome needs. Um, so that’s one that I’m always like, uh, The other one is just taking [00:42:00] random supplements because they saw it advertised on Instagram. So like being like I’m taking this probiotic Is this good for me? And I’m like, I don’t know. I don’t know what your microbiome needs We could look I’ve looked at people’s guts and they have lactobacillus and bifida that are like off the chart So if they’re supplementing with a general live stream probiotic It could be making things worse or just not helping at all.

And so for me, it’s interesting I’ve had an interesting relationship with probiotics where I use them. I don’t use them as frequently as I used to. Because I’m more about, like, how do we actually feed and stabilize and grow the microbiome so that the probiotic is another 1 and just like any random supplement, like, I got it on Amazon or my friend said it was good for them.

And, yeah, I just think we have an opportunity to go deeper and understand, like, our body is so. Complex, and it’s so personalized, and I just never understood, like. Like, we can try general supplements, but we’re having [00:43:00] active issues. It’s typically not best practices. Um. I think, I mean, really anyone that’s done sebo breath testing for me doesn’t really move the needle.

Um, I think it can be present. I do believe in sebo. I used to help people. Clear sebo, but there was always again, multiple layers underneath that of like, why is your gut. Just functioning in that manner, but those are kind of. That I see, or anytime you’re taking a medication that you don’t understand why, or for how long, or what its intended purpose is for, or what its side effects are for.

That like, proton pump inhibitors, I’ll have people come to me and they’ve been on a proton pump inhibitor for a year and they’re like, what are you doing or thyroid medication that decreases stomach acidity? And now they have all these gut issues. So, yeah, those are just off the top of my head. I could go on, but those are things where it’s like, I don’t believe that there is.

Strong advocacy for people to [00:44:00] understand medications. And I mean, just across the board. I have that experience with my kid where I’m like, so we just are supposed to go on this for indefinite and like, but what are the side effects? Like, don’t worry about it. There’s not side effect. No side effects. I’m like, so yeah, I think that’s just another area where I get frustrated is like, people just not having the depth of information needed to ingest something.

Leigh Ann: There are so many different wonderful resources, therapies, modalities that we can use when we’re in a time of heightened stress, whether it’s work stress, family stress, relationship stress, and I feel like the last couple of months, I have been certainly in a heightened state of stress for a number of really wonderful reasons related to growth, and then also some heavier personal reasons.

And whenever I am in a heightened state of stress, Turbulence as I so often call it I Always bring in [00:45:00] two very specific products from a supplement brand that I absolutely love called Symbiotica The first product I love from them is their liposomal magnesium L 3nate and then the second one that I always have in my arsenal tonic.

These two together are The only products I’ve tried related to stress, and I’ve tried a lot because I love to recommend products to my clients as well, that within a week of taking these, maybe even sooner, within a couple of days, I am noticing a significant shift in how my nervous system feels my sleep, I think the, the impact it can have in supporting the physiological impact of stress on our nervous system, our mind, our sleep habits is so profound.

And so whenever I am going through a heightened state of something. These are the first two products I am ordering and making sure that I am taking every single [00:46:00] day. Check the show notes below. There will be a discount code and a link you can use to try either of these products or any of the other amazing products by Symbiotica.

I want to go into this a little bit more, because I, I do think it’s, it’s so easy to fall into, Oh, this is a good probiotic, great, I’ll just take that forever. And, too much of a good thing is still bad. You know, I think sometimes we think oh, well if I just take more of this supplement than I need or if I, if I’m taking it but I don’t actually need it, it’s not doing anything, but if you’re taking something you don’t need, it has just become a byproduct that your body does now need to process and excrete.

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah.

Leigh Ann: And so especially if you’re in a state of poor health and you’re taking things you don’t need, it’s not just null, no impact, like it actually can be depleting you even more. But I want to lean into this a little bit more with diets and with supplements of, [00:47:00] yeah, what is your perspective on that? Is there a place for certain diets ever?

And also, what does it look like to, you know, how do you approach supplement taking in terms of really meeting the bio individuality of that person? At that time, and when is it time to reassess? Is this like, uh, you know, quarterly thing a yearly

Sarah Greenfield: thing? Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s interesting as you’re asking that I’m thinking about diets because I’m a dietitian and I started my career putting people on therapeutic diets.

Like, I even mentioned in the beginning, it was like a low sodium diet for heart issues and. A biphasic diet or a low FODMAP diet for people with digestive issues. And those were helpful, but I don’t put people on diets anymore. Like, I’m thinking now and I’m like, no, I don’t do diets. I do food sensitivity testing.

And then we do reintegration of those foods and I’m really trying to listen [00:48:00] and say, okay, based on your body, how are you experiencing and feeling when you eat this food? Because I have people come to me and they’re afraid of everything and they’re like, but I can’t eat that because it has lectins and I can’t eat that because it has FODMAPs and I can’t eat that because it has gluten and.

There’s just even me, I’m susceptible to those types of marketing claims and being like, yeah, gluten is terrible for you. Like, that’s kind of the wellness messaging and I, I did a test on myself and my kid where I looked at my, my microbiome before and after we spent 3 months in Italy where I was eating gluten because I had a sensitivity to it.

Um, I never felt well after I ate it, but in Italy, I felt okay. And my microbiome dramatically improved in so many different areas. Like my bifido level went way up, which as a mother, having children, having a strong bifido level is really, really important because that’s the primary bacteria in the microbiome of a baby.

So I was like, interesting. So I’ve just had my [00:49:00] mind altered and my, my belief system changed often in the dieting world. Because again, it’s general. It’s saying, like, just don’t do this because it’s bad and there’s nothing that’s bad. It’s also context and quality, but I don’t put people on diets anymore.

I look at, like, what is putting burden on your immune system? What is problematic in your stool test? Like, we’ll look at levels to see. Are you reacting to potentially gluten and then we’ll pull it out, but we bring it back in. So I often don’t put people on restrictions for longer than two months. And then we reintroduce it and see, like, can the body tolerate that?

And there’s many will that the body will not be able to tolerate. And then it’s like, okay, we keep it out for three months and then try again. So for me, it’s always about building and expanding and not really saying like, oh, here’s a general, a general recommendation because there’s not general. There’s, we’re so bio individualized that it’s not general.

And, um, [00:50:00] so yeah, I don’t really do diets anymore. And as far as supplements go, I’m testing, I’m texting my clients every 4 months to say, like, what has happened with your blood work? What do we still need to use? What do we not need to use? Let’s look at your microbiome once a year. So, for me, when we’re actively working on something, I do like to have blood work every 4 months and the stool test, maybe every 6 months, every year, because I don’t like to get too into that either because stool testing is.

It’s not black and white. It changes. It’s very dynamic in the way it presents. So I always look at it in combination with blood work, which is at this point, our most. Studied way of assessing the biochemistry of the body, like, that’s kind of the gold standard to me and then bringing in that stool test and saying, like, okay, symptomatically biochemically, how does this all make sense?

And what are we doing? So I really do lean on data. I won’t work with people that aren’t. Doing use using data because I feel like I’m doing a disservice to people when I’m just saying oh We’ll just [00:51:00] try this and try this I mean, there’s general things you can do but like to really step into healing.

It’s a very personalized

Leigh Ann: Approach. Yeah. And do you find when you retest every four months that you are changing up the supplements and things because things have shifted. Yeah,

Sarah Greenfield: I absolutely. I’m always trying to get to the minimum, like the least amount of supplements that I can give someone because I’m a food is medicine person.

Like, that was the thing in my days of the dietitian that made me kind of weird was like, I was like, but food should be healing. And they were like, yeah. How dare you? So, but I’ve always believed in food and I’m like, okay, let’s, you know, kind of scale back on the supplements and really look at what do we need to be eating, be exposed to, um.

Our nervous system, how can we regulate that? So we’re not depleting all of our B vitamins or burning through all of our hormones and like really stabilizing the body so that it can be a balance. Because at the end of [00:52:00] the day, one of the things I deeply believe is that our bodies are always working every single moment to be healthy.

Like our bodies are always moving towards health and equilibrium and. Sometimes we just need to get out of the way and completely not do so much.

Leigh Ann: Well, and when we, when we do help support what is not needed, the, the processing and the release of what’s not needed physical and emotional and energetic.

When we bring in what is needed, the body can heal and rejuvenate so quickly. To that end, I do think we have a little bit of a culture and it feels a little bit more unique to America, but I could be wrong here of work so hard. And yeah, I take all these supplements every single day and I do all these health things every single day.

And that I, you know, I think there’s a couple of pieces there. One, I do think there’s some deeper subconscious, like collective subconscious beliefs that [00:53:00] if it’s not hard, you didn’t earn it. Or if it’s not hard, it’s not going to work. And so we do, we create these like insane health protocols that we live in indefinitely to your point.

And that’s not to say that when we’re in a deep treatment phase, it’s not going to be hard. Again, working with individuals experiencing cancer, it’s Really hard. Sometimes doesn’t need to be that way for ever, you know, health doesn’t need to be this like insanely complex. Do all these things every single day.

With that said, at the same time, healing health lifestyle. It’s an ongoing thing. And I also see the other end of the spectrum where people tend to want to go really, really hard for. Four months, six months, maybe a year, and then they want to go right back to everything. Like when am I going to be done with this?

When am I not going to have to do this anymore? And I think that’s also the other extreme of that.

Sarah Greenfield: [00:54:00] Yes. Yes. And having lived in Italy and, and like, that was also very eye opening because just to. Like the lifestyle of being in Italy. There’s so much health infused in that. And in our culture, we’ve had all that stripped away and commoditized essentially, like you have to pay for this.

You have to pay to go to the gym. You have to pay. And it’s like, they don’t, there just isn’t a supplement culture. There isn’t this like, like the gyms in Italy are. It’s like, not nice and there wasn’t even a water fountain. And so I was like, oh, my God, this is very different. Like, I lived in L. A. for a very long time and like, gyms in L.

A. are like the thing, you know, and so it was just like, kind of being in a different planet to say, like, oh, my God, like. I’m walking everywhere and that’s enough. I am like, I, I saw people, this blew my mind. I, cause I never realized that I never saw it before, but I would see people in their seventies and eighties [00:55:00] riding on bikes.

And I was like, Oh my God, I never see that in the United States. Like, I just don’t like to get around. And, um, yeah, it’s just a different. Um, and I feel like the health, like I said, I feel like the health is more integrated and infused in the lifestyle. And here, we’ve had so much of it stripped out and been told, like, you know, we got to sit at a desk and work.

And like you said, if it’s not hard, then we didn’t earn it. But like, what if it’s the opposite?

Leigh Ann: Yeah, completely. And, and just to that end, I think, speaking on the opposite side of the spectrum of great, when am I going to be healed? And then never have to do any of this again. And I do think sometimes for those individuals, there is a bit of a reframe or a perspective shift that needs to happen of, yes, I’m in like a deep treatment phase or a deeper healing phase, but for longevity for wellness, you know, realistically, I don’t think it’s too extreme to say we all should [00:56:00] be.

checking in with our gut health once a year with someone like you, you know, we all should be checking in with some of these deeper things than just kind of like the conventional yearly blood work that they tell us that we’re supposed to do. And like the tap on the knee that I remember going in for the annual check.

I was like, this is an actual joke. What are we doing here? I think that there’s like, We need to raise the baseline a little bit of what it looks like to just live in wellness, checking in with some of these things on a regular basis, but also finding that balance of the baseline has risen. And also I’m not living in this perpetual state of like deep, deep treatment where I’m killing myself with all the.

The healing things I’m supposed to be doing

Sarah Greenfield: and figuring out where joy and delight comes from in that process, because oftentimes we develop habits that are detrimental to our health, [00:57:00] but those also feel really good. And they give us a lot of dopamine and they’re delightful. And can you get to a place where your habits can become that where it’s like, I look forward to slow movement, you know, like, I realized for me when I changed my workout routine where I’m not killing myself, you know, like.

Orange theory style or whatever, like high intensity workouts. And I’m just moving. Yeah. Yeah. I’m like, I have no desire to do that in my life right now, but Pilates and slow intentional movement where I’m still building muscle and feeling strong in my body. That feels great. And I look forward to that. So there’s always that perspective change where it kind of back to what you were saying.

Like it can be easy. Like you can work out and it can be easy. Like you don’t have to feel like you’re going to die at the end of it. Like you can just feel like, oh, I was in my body and I was breathing. Yeah. And that’s enough.

Leigh Ann: So impactful. Yes. Completely. This like perpetual state of high intensity. Yes.[00:58:00]

Um, there is something very, in the United States, especially very all or nothing too. And I think unconsciously, a part of why we’re drawn to that is it’s easier. It’s easier to be like, well, either I’m going to be gluten free or not. Right, right, right. You know, I’m going to take this supplement or not. It is harder to, to a point to be checking in regularly and going, okay, do, do I still need to be taking this?

That is more nuanced. That does require a little bit more effort input. Um, but I actually think the dividends pay out way, way more versus this kind of all or nothing culture mentality we have with a lot of this stuff. I, I run. I run every day. I will run every day for the rest of my life or, you know, whatever it is versus, you know what, right now, the type of movement that feels good to me is running.

And when it stops feeling good, I’m going to pivot to something else.

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah, it takes a lot of back to what I love to say. It takes a lot of courage and [00:59:00] curiosity to function in a place of what is good for me now. How can I be my best self now and letting go of this idea of what it should look like and sinking into like what it could look like that’s scary, right?

Uncertainty is scary, scary to not have that. Like, I mean, I love routine. I love plans. I love people telling me. I’m like, I love homework. Like, just let me get me a homework. I love it. But also my learning has been the circle back to what we were even speaking of. Is has been to sit in that uncertainty and to really check in and say, like, what, who, like, what do I feel?

And what do I need? Like, that’s such a powerful. A powerful place, powerful question to ask.

Leigh Ann: Yeah, and just the nuance of us as human beings, I think it’s so self honoring to. It’s almost like, as if we’ve got this other, I use inner self outer self often. It’s like, we’ve got this other inner self who we’re kind of like, great, put you on this diet, got you [01:00:00] some of these supplements.

See you in 10 years. Have a good one. You don’t really not going to check in with you for another five years. Go at it. And there’s an inner self, who’s like, Oh, I might like a little more love and affection and attention from you.

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah. I mean, I think it’s beautiful. I’ve been in this, this industry for a very long time, almost 20 years, and it’s been beautiful to see the evolution of the wellness world as something that was very fringe and you know, like I remember seeing functional doctors when I was younger and they were in these like dark.

Basements with no windows and, like, there was just stacks of papers and cobwebs. And I was like, where are we to now seeing that it’s coming more into mainstream and, like, having been in L. A. It’s like, there is this, there is this desire to be well, and to do it in a way that I think we’re learning the balance there.

And there’s so much mental health awareness. Now, I mean, we still have a long way to go, but just the fact that these conversations, like, that you and I are having this [01:01:00] conversation, I think is so. Inspiring and makes me hopeful. I’m like, I think we’re getting like, we’re talking about it now.

Leigh Ann: Yeah. Yeah.

It’s more in the ethers. Absolutely. Okay. Two quick questions. I wanted to ask though. I want to ask about allergies and your perspective on that. Um, and then I also want to ask about alcohol and gut health very briefly, but the question with allergies is, yeah. What is your take on that? I do feel like sometimes just like other diagnoses, they’re kind of this life sentence of, Oh, well.

This week on your allergy test. These came up so you can never eat them again. What is your perspective on that? Are our allergies reversible? Are some truly not reversible? I guess we kind of know the answer to that question with like anaphylactic and stuff, but

Sarah Greenfield: yeah, I mean, it’s such a. So, 1st of all, I think the most helpful thing for me is to think of everything as a spectrum.

Probably even allergies are on a spectrum. Like, you can be allergic to something and not go into anaphylactic shock, like, you can have an allergic [01:02:00] response and your body can mitigate it. So there’s going to be a spectrum of an allergic reaction. And with that said, I don’t know, honestly, because I, again, I’m always challenging all of the conventional norms.

And I believe that the body is capable of things we don’t even understand. And so to just put it in perspective of my life, my child got allergy testing and cause he was having like, he was just wheezing. And we’re like, I just need to know. I’m like, what? Like we’ll do allergy testing for food. We’ll do it and just see what’s going on.

And the only thing he came back allergic to was dogs. And we have two dogs. And so he still lives and exists with dogs. He still sleeps. Occasionally in our bed and our dogs are in our bed. So we wash the sheets. We try and be mindful, but he’s still living with dogs and he’s allergic to dogs, but he’s getting more immune to them.

So there’s this way of, you know, I think about 2 when we’re introducing kids to, like, high allergen foods and doing this small. Dosed [01:03:00] exposure that’s strengthening the body’s ability to be able to understand and adapt to it. So is there a world where we can overcome or desensitize our bodies to allergies?

Like, I do think that’s possible because I’m just seeing it with my child, you know, with that, that allergic response, um, again, on that spectrum. So, if you’re going into anaphylactic shock with a bee sting. And that’s a true, like, you know, life threatening allergic response. I don’t know, is there a way to dose that very small?

So the body can overcome it? Maybe. I’m not, I’m not fully sure I haven’t dove into all of that, but with foods. I do find that typically things that someone’s allergic to, it’s a little scary to go back to it, but. You do believe that there’s a, there’s a way to potentially overcome, especially as we’re reducing burden.

If we’re doing minimize exposure, if we’re strengthening the, our immune capacity. Like, there’s, I don’t [01:04:00] think it’s a, it’s a total. Absolutely not. You can never reverse an allergy. Like, I just, there’s no black and whites like that in science in the body. So.

Leigh Ann: Well, and maybe I should also distinguish between allergies and sensitivities.

I think maybe a lot of people get diagnosed with a sensitivity, but even that becomes this life sentence of, I’m sensitive to gluten, so I will never eat it again. Or I’m sensitive to dairy, so I will never eat it again. Yeah.

Sarah Greenfield: And sensitivity is absolutely, you can overcome those for sure. That’s a, that’s a different immune pathway, immune reaction than an allergy.

So for sensitivities, a thousand percent, I believe you can. I think again, it takes time. Like, I’ve, I’ve seen people be sensitive to foods, like I’ve done tests years apart, and they’re still sensitive to those foods. So, I think that with a sensitivity as well, if you’re sensitive, you can eat some of it.

And as long as you’re not eating it every day, the body can overcome, like, we have this very highly intelligent immune system. And it’s adaptable and our microbiome, [01:05:00] our microbiome is this very smart. Communication field that is signaling to all parts of our body, especially our immune system. And so I do believe that even with sensitivities, as long as we’re not, like, bombarding our body with it, it’s very capable of processing and clearing out something that is.

Reactive

Leigh Ann: I love it. Okay. And then last question on alcohol, especially kind of going into the holiday season, lots of alcohol around what just very quickly. And I know I’m taking us over. So, but. What does it do to the gut? And then what is your take on it? Is this just like a no go? And or for those who do drink alcohol on occasion, what can we do to mitigate?

The impact when we do drink alcohol.

Sarah Greenfield: Yeah, so alcohol in small amounts again, quality is going to be very important. High quality alcohol in small amounts is better than like binge drinking. Binge drinking will wipe out not wipe out your microbiome. I don’t want to be dramatic, but that heavily impacts your microbiome [01:06:00] when you’re doing multiple drinks.

At 1 time, like, you know, a couple of times a week versus like, I’m going to have 1 glass and enjoy it. And even if you look at longevity studies and other cultures, there is a huge drinking culture in Europe. You know, like, that is a big part of improved cardiovascular health and just overall health and well being and it’s on when you look at the studies, it’s on like a J curve.

So, a couple, like, the more you drink, the more problematic it will be. So, if you’re going to drink alcohol. One glass to maybe is ideal and just space it out over the night. So, because again, it has other benefits where it’s a social thing where it’s like, if you’re feeling connected to other people, if you’re feeling present and you like that, and it’s calming your nervous system, then it’s very beneficial for the body.

So again, just checking in and seeing, like, does it feel good in your body is kind of how I always go. I have clients that love to drink. We will cut it [01:07:00] back when we’re actively working on healing the gut and oftentimes take it out, especially if they’re reactive to sulfates, because we just don’t want to do that.

And then we’ll bring it back in and say, okay, in moderation, it can be something that if you enjoy it, like, I’m not here to kill your joy, okay. People are like, Oh no, you’re going to tell me I can’t have coffee and I can’t have wine and I can’t have sugar. And I’m like, no, I’m not. I’m going to say that you’re an adult and you get to understand how do those foods make you feel.

That’s my only thing. Like, and then you choose how you want to feel. If you’re like, I’m going to binge drink tonight. That’s your choice. And like maybe you want to do that and that’s okay as long as it’s not every single day But like, you know we get to make those choices and we get to say like This is how I have the opportunity to lay in bed tomorrow and not feel great And that’s what i’m gonna like fine.

You’re you’re an adult

Leigh Ann: When is there anything that can be supportive in mitigating the impact like I Maybe this is total bullshit and this [01:08:00] doesn’t do anything But I if i’m gonna drink I don’t drink very often. But if I am gonna drink i’ll take Like a binder before I start drinking and then the next day, usually I’ll do like glutathione, a probiotic and the sauna and maybe another binder.

Like when I get in the sauna. Yeah. I mean, is that doing anything at all? Yeah. I mean, it’s probably mitigating the impact of alcohol is just a new point.

Sarah Greenfield: Well, it’s not. Making it so your body never experienced it because at the end of the day, it is impacting our body and it is a neurotoxin. Like, we know that for a fact.

Alcohol is a neurotoxin. Um, again, small amounts. Can be beneficial, but we’d have to be just mindful of the fact that it’s again not benign because nothing is benign and if we’re this is where I get kind of challenged by like the biohacking world. Um, if I mean, like, I think again, it’s like 1 of those things where it’s like, you make the decision to drink.

Enjoy it, be present with it. And if you wanna take some supportive [01:09:00] supplements to offset the hangover , like absolutely do that. I mean, I love like a binder activated charcoal or something like that, I think is a great way to kind of take out some of the toxins. But again, it’s just like it, it’s moderation, right?

Like it’s not, so you can do that every day. It’s just so in those moments that you can support your liver function and your detox pathways to say like, okay, I did this and now I’m gonna clear it. But we just don’t want to lean on that and be like, Oh, I can drink all the time. And I’ll just take my glutathione and sweat, but like, you know, those are still beneficial things at the end of the day to have higher antioxidants and to sweat.

Like, so yeah, great. Let’s do it.

Leigh Ann: Yeah. Yeah. I, I noticed again, like I, I don’t binge drink, but I know that I do notice an impact from that. Like if I, if I take a binder versus I don’t take a binder, even if I’m only having. One glass of wine. I noticed a big difference. Yeah, the next day.

Sarah Greenfield: So yeah, I think that’s great because then that’s getting out some of those neurotoxins.

And it’s just some of the things that are [01:10:00] disruptive and irritating to your body. So if you can bind that and get it out, as long as you’re pooping,

Leigh Ann: I love it. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. I took us over a little bit. This was so So fun. I feel like we could have gone on so many other tangents. I

Sarah Greenfield: know. I love, yeah, I loved it.

I love what you’re doing. I love the work and just the perspective that you bring to this space as well. So it was just a pleasure to have this conversation with you.