Get Personal with Dr. Kris Kris Wallace, NMD

May is mental health awareness month, and that will be the theme for our next two episodes of Get Personal. I've talked a lot on previous episodes about my background in counseling and the mind-body connection, so this has always been one of my favorite topics. Too often, the mind gets left out of the equation, but you absolutely cannot have a holistic view of health without it. In my practice, I spend a lot of time talking to my patients about their mental health—managing stress and anxiety, and the pressures of their lives at home and at work.

So I am very excited today to have someone whose life work is all about mental health, managing stress, and guiding people — especially women — through life’s challenges and transitions. Keira Kielmeyer is a licensed counselor who knows first hand the profound impact that stress has on health and wellbeing. On this episode, we dive into the way that chronic health affects the body, including in surprising ways like impairing memory. We also talk at length about practical coping mechanisms that Keira uses in her practice, and that you can use in your life! It’s all about being keying into the difference between “natural” and “healthy” stress, and unnatural chronic stress. We’ll explain how you can do that yourself, and move from survival mode into empowered mode.

You can find Keira on Instagram at @keiragrace, or learn more from her website at keiragraceco.com.
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You’ve probably heard of — or maybe even tried — a health challenge like 75 Hard or Whole30. Today we are talking about these challenges, and also health challenges in general. Are they right for you? How much of in impact can they really have in the short term and the long term? 75 Hard and Whole 30 are a big deal on social media, and have been really popular with my patients in the past couple years. But the truth is, I’ve seen these kinds of challenges and competitions come and go for decades in my career as a doctor and health educator — they are nothing new. They can be a great way to motivate us, give us structure and confidence, build better habits, and help us understand what foods and exercise routines work best for our bodies. Today I’m joined by Anthony to share everything I’ve learned about health challenges over the years and how you can use them most effectively to see sustainable, healthy change in your body and life.
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I have been very busy preparing for my Relax, Rejuvenate, and Reconnect Retreat, which is happening from April 19-21 in Page Springs, Arizona. And it has me thinking about all of my favorite tools for the mind and body. I’ve always been a huge believer in the role of the mind in health, dating back all the way to when I earned my master’s degree in psychology. So for this podcast episode, I am joined by my son Anthony to talk about some of my favorite things that have shaped me as a person and health care provider. I share my favorite books, about the mind body connection and creating a healthy mindset; my top 4 all-time favorite supplements, which are essential for me and my family; and my favorite ways to relax and destress, which is absolutely critical for healing and wellbeing. All of these things are going to play a huge role in our relaxing retreat in beautiful northern Arizona, near Sedona in Page Springs. We will have a private chef making us organic meals, yoga and sound bath sessions, and lots of fun conversations around the fire. For more information about the retreat, visit the event page here. 
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Everything in moderation has always been my motto and I, like many people, love wine. I believe that if you do it right, drinking wine can be a perfectly acceptable part of a healthy lifestyle. When I went to Italy this summer, I drank wine almost everyday and I never felt it the next day! If I drink that much wine here at home in the U.S., I definitely do feel it the next day. This is a common experience—I’ve talked to a lot of friends that have said the same thing. So what is going on with our wine here? And how can we find wine at home that is clean and healthy and not going to make us feel tired and sluggish?

On this episode, we are talking with Shivaun Carter who works with Scout & Cellar, a company that focus on wines that are clean, lab-tested, and healthy. Shivaun and I talk about how regulations in the U.S. can allow more impurities and chemicals into wine and how they compare to regulations and production processes in other countries. We also talk about some of the particular factors that tend to cause hangovers, like sulfites and sugar, and how to find wine with less of them. We also touch on coffee, some of the toxins that they can carry and how to find higher quality beans.

I am self-admitted wine snob, and I can honestly say that the wines I have tried from Scout & Cellar, as well as the wines they make themselves, are great! And they feel a lot better the next day. To try some of their wine you can reach out to Shivaun here or visit their website. 
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So many women that I know and see in my work have a similar experience. They are getting into their mid-30s and 40s, and they are tired, anxious, their hair is falling out—they know something is off. They might go to the doctor and do some basic tests but everything looks normal on the surface. They’re told they're perfectly fine, and they know that cannot be right! That is where my guest today, Dr. Cara Slater and I come in. On this episode, we are talking about a very important but all-too-forgotten phase of life for women—perimenopause. We hear all the time about puberty and menopause and there are plenty of resources for managing the challenges and changes that come with those periods. But perimenopause deserves that same kind of attention. 

Dr. Slater and I are colleagues at Desert Wellness Center here in Tempe, AZ and together we have helped hundreds of women through perimenopause. It is a stressful and busy time, women get so caught up in their career and family and sometimes health gets put on the backburner. We talk about the most common issues that we see with patients during perimenopause, and the most promising treatments, like testosterone, progesterone, and even estrogen replacement. You might feel like you’re on a roller coaster of emotions – up and down and all over the place. That is not in your head, it is real and there are things we can work on together to smooth it out and make you feel like yourself again!
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My patient Jenn was shocked to be diagnosed with diabetes in her early 30s. It didn’t run in her family and it was nothing she ever expected to deal with. Her doctors at the time put her on a variety of medications and she got really serious about getting healthier. She lost 20 pounds pretty quickly, but she had a hard time keeping the weight off and getting her blood sugar down. That’s when Jenn came to see me and we tackled her issues one step at a time. We got her off birth control, balanced her hormones, had her ease up on the super intense workouts, and eventually added progesterone and semaglutide to her treatment plan. Now she says she feels amazing. She feels like herself again! Jenn’s story is a great example of how everything’s connected—weight, hormones, blood pressure, blood sugar—and why you have to address all those things together to see real, sustainable progress. Everybody’s health story is a little different, but everyone can learn from this one, about the importance of being your own advocate and being patient while all the pieces of the puzzle come together.
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