Welcome to another powerful episode of The Dr. Brighten Show! Today, we’re diving into the truth about metabolic health—why most people are struggling with weight loss, energy crashes, and hormone imbalances despite doing all the “right” things. If you’ve ever been told to just “eat less, move more” and felt like that advice didn’t work for you, then you’re going to love this conversation.
I’m joined by Pamela Berrondo, a leading expert in women’s metabolic health and co-founder of Mesa Sana, who has helped over 15,000 women reset their metabolism and reclaim their vitality. In this episode, we’re cutting through the confusion around insulin, blood sugar, and hormones to help you understand what’s really holding you back from feeling your best. You’ll also learn how to boost your metabolism with simple yet powerful lifestyle changes.
You’ll Walk Away From This Conversation Knowing:
- Why 85% of people are not metabolically healthy—and the five markers that determine where you stand.
- The real reason why calorie counting alone won’t help you lose weight (and what to focus on instead).
- How hormones control everything—from your energy to your appetite—and what you need to know about insulin, cortisol, estrogen, and thyroid function.
- The one nutrient most women are missing that could be sabotaging their weight loss and muscle-building goals.
- Why having belly fat is not just about aesthetics—it’s a warning sign for something deeper happening in your body.
- The bedtime routine hack that could instantly improve your metabolic health.
- What your skin is telling you about your blood sugar and inflammation levels.
- The truth about fasting for women—what works, what doesn’t, and how to do it safely.
- Why eating a high-protein breakfast (and not skipping meals) is the game-changer for stable blood sugar.
- How to boost your metabolism using the best science backed tools!
- How chronic stress spikes insulin—and why managing your cortisol is just as important as your diet.
- The exact supplements that can help balance blood sugar, improve metabolism, and support hormone health.
- How your sleep patterns and nighttime wake-ups might be linked to poor metabolic function.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
We start by breaking down the myths around diet and weight loss, including why the old “calories in, calories out” model is incomplete. Pamela explains why insulin resistance is one of the most underdiagnosed conditions affecting women today and how it plays a massive role in PCOS, infertility, perimenopause, and stubborn weight gain.
We also discuss why most doctors miss early signs of metabolic dysfunction and how women can advocate for better testing and personalized nutrition. Pamela shares her personal journey with PCOS, insulin resistance, and hypothyroidism—and the exact lifestyle changes that helped her transform her health.
If you’ve ever felt frustrated by slow progress or confused by conflicting health advice, this episode will empower you with clear, actionable steps to take control of your health, optimize your hormones, and finally achieve metabolic balance. You’ll also discover how to boost your metabolism naturally by making small but impactful changes to your daily habits.
This Episode Is Brought to You By:
Chorus: Chorusforlife.com/drbrighten and receive 10 percent off your order or subscription
Dr. Brighten Essentials: use code POD15 for 15% off
Links Mentioned in This Episode:
- Mesa Sana Cookbook
- Pamela Berrondo’s Instagram: @pamelaberrondo
- Pamela Berrondo’s Tik Tok:@pamelaberrondo
- Pamela Berrondo’s Website: www.pamelaberrondo.com
- Dr. Brighten’s Hormone Balancing Meal Plan & Recipes: https://drbrighten.com/hormonekit
- Recommended Supplements: Berberine, Myo-Inositol, Omega-3, Magnesium, Adrenal Support, B vitamins
- Research Papers & Articles on Metabolic Health
If you found this episode helpful, don’t forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review! Your support helps us bring more expert insights to help you take charge of your health.Let’s break free from the diet culture and take a science-backed, hormone-first approach to metabolic health!
Transcript
Pamela Berrondo: [00:00:00] 85 percent of the people do not have metabolic health. They took into consideration glucose levels, cholesterol levels, waist to hip ratio. So that tells me, okay, only 12 percent supposedly have metabolic health.
Dr. Brighten: It's a big disservice to tell women that the only problem is, is exactly what you're putting on the end of your fork just needs to be as low cal as possible.
Rather than focusing on nutrient density, rather than focusing on what else could be going on. And you mentioned insulin and that's a huge. Huge one, especially in the PCOS community,
Narrator 2: Pamela Berrondo
Narrator 3: is a powerhouse in women's metabolic health,
Narrator 2: transforming lives across Mexico with her groundbreaking approach to uncovering the root causes of chronic conditions.
Narrator 1: As a certified functional medicine practitioner and co founder of Mesa Sana,
Narrator 3: she has empowered over 15, 000 women to reset their metabolism and reclaim their vitality through her metabolic reset program. An international speaker and fierce advocate for the power of nutrition and lifestyle.
Narrator 1: Pamela is redefining wellness for Spanish [00:01:00] speaking audiences worldwide.
Dr. Brighten: Wanted to talk about why people struggle so much to lose weight, but let's first go there. Why is eat less, move more? I mean, I think. Welcome back to the Dr. Brighten show. I'm your host, Dr. Jolene Brighten. I'm board certified in naturopathic endocrinology, a nutrition scientist, a certified sex counselor, and a certified menopause specialist.
As always, I'm bringing you the latest, most up to date information to help you take charge of your health and take back your hormones. If you enjoy this kind of information, I invite you to visit my website, DrBrighten. com, where I have a ton of free resources for you, including a newsletter that brings you some of the best information, including updates on this podcast.
Now, as always, this information is brought to you cost free. And because of that, I have to say thank you to my sponsors for making this possible. It's my aim to make sure that you can have all the tools and resources in your hands [00:02:00] and that we end the gatekeeping. And in order to do that, I do have to get support for this podcast.
Thank you so much for being here. I know your time is so valuable and so important, and it's not lost on me that you're sharing it with me right now. now. Don't forget to subscribe, leave a comment, or share this with a friend because it helps this podcast get out to everyone who needs it. All right, let's dive in.
Pamela Barrondo, welcome to the show.
Pamela Berrondo: Thank you, Jelena. I'm so excited to be here, uh, and to be talking to you, meeting you. I've been a big follower and a fan for a lot of years. I've learned so much, uh, from you. So thank you.
Dr. Brighten: Yeah. I feel like it's always, uh, such a bummer people don't get to see behind the scenes because we just spent like 40 minutes talking away and connecting and, um, but now we're going to have the serious talk about metabolic health and we're going to get into weight loss, building muscle and what people should know about insulin.
So let's go. I am very excited for this conversation. I follow you on Instagram and your recipes, your food photos are so [00:03:00] amazing. You brought your cookbook today. I'm really excited to take that home. I know my youngest is going to be, uh, he's going to be very curious and my oldest is already going to be cooking from it.
Like probably tonight.
Pamela Berrondo: That's the point, to get people cooking and see that it's easy and just having a healthy meal. It doesn't have to be just like, you know, boiled chicken and steamed veggies. Like, there's more to it.
Dr. Brighten: Okay, so I grew up a dancer, and that is like what it was like. Boiled chicken, steamed veggies.
Yeah, and like, nope. No passion, no joy, no Less
Pamela Berrondo: calories, no? Eat less, move more. That was what we thought was the right, uh, formula. Totally. Which is completely wrong.
Dr. Brighten: Ha! We should definitely talk about that. Let's I, you know, I wanted to talk about why people struggle so much to lose weight, but let's first go there.
Why is eat less, move more?
Pamela Berrondo: I mean, I think it's not wrong. It's just incomplete because it's not like calories in, calories out. Like you have to see [00:04:00] what does calories in mean? Because it's more of more to how many calories your food contains. It's how your body eats. Processes, how's your metabolic health?
If, uh, if, uh, how's your digestion, how are you, are you moving your body composition if you have more muscle? So everything impacts on how you absorb it, how many. calories you're getting in and then the same as how many calories you're going to spend. It's the same because if you have high insulin, you're not going to be able to burn fat.
So there's a lot more to just how many calories you eat. Calories matter, but there's this other part that it's hormones. Hormones matter more and your biological response to that food is what I think matters more. Not what I think, but it's, but it's, uh, proven that there's so much more than to that formula.
Dr. Brighten: Yeah. Well, I like what you said. It's an incomplete picture. I also think that it's a big [00:05:00] disservice to tell women that the only problem is, is exactly what you're putting on the end of your fork just needs to be as low cal as possible. Rather than focusing on nutrient density, rather than focusing on what else could be going on.
And you mentioned insulin and that's a huge one, especially in the PCOS community.
Pamela Berrondo: Yes. And I mean, I always say food is centered, it's information. It's information to yourselves. It's what message do you want to give your body? It's not just, I mean, if you have, um, a hundred calories from broccoli or a hundred calories from cookies, it's not the same.
I mean, it's completely different. And the nutrients, uh, And, uh, your body's response to it. So that's why calories is not really relevant anymore. I mean, I think it has a place, of course, they're important for something. But, uh, as you say, it's incomplete and then a insulin, it's a great point, but also other hormones are cortisol, thyroid, estrogen.
I mean, we've been talking, as you said, behind the [00:06:00] scenes of, about all these hormone things that we've been going through and. It impacts your, your body or your weightless journey, if that's what you're looking for. Uh, so yeah, sorry, tell me the question again, because I deviated.
Dr. Brighten: No, actually, no, there was no question.
It's a gorgeous conversation, but. You know, you just mentioned like the hormones and the things that we went through, and the thing I've talked about with my audience is that I had to do two months of Lupron. Okay. This is a hormone that basically puts you into chemical menopause. Yes. And I needed to do that to rapidly shrink endometriosis, adenomyosis, on top of doing everything else.
But I will say that I always knew how difficult it was for a postmenopausal woman. because of those hormones because of the shift when you lose your estrogen visceral adiposity is like it's just like a little army just marches in and belly fat comes and it and when we talk about this I want people to understand we're not talking about like oh you have a muffin top and that's that's not pretty we're [00:07:00] talking about you got fat packing around your organs and that's really problematic and I will say going through Lupron That really humbled me because here I continued to eat the same way, to exercise the same way, do everything that had been working for me.
But once my hormones were taken away, complete game changer.
Pamela Berrondo: I mean, that's, that's just the proof that that formula is not working because Hormones impact you in so many ways and it's not just one hormone. No, it's not. I mean, we started talking about insulin, but it's not just insulin. It's this, uh, complete system of hormones that if you, I always say there's, it's like a spider web and you pull one and all of them just pull and go one way.
And if you fix one or you focus on fixing one, then maybe others will improve as well because we're a system. Uh, so. It's really hard. I mean, weight loss, they tell us that it's easier than it is. I mean, I've had a lot of trouble during my life to lose weight. [00:08:00] That's, I think, my biggest pain point. I used to do just this crazy fat diet and nothing happened.
And then, I discovered that I had a lot of hormone imbalances. I have PCOS. That's why I'm coming back to that question. Um, I have, uh, hypothyroidism and I have insulin resistance and many things I had. So when I fixed my hormones, then the weight just like, started to, to get off. So, um, it's important to change the, I think the narrative and the focus on, on just trying to lose weight and instead of try to focus on, okay, let's dive deeper and see what's not working.
What's, what is, um, yeah, what's not functioning properly so we can fix that. And then as a consequence or as a side effect. Weight will come up because it also comes. I mean, I don't know if this comes out like a woo way, but it's, if you focus more on, on [00:09:00] healing your body, on treating your body from another angle, then you're less stressed.
You see it with more compassion. You enjoy what you're doing. You enjoy the process. You maybe eat a meal that's, uh, you're enjoying and you're not focusing on What you were saying as a ballerina, just having a tiny piece of chicken and broccoli and that's it because I want to look clean in my bleaudard or whatever.
So a woman should know this because then they know they're not crazy. They're not just this gas lightning is it's I mean it happens to all of us but then it's like. Yeah, you're a woman, you're hormonal, you're menopausal, of course, you have to gain weight. And then what you said is very important, this is not just a muffin top, it's the dangers of having that fat around your organs.
That's what the, what you have to focus on. If you focus on improving your metabolic health and improving [00:10:00] your energy, improving how you feel every day, how your skin looks, how, um, if you're going to the bathroom, if you're sleeping well, if you're having a restful sleep and. Then if you were having a regular cycle, then the weight just changes everything.
I don't know if I'm, I'm, I'm like making a point or I'm just saying things that my first language is Spanish, so I have to think in, in two languages at the same time and then make a point. So, uh,
Dr. Brighten: well, I think you're fantastic. I love your, the points that you're making, so you're fine on that, but. I do want to go back to you though because you've brought it up a couple of times and it occurred to me we haven't defined what is insulin, what's its role, and I want to make sure everyone's on the same page with us.
Pamela Berrondo: So I want to give some statistics. There's been studies and the latest study said that 85 percent of the people do not have metabolic health. They took into consideration glucose levels. Um, cholesterol levels, um, [00:11:00] hip to, um,
Dr. Brighten: waist to hip ratio, waist to hip ratio.
Pamela Berrondo: Sorry. Uh, I think it was hypertension. It was five things.
So that tells me, okay, only 12 percent supposedly have metabolic health. But then if you dive deeper, you see that there's this hormone that, uh, worsens every single aspect of health and that's insulin. Insulin is a great hormone. If it. If you have it in the, in the sweet spot, you know, you don't want too much and you don't want to have it like really low.
But this insulin is the response of, I'm going to go back. When you eat mainly carbs, all that is, uh, sweet stuff, uh, flours, cakes, muffins, juices, juice or whatever that it's sweet. Then your body responds, raising glucose, glucose that we know as blood sugar, no energy in the, in your blood. As a response, your pancreas [00:12:00] secretes this hormone that's called insulin.
Insulin's job is to lower this or control this blood glucose levels and to get this energy inside of the cell. When your body has been chronically having high glucose levels, then Uh, your cells become numb or become resistant to the insulin signaling. So then your body is not responding and your blood glucose levels stay up.
That's that can happen years after you've been having high insulin levels. And that's when your conventional doctor may say, Oh, we have to check your glucose or Oh, maybe you're diabetic or maybe you're prediabetic. This happened many years before, because this insulin also has another like, um, another face or another side of the coin.
That is when your, uh, fat cells become filled with fat because [00:13:00] then people think that, okay, we should not talk about fat because there's this stigma that, uh, health in every size, which I think. It's a good movement, but it's not well applied. I don't know, but what are your thoughts on that? But when your cells become filled with fat, then they also become insulin resistant.
So they start leaking fat. So then there's an inflammatory response that is gonna bring inflammation to all your body. And when there is inflammation, there's sickness. So every single, uh, condition or symptom can become worsened by having hyperinsulinemia. So when this, um, hormone that we're talking about, uh, raises or elevates because you're having either too much stress, too much inflammation, or too many refined carbs, then, uh, your body just keeps storing fat because insulin has the power to decide what to do with that energy that's [00:14:00] in your body.
Dr. Brighten: Either
Pamela Berrondo: it's gonna burn it. Or it's going to use it, so that's going to tell you if you have, how metabolically healthy you are, if you have a metabolic flexibility or not, if you're able to use it. that energy that you have stored in your thighs, in your stomach, or if you're going to be able to use it. If you're not being able to use it, that's why we are always hungry or we have cravings or I mean, it's like you just ate an hour ago.
Why, why, why do you need to eat again? Right? We all have a lot of energy stored. We all could be, uh, or could have the capacity to run by this stored energy, but our body doesn't know how to get to that energy because insulin is high. So this May, I mean, it's more complex. We, we were talking about fertility, we were talking about PCOS and everything.
PCOS for example, that, um, it's the most common hormonal disbalance in women with TIC in rec reproductive, um, [00:15:00] age. Mm-hmm . Yeah. I said, right. That right. I dunno. Sorry.
Dr. Brighten: No, you, yeah. PCOS is the yes, most predominant hormone imbalance of women in reproductive years. You, yeah, you're clear. And
Pamela Berrondo: also, PCOS is one of the most common infertility causes.
In 60 percent of the cases, it's caused by insulin resistance. So if you, uh, in balancing your, uh, glucose, so you balance at the same time, you lower your insulin, then you're fixing many problems. You're fixing fertility. Then you're reversing your PCOS and then you're reversing your insulin resistance, which will give you more energy.
You're going to be able to burn fat. You're going to be able to have sustained energy. You're not going to be. Sleepy after a meal, you're gonna, you're not going to be waking up at the middle of the night thinking you need to pee because maybe you just woke up because your cortisol just spiked. You're, uh, going to be in a better mood.
I mean, I, I don't know. We, we, we all know the term hangry. That please give food to that person that needs to eat or that [00:16:00] you're in the worst mood because you haven't eaten in a while. So when you get this energy stable, it means that you're having your glucose and your insulin stable. That's what we're looking for.
We want to have this energy. I mean, we don't want to have energy. I don't know. You, you see a lot of patients or you used to see a lot of patients and I can bet that one of their, uh, main complaints were fatigue, the lack of energy. Maybe they didn't know how to put that in words because they just feel.
Uh, tired. Why are they tired? Why are they not having the sustained energy? If food is energy, then what's lost in the formula? I'm eating, uh, many times a day. Why do I don't have the sustained energy? Because your body is not using their energy properly. So that's in a long summary, in a long way, that's what metabolic health means.
Having being able to use energy correctly or efficiently in order to have sustained [00:17:00] energy in order to, of course, if we get deeper, it's how your mitochondria uses or produces that energy. I mean, I wanted to keep it just simple for everybody to understand, but then you can, a, you can, um, I'm looking for the word, but yeah, you can.
Talk about many symptoms. I don't know. Insomnia has also, uh, it has a lot to do with how you're balancing your glucose during the day, how you're having your blood sugar balance. So I think you always have to start there. And depending on what your goal is, uh, everything has to do with glucose at some point.
Dr. Brighten: And she brought up the mitochondria. The mitochondria, like we're all taught in schools, the powerhouse of the cell. And I think what so many people don't realize is these, these little organelles are concentrated in very specific areas of the body. And so the brain, I mean, most biohackers, most people out there.
We'll talk about brain and the heart, but they miss the ovaries and the ovaries are so rich in mitochondrial health. [00:18:00] And that really underscores what you're saying here about insulin. I always talk about like insulin and cortisol. Those are the foundation of your hormones. If those are not right, good luck with anything else.
You'll be chasing period symptoms forever, but if you won't really get down to that root of what is happening with your blood sugar, then we're going to see other problems as you were saying. So, you know, and if you have anything to add, this list of the top things that people can look for. that are showing that their blood sugar needs to be checked, needs to be screened, as you were saying, fatigue, insomnia, nocturia, so urination at night, feeling fatigued after meals.
What else? Constant hunger. Uh,
Pamela Berrondo: also skin. I mean, the skin shows a lot about, uh, your, yeah, your food choices and your habits, but maybe this, uh, tags in the neck, uh, also, Uh, that are these kind of thick hairs growing in male areas. Uh, that's another sign that maybe you need to balance your sugar, but more like [00:19:00] common everyday symptoms.
I think, I don't know if we got them all. Yeah. If you start gaining weight in your midsection, that's a, uh, like a big quick sign that you didn't change anything, but something's happening. Of course it could be cortisol is, I mean, as you said, it, Cortisol and insulin go hand in hand. You cannot fix one without fixing the other one.
Yeah. You have to focus on both. And I think that if you, if, if we did like a hormone, uh, pyramid, that's the first year that you could, you should always treat. And then from there, start building up to get to the specifics. Like if you start with, I don't know, progesterone and you don't fix cortisol and insulin, it's just, you're, you're just losing time.
I mean, you're not getting anywhere because you need to fix those. For things and that's lifestyle. That's the thing. I mean, of course there are many supplements and nutraceuticals and today we have so many things that can help with that. But if you don't start with the basics, that's lifestyle, then nothing works.
Dr. Brighten: Okay. So give us the [00:20:00] five, like your top five of lifestyle. Things people can do to start dropping their blood sugar, optimizing their blood sugar.
Pamela Berrondo: Uh, I'm a big fan of protein. I think protein should be the building block of everything and a very easy, uh, uh, practical and just applicable tip is to Start with a high protein breakfast, uh, if it's, it's preferably not to be sweet, it's a savory breakfast because sweetness brings more cravings, even if it's a high, because people love to do, I don't know, a protein pancakes and it's fine, you can do that, it's not like, never, but don't eat that every day because you're going to be hungry.
Uh, inclined towards eating more sweet things. So a, uh, high protein breakfast. And then I, I love to say this because people think a two eggs breakfast is a high protein breakfast. So one egg has seven grams of protein. You need more than that. Okay. I eat, uh, a two eggs and then a protein smoothie or collagen or something.
I mean, I add up, I try to [00:21:00] get at least 30 to 40 grams of protein in, uh, in my breakfast. An easy way to think about it, if you're going to have three meals a day, that's my next tip is don't, don't eat every, don't start grazing and eating like small meals and six meals a day. Two or two or three meals a day.
It's enough. If it's a really nutritious, uh, big meal, I, I eat three meals a day with two. I need food. I am, I love to eat. So I, I eat three meals a day. I have my favorite people to eat. I have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I try to have at least 30 to 40 grams of protein in each meal. So if you add up, then adds, it adds up to at least more than a hundred grams of protein.
So that's going to be like your lever. That's going to have you. Um, have your blood glucose More stable during the day, you're gonna feel less hungry. You're gonna feel more satiated more. Your energy is going to be stable and people feel that you can try it tomorrow. It's not you don't [00:22:00] have to believe me.
Try it and then see first. It was a protein during the three meals and the second one is eating three meals. Not like snacking around. I know you want to talk, uh, talk about fasting. We can talk about that. Well, if that's one of your tips, we can hit it. One of my tips. I, I don't think we, you need to do a very long fasting.
I, I mean, I, I suppose most of your audience are women as well as my followers. I think the sweet spot for fasting in women. It's like 14 to 15 hours, 14. It's like, that's where they feel great. I know a lot of people want to do more A type personalities. They're like, okay, I'm fasting, then I'm going to do 18, 24.
And I know there are proven benefits for some people, but not everybody is in the same place hormonally, not everybody. You have to see also, are you really stressed out? Are you in perimenopause? Are you just, you just had a baby or are you trying to get pregnant? I mean, It all depends. So I think [00:23:00] everybody can feel well at 14 hours and then you're giving your body a digestive rest.
And also you're starting to have this, um, nutritional ketosis, which is not like really big. You're not getting into ketosis, but your body's starting to burn fat and, and, and just like cleaning itself. So I think a 14 hour fast then, um, I always say don't eat carbs alone. I mean, some people that are still focused on, on calories, you just like look for this low calorie snack.
I don't know. Maybe popcorn. Yeah. It's empty. I mean, it's not even a meal. I don't know. Pair it with something that's high in protein or fat. That will be my 50 tip is add fats, healthy fats. Don't be afraid of fats. If you're insulin resistant and trying to lose weight, I do think you have to control your fats.
I'm not saying restrict. I don't, I'm not saying eliminate, but if you are adding a lot of fats, you're not going to [00:24:00] get there. I mean, maybe you, you're going to get there at the beginning to balance your hormones because fats. are needed to balance your hormones, you need to produce, you need fat to produce hormones, that's a fact.
But if you're also, and I'm talking about experience and about experience with a lot of people that have taken my program, When they see the difference, it's when they control a carbs and fat as well, not eliminate, I'm not saying eliminate anything, but you have to control it and you just have to see what works for you.
What kind of fats do I like? Avocado, eggs, please say the egg yolk because whites are just like, So nineties. I dunno,
Dr. Brighten: they're great in protein, but if you want, they're great in protein. If you want great skin, eat your yolks, .
Pamela Berrondo: And if they're trying to get pregnant, I mean the nutrients, the choline is in the egg yolk, right?
Um, salmon, while salmon, of course, if it's possible, uh, extra virginal olive oil, get rid of all your seed dolls. Uh, I mean, that's another part that it's contributing to a lot of insulin [00:25:00] resistance, uh, and to the hyperplasia that's part of this insulin resistant mechanism. They, they just, they're oxidized, they're, they're going to inflame you and, and they're not good.
I mean,
Dr. Brighten: it's funny because when you bring up seed oils, uh, I think people automatically are just like, okay, seeds must be bad too. They're not. And, but the other thing is that often when we look at where seed oils are, if you're avoiding seed oils, you're actually avoiding fake food. Yeah. Yeah. These. It's ultra processed foods, which the research, you know, it's, it's interesting because I just want to go back that you brought up, um, the body positivity movement and health at every size and there's, and I feel like all of this has kind of gone on at the same time.
We know the research says ultra processed food. You eat all the processed food, you are going to be the least healthiest version of yourself. Everything you consume becomes every cell in your body. And we, I think, why I bring this up is we've, we've gotten this pendulum swinging, right? [00:26:00] There's the trauma of what happened in diet culture, and then the pendulum swung complete opposite side of things.
Listen, I've spent over two decades in the nutrition and health arena. So I've seen this happen so many times. It's like. Oh, Atkins, and then we swing and keto and we swing and it's like, and it's, I've done them all. I mean,
Pamela Berrondo: when I didn't know better. Yeah.
Dr. Brighten: But you know, to your point before, I think the, the beauty of health at every size is to extend that opportunity to go to the gym, to make better choices, to not feel ashamed, to know that you can access health.
And for us to also understand. That, I mean, I grew up in an era, I don't know if it's like in Mexico, but in the United States, like Kate Moss was like this size double zero. No, no, it's the same. It's completely the same because we
Pamela Berrondo: always look up to your, your standards. Yeah, and so like at
Dr. Brighten: that time, it was like, that's what's healthy.
This year, seeing the Olympic athletes, that is what health at any size means. That is what it means that your body type might not be [00:27:00] this like aesthetic Cosmo girl cover body type. yeah. But it is a body type that is getting you where you need to go. That is metabolically fit, as you talked about, is physically fit.
And we look at other markers. So you brought up waist to hip ratio. You might be somebody who's got a big booty and thighs. We worry less about that than if it's your waistline. And so I want people to understand that. Uh, body positivity and diet culture have their own toxicity within them. I think it's anytime we go extreme, that's where we want to be.
I know that's what you want. Is that because I'm like, but I want people to know that we're talking in the middle, like
Pamela Berrondo: nuance. I think, I think every movement has a great intention. And the problem is when people just start to get it to the extreme or, um, in Spanish it says deviating it then and just applying it incorrectly.
So that's where the message gets confused and gets lost because you put it beautifully and I [00:28:00] agree completely with what you're saying. Uh, I'm not a naturally thin person and I, I suffered when I was a teenager seeing like, why is my body not as Kate Moss for, I mean, uh, And it's great to have opportunity, but I also have to say, um, an obese body, a medically obese body with metabolically markers and, and, and yeah, and some things that are proven, I don't think that's also medically healthy.
I know it's a thin line. And everything, so I'm gonna, uh, stay with what you said, uh, Yeah, well,
Dr. Brighten: I think what you're trying to say though is that it's, it's very individualized because what you said is not just the body, but the parameters. And that's what I always encourage is like, what is your CRP? So your marker of inflammation?
What do your lipids look like? What is your, your blood pressure? There are people who that if you look at their BMI, they're in the obese camp. When you look at all of their parameters, you're like, you look [00:29:00] fabulous. You look so healthy. But BMI, I mean, who, who, who you, we shouldn't use it. Let's talk about why we shouldn't use it.
Tell them why we shouldn't use it. I mean,
Pamela Berrondo: it's, it's just a formula that was made. I don't remember, but a mathematician, I think, or something like that. Some man. But I'm going to tell you a story. Uh, when I was, and this is not a, I don't know, maybe, Seven years ago, something like that, I, uh, I moved to the U.
S. and I gained weight, kind of happens to a lot of people.
Dr. Brighten: No, like everybody says that. Yeah, they're like, I go to Europe, I go to Mexico, I lose weight, like how did that just happen? I know, I mean,
Pamela Berrondo: and I was living in the U. S., I studied there, I was living in San Francisco and I, and I gained weight. So when I came back, I was trying to get pregnant, I was visiting my, uh, doctor at the time.
And he was like, your BMI is kind of borderline. So maybe you should start walking. I was doing an hour and a half of exercise every day and I was eating so healthy. It was, I mean, my body wasn't responding. Of course I had many. Um, yeah, many [00:30:00] hormone health things and many things going on, but he was kind of shaming me using as, uh, uh, as a fact, the BMI, he was only looking at the BMI, he didn't even look at any other marker.
So that's when I understand and understood, like, Okay, this has to change, but unfortunately we see it today in a lot of, uh, and I'm not saying only medical offices, also nutritionists, I mean, colleagues that they are still, uh, using the BMI as a, as a standard. I mean, it's, it's, it completely depends on so many things.
And I mean, for example, I have, uh, I have two babies. One was born like a really big baby. I didn't even have a big baby in Mexico, four kilos, 4. 1 kilos. So I don't know, maybe that's just over close
Dr. Brighten: to nine. Yeah, I
Pamela Berrondo: didn't even have gestational diabetes. I, I monitored my glucose during all my pregnancies, my, my [00:31:00] insulin, my, uh, tired, everything, but people are, are assuming like, okay, something's wrong with him.
He's a baby. Okay. He was a baby when he grows up. Of course, he's going to be really tall, really big. Maybe his BMI is not going to be perfect. So that's when you say, how if a baby can be so different? Why adults cannot be different? So that's kind of my point. I don't know if, I mean, if that was the answer you were looking for, but it's a formula, it's not taking into account the important facts and a, a lot of things.
It's just like a, yeah, a statistic.
Dr. Brighten: Yeah, no, it's, I think it's one of the least interesting things that we can measure about somebody. I think the number on the scale is so relative. One of the least interesting things to know is evaluating someone's health. And it's even to the point, I mean, people are surprised when I say like, I won't weigh a patient.
If a patient doesn't want to be weighed, we don't weigh them. I
Pamela Berrondo: didn't weigh any patient as well because I was like, if you want to weigh yourself and that's the way you want to track your progress. Yeah. That's perfect. But that's not what I'm going to track. [00:32:00] I'm going to track your blood markers, how you feel.
Are you having more energy? I mean, I need to know how you're feeling because people are so disconnected with how they feel. Yeah. So they're just, Okay, this is the number on the scale today, but maybe tomorrow and women, we have cycles and we have phases in our cycle. So of course, we're going to have more water retention during our luteal phase, then, uh, maybe in our follicular phase or maybe near ovulation and every woman responds so differently.
Yeah. And I don't know. I had sushi last night. So of course. Thanks. I've been on
Dr. Brighten: a sushi bender here.
Pamela Berrondo: I might as well tell ya. Of course, I'm like, so if I step today in the scale, maybe I'm, I don't know, three pounds heavier than yesterday. Is that, I mean, does that make sense? So, yeah, we should just talk about that.
Use them. It's not throw them away, it's use them wisely. Yeah. I think, uh, everything that we have today to measure and I'm, uh, wearables. I mean, we have the ora ring, we are you wearing ora ring? Yes, [00:33:00] yes. Twins. Yeah, of course. And, um, I, sometimes I use a CGM and then there's a, a scale. I mean, there are so many things.
They give you so much information, I think it's a way to democratize your health and to just take action and to personalize your health. There's nothing more personalized than seeing what's happening in your body.
Dr. Brighten: You said, wait, you said CGM? No one's going to know what that is. Uh, well, no, people are going to know what it is, but I want to, yeah.
It's a
Pamela Berrondo: continuous glucose. This is a sensor that you stick to your, um, yeah, to your arm and it's going to measure your blood glucose during 14 days. I mean, depending on the brand, but I think most of them are 14, 15 days during 24. I think the information that you get from them, it's really valuable.
They're not perfect. There's a lot of, uh, margin of error, but it gives you a sense of what is, of how is your body responding to your everyday life. Okay. What you're having for breakfast or [00:34:00] for lunch, your stress, how you're eating, how you're sleeping, how, uh, you're managing your stress. I don't, my, my blood sugar doesn't get spiked by stress, but I know that people with kids, they have like this crazy blood sugar.
Have you
Dr. Brighten: seen your aura data when you're with your kids? Have you looked at that? The stress? Yeah. Never was there. I don't see it anymore. But I just felt so validated as a mom feeling like that, that, uh, bedtime routine is especially dinner to bedtime routine. Okay. is so stressful in my day and I feel it in my body, but I think that, um, society tells us how we should gaslight ourselves and, you know, all these things.
And when Aura came out with that data and I saw that, I was like, I feel so validated. I feel so validated. And what you're saying about a continuous glucose monitor, well, I want to, I want to explain, you know, a little more detail, the value that it gives you. But, Um, it gives you data in real time so you can course correct sooner than later.
When we look at something like a hemoglobin A1c, excellent marker of what your blood sugar has been over three months. So what if we could bio [00:35:00] individualize things and course correct? So with the glucose monitor, what value is there in, in wearing the continuous glucose monitor? What can people see?
Pamela Berrondo: I mean, they can see what their everyday actions, what they're eating, because I'm going to go back to, I have a program that's called Metabolic Research, and I teach them how to use a CGM, and I teach them how to use a blood glucose monitor, just, and I use both, because this one has errors, and it's fine, you have to see the results.
But this one gives you a pattern, and that's what I think makes it very valuable to see how are you, uh, not just one second of your days, but how is your body responding and how fast it gets down to it. If you're, let's go back to your bedtime routine. Here in Mexico, we say, well, I don't know how we say, but I say, Hora cero, which is like the zero hour.
It's like, you know, everything stops, chaos completely. And that in your ring, it's just like spikes. And then then you go back to, [00:36:00] I mean, not relax because it's not relaxing, but yeah, it's those things. And what I was saying is use them wisely. People get obsessed about like, OK, they wake up and they see their aura ring.
And then they're like, I mean, you cannot live your life through all these wearables. You have to take that information, take it the inside out of the information and do something about it, but don't obsess about it. So it happens the same with the, the scale. I mean, I'm glad they exist. I use them. I'm a big fan.
I, I love to measure things. But I think I know, I'm, I'm being smart about it, I know, of course I get, I, I assume you're, you get patients that just get like really obsessed and I once got a patient that had an Excel of, uh, an Excel sheet of everything she ate, every single, um, marker in her scale because it was like water, muscle, bones.
I was like, I know your problem. I mean, you're just way too stressed out [00:37:00] to have to see your result because everything is so stressful. And that spikes cortisol, of course. And getting back to the cortisol and insulin relationship is you can be not be eating anything, anything sweet you can be eating perfectly clean.
And if your cortisol spikes, your glucose is going to spike. And if your glucose is high, then your insulin is high. And then this, this This show cycle starts again, and then you're in flame, and it's like, I don't know what to do, I'm desperate, I'm doing everything perfectly, but you have to see the other side, and that's why, uh, we were, we were talking about sleep in this, uh, backstage thing, sleep is crucial, sleep is essential, and sleep is, I don't know, people just, you know, is for, I mean, I think today people are giving it more the value it has, but before it's like, I don't know, there's a saying in Spanish, like you're going to sleep when you're dead.
You know, I think that's pretty much a US
Dr. Brighten: thing
Pamela Berrondo: too. And we, we applaud people or we look to up to [00:38:00] people that are, that never stop. And, uh, I think that's my biggest, uh, The thing that I have to work more on sleep, prioritizing sleep, but you cannot kill anything if you don't sleep. And even if we were talking about weight loss, you cannot lose weight if you're not prioritizing your sleep.
But this also your, um, uh, cognitive functions and your, how you feel, your energy, your skin, everything is affected by sleep and you can feel it and you can see it every day. That's something that you can fix. Yeah. So yeah, I don't, I mean, we had a, so I don't remember what we, the actual question, but
Dr. Brighten: yeah.
No, it's perfect. You know, I, I do want to bring up though, as you're saying is like, we have access to this data. We do have to use it wisely and who your point about what you were talking about with the continuous glucose monitor. You can see, so you talked about eating sushi. One person might eat sushi and it just spikes their blood sugar and the next person may have no problem.
We tell people if you just eat a bowl of beans, [00:39:00] that's, I mean, I remember when I was studying nutrition, they were like, that's a good source of protein. It's actually a good source of carbohydrates, great fiber. However, one person may eat that bowl of beans and their blood sugar is out of control. And that's what the expectation is, right?
We have these like. The glycemic index, but what we've come to understand is that it's not true for everybody. And I always say, question what is true for you. There's a lot of true information, but try to understand what is true for you. And I think a continuous glucose monitor provides that. You also told on yourself that you check your aura data first thing in the morning.
I do too, but I love, I will say as an A type personality. It has gifted me that if I wake up and Aura's like, you need to take it easy today, and I feel that, but then, you know, that, um, that masculine energy of our society that says like, you have to go, go, go. I now can get that instant feedback of like, this is how I feel.
This is what the data says. Correlate that and give myself [00:40:00] permission to be gentle. I will say to be in your 40s and have arrived there just because of wearable technology. It feels kind of lame. It feels silly, but at the same time, when I talk to other people, they're like, I needed that too. I needed something, some external validation to say that, like, absolutely slow down, take it easy.
And as you're saying, All of this. I really want to drive home to people like you said, sleep and stress. These are two things that will absolutely sabotage your blood sugar. I would love to hear from you. What are the things that keep people stuck when they're unable to lose weight? Because I feel like we've touched on these things, but I'd like to build a concise list together.
Pamela Berrondo: Okay. I mean, you're absolutely true about the ORA ring having, being an external validation. Definitely. So, okay, how to wrap up this different, um, I'm going to go back to the five things that I was going to say. So the five tips to keep your blood sugar in control. Protein, eat three meals a day. Fasting, maybe 14, um, [00:41:00] 14 to 15 hours a day.
Um, sleep. Okay. Prioritizing sleep. Seven to eight hours. I mean, if you could seven, eight to nine, that would be ideal, but not everybody can and that's fine. Uh, and stress management. Stress management. I don't know. When I hear stress management, it sounds so out there, like so general, no? And that's where you have to go into yourself and see, okay, maybe write it down.
What are your biggest stressors? What can you control? What can you not control? So what can you delegate? Ask for help. We women and I'm an A type personality as well. I, I mean, I, I identify with what you're saying and I'm a doer and a overachiever and I'm always on the go and. And I'm also a mom with small kids, so I'm really stressed out, but I don't feel stressed out.
You know, that, that feeling. So [00:42:00] see what, really be honest with yourself and say, okay, what can I do? And then try different things and see really what helps you manage your stress. For me, I love massages, massage, because it helps me just like, I don't have to see my phone. I'm just there. You cannot do anything.
You're just lying there and having, uh, being worked on your body and then just like chilling and relaxing. That helps for me. Uh, maybe just, uh, even going out with a friend and just having a coffee or talking red tea or whatever, uh, see what really helps journaling, meditation. I'm really bad at meditation.
I mean, that's something I have to work on. But. For some people meditation is a life changer.
Dr. Brighten: Yeah.
Pamela Berrondo: So you have to see what really helps you manage your stress. How do you know if it's helping or not? Of course you feel it, but ordering is a good, uh, a wearable, it's a
Dr. Brighten: good way
Pamela Berrondo: to see. Yeah, and Apple
Dr. Brighten: Watch, and there's
Pamela Berrondo: other devices out there.
Even the CGM, if you're having problems, because [00:43:00] you said, people are stuck. Why? They're stuck because, uh, I think one really, a reason they are stuck is because they're not constant and they want to see results really easily and they get stressed out about it. So then. Yeah. Yeah. They just like throw in the towel and it's like, okay, I'm done with this, but then they get it back.
So they're doing things halfway. I'm not against halfway because I think life is not perfect and you should do what, what you can and what you're depending on what you're living and, uh, and everything and being compassionate about that. That's perfect. But. You have to be really conscious of, are you doing it because an excuse or are you really doing your best because there's no bigger motivation that pain or than feeling, I don't know, this is, this sounds cliche, but you know, the phrase that choose your heart, no, it's hard being it.
Tired and it's hard going to sleep early at night, it's hard being overweight and choose your heart, but really choose your heart. Everything requires an effort. [00:44:00] See where you're going, where you want to get there and where you want, where do you want to go? And then do these little steps and ask yourself, is this getting me closer or is this just pulling me away of what I want to achieve?
So I think that's what gets stuck, uh, people stuck. They're coming in. Uh, also a, uh, another thing is people that don't understand what they're being told. Like they go to a doctor and they get, um, they get advice, but they don't take the time to explain or educate the person. So it's like, just eat healthy.
What does eating healthy mean? I mean, today, what does eating healthy means? There are so many diets and, uh, is it vegan? Is it Keto, Paleo, Mediterranean, or is it just like a little bit of everything? No? So those things not having like a clear explanation and education and empowerment. Because I also see people that see [00:45:00] their, uh, doctor or professional as the biggest authority out there, and they forget to see, checking with themselves.
Trial and error, what works for you, and you just said it, what's true for you, and that's I think the biggest lesson out there is, but you have to try it, and it's, and what's true for you today. Not the same as, I tried that like 15 years ago and it never worked yet, but how about now, today? Yeah. Um. I think those are the three things that get stress.
doing things halfway and not understanding, fully understanding what they have to do. Yeah. Those things get people stuck.
Dr. Brighten: I absolutely think that you are correct in that. And I don't know how it is in Mexico, but in the United States, doctors don't get a lot of nutrition education. I'm really unique in that.
That was my foundation before even going into medicine. And so, you know, I think people get frustrated by their doctor's lack of education on that. And don't recognize that that is [00:46:00] why people like you exist, that is why there are other practitioners because your doctor can't be everything to you, and And it's okay.
Yeah, and people get, I mean I've said this online, and people get really upset sometimes because when I say your doctor's there to make sure you're not gonna die, we're thinking Like, how could you possibly die in 30 years? And how are we preventing that? And what are your problems right now? And how do I solve that?
And how do I get you out of pain as soon as possible? And even though I have a nutrition, uh, education, I always employ nutrition experts so that they can spend that like hours worth of time only on that topic with that individual and making sure that they're getting that support. And I think that if more doctors referred.
That would be better. And if more people had access and recognize that, you know, I always like to say that if you want, you want a sandwich and you go to the ice cream shop, don't be mad at the ice cream shop for not selling a sandwich. Like we, we have to go to the right person to really meet those needs.
And I just want to say that you don't have to have wearable [00:47:00] technology to understand your stress. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, of course. I'm a jaw clincher and I will sometimes have my shoulders up and then I also tell people to always notice their breath because those can be signs like in the moment where your stress is at.
Do you have any tips of like, how do you know you're getting, you're stressed in the moment? You got to just stop, take a breath, like reassess.
Pamela Berrondo: I, I mean, I'm a jaw clincher as well, I'm not as whole. Right now
Dr. Brighten: I'm
Pamela Berrondo: like, stretch the jaw. Yeah, yeah, no, no, no. I mean, I've done a lot of things for my jaw, but yeah, we can talk about that later offline.
Okay. Um, Yeah, you can feel it and if you, you have to pause to feel because if you don't pause and you don't feel anything and you don't, you have to do these little check ins during the day. Maybe like set it, maybe set an alarm like three times a day. Okay. How am I feeling? And I, do I feel that I'm being rushed from my one activity to the rest?
Shallow breathing, of course, is one sign that you're just not grounding, relaxing, being there, being present. Even if, when someone [00:48:00] tells you something and then if you try to repeat what they were saying and you don't know, it's, you're, you're not present, you're not there, you, you, You're more here and you're stressed out and you're more in your rational side and you're not in your body.
You have to feel and be embodied to really slow down and, and feel. And, and yeah, I think those things are a good way to feel if you're stressed out or not. And are you sleeping at night? Are you having a restful sleep? Or are you just like, your mind is rushing all over? Because people think that having a good night's sleep is what they do.
Just like, 10 minutes before they go to bed.
Dr. Brighten: Yeah, it just happens. Yeah, no. And we talked about bedtime routine. What has to happen for a small human? Why is it any different for us? I mean, it's
Pamela Berrondo: what you do during the whole day. Yeah. It's going to reflect at night. The same with your blood glucose. Um, they say like, why am I having hypoglycemia at night?
How's your blood glucose during the day? It's not what you're doing. It's. When we understand everything is connected and we're just [00:49:00] everything, it's not just what we eat and it's what we feel, how we think, how we relate, uh, the energy around us. I mean, everything is important. It's not just exercise and food.
I mean, maybe people think that that's what's on our minds and supplements. I mean, it's so much more. These things work, of course. It's like the bridge to get to that point. But. You have to live your, your life, like, since the moment you wake up and the moment you go to sleep, and if you're not coherent in your life, then you're not going to be well.
I mean, I had a stressful situation, a personal situation. I didn't sleep for 11 days. When I got over with that, it was a medical situation. It was the first day I slept. I actually got like a 94 in my R Ring, I was like, wow! The pride! And it was stress, it was mental stress, it was emotional stress, and then, because I didn't change it, like, a big thing, it was just, All here, and [00:50:00] that's proof that we're more, much more than just what we eat.
So yeah, we have to be integrative. So that's the point. Yeah.
Dr. Brighten: I want to go back. You said that people throw in the towel because of their expectations. Let's set some realistic expectations. What should people expect when they're wanting to lose fat and build muscle?
Pamela Berrondo: What I tell, I mean, if you're insulin resistant, you have a diagnosis.
If your insulin or your basal insulin is above six, seven, uh, you're going to have a harder time. losing weight that someone that it's metabolically healthy. So don't compare yourself to the person next to you. You have to first lower your insulin, have your hormones, like your markers and everything. in place, then your body's going to start losing weight.
So I don't think there's like a time, lose 10 pounds in 15 days. You know, I mean, Oh,
Dr. Brighten: I know. I think that is some of the most damaging marketing that has been done to women. And what we know about that is the faster you lose weight, the [00:51:00] faster your body wants to put on weight because it's stress and your body.
I think, you know, in this conversation about fat loss and changing body composition is people have to recognize that. If you own ovaries, you have been programmed in your DNA to be very, very sensitive to your environment. And if you go into starvation mode, you've told the body, we don't have enough food, it's not safe.
And so the body says, we should, we should hold on to calories. Like we should pack that on. So when you increase that, we see that rebound. But also, It's not sustainable to live in a caloric deficit like that. No, no, it's not. And then,
Pamela Berrondo: as it's not working anymore, then you go lower and more exercise. And then you're just like eating 600 calories a day and working out like crazy.
And then why do I don't have a period? My hair is falling off and my thyroid is not optimal. Or, I mean, And then they ask, but why? I, I, I mean, I was perfect. Yeah, your body's really resilient [00:52:00] until it's not. Yeah. And, and when you understand that, like, treat your body well, it's going to treat you well, but you have to be patient, trust the process.
And be consistent if you know you're doing it correctly and, and, and you have to be aware of different, um, signs of like different wins. It's not, not, not a scale win or not a, like, I'm not losing weight, but I'm having more energy or I'm sleeping or I'm waking up less, uh, my eyes are less puffy. I don't know.
Some things that you can see every single day. But they're going to get there. Uh, for example, for me, the first thing that I saw when I reversed my insulin resistance, like the first change was, I'm not, uh, going to a restroom every 30 minutes or every hour I was, or I'm not waking up at night. Some people would never even think that that's, uh, an improvement, right?
Like it's not out there because it's, it doesn't have to do with your body or like is aesthetic or, uh, [00:53:00] But it's there, and it's something, it's improving, and you have to let this perfect machine, that the body is a perfect machine, work, give it the right things, give it the right, um, yeah, the material that it needs, and then it's gonna trust the process.
So I don't think the time is linear, I think everybody is different, and an expectation is, It depends on when you start and it depends on, on, uh, how much you're putting into it. And it's not just insulin. I mean, this is what we're talking about today, but then if you, you can have, um, estrogen dominance and then of course it's going to impact as well, your weight loss.
And then if your thyroid is not optimal because your estrogen is really high and your thyroid function is lower, then of course it's going to impact because your cortisol is going to be higher. And, you know, I mean, you're the expert here of hormones, right? But, uh, the thing is. People have to be patient and have to go to the right person and, and [00:54:00] consistent and start with the basics.
They, sometimes people want to find something like a, the newest, I don't know, that was me. I, I saw so many doctors, uh, in Mexico, in the U S and everything. And I wanted someone to tell me like, You have this strange disease that nobody has and that's why your body's not working. Yeah. I never found it because, because that's the hope you wanna, that you, you want validation.
Dr. Brighten: Mm
Pamela Berrondo: hmm. And then when you see that, no, it's more simple than that, but you have to start with the basics. And the basics include going to sleep early, um, moving yourself, what are you eating? Are you eating real food? Are you eating processed food? Are you eating empty calories? Because maybe you're not eating, but how are you, what are you putting inside your body and your mind?
Then? You see the progress working and of course there are many, um, not everything is just slow. Sometimes you're going to get an obstacle and then you have to see and, [00:55:00] and what you were saying that I want to go back, um, about the, your doctor not being everything for you. I think today we live in, uh, in a world where we have so much information in our hands.
And that it's a good idea because people say like, Oh yeah, you looked at Dr. Google and maybe Dr. Google means getting into your block, which I think it's a really great resource for people wanting to understand more about their, their disease and knowing what questions to ask to their doctor, their doctor, your doctor is not the biggest, I mean, they're a person.
And they're human and they also have many, many, many patients. Nobody is going to care about your health as much as you. So you have to be in charge and take responsibility because it's really easy to just like, my doctor didn't tell me, no, no, okay. You have to take responsibility in order to make a change.
I mean, it's tough love, but it's, I think that that makes a difference when you do take things [00:56:00] into your hands.
Dr. Brighten: And I love, I love patients who go and research and bring questions. And I think that. Every doctor should be encouraging people to go deeper to really invest in their health in that way and bring the questions back to them of like, what do you think about this?
Or would this work for me? It's funny because, um, I'm a bit older than my husband. We were talking about books last night and he was talking about book reports and how he would just go find information on the internet. And I was like, that's so funny. That did not exist for me when I was at the same stage, but it like really hit me last night of like, This is such a fantastic time to be alive as a human, to get access to this information, and also, um, find practitioners like yourself online, and so many of us are trying to educate and really close the gap in that information.
We really should have all gotten in like grammar school, grade school, uh, unfortunately we did not. You've mentioned supplements a couple of times. Do you have supplements that you like to recommend, that there are things that you've seen can really [00:57:00] move the needle when it comes to people wanting to optimize insulin levels?
Okay,
Pamela Berrondo: I mean, I think there are many things that work. You don't have to take everything because then people come and they want to buy everything. Uh, I love, or I've seen great results with berberine, I love my inositol as well, uh, for example pregnant women cannot take berberine but they can take my inositol and that helps them.
With their pregnancy, before getting pregnant, and also, uh, keeping their blood sugar levels stable, or a healthy, uh, glucose during pregnancy, so I love that. Um, I also like chromium, I love, um, omega 3, uh, vitamin E3, magnesium, just everything. All these basics. I also think a good, um, mix or blend of adaptogens, it depends of course on your cortisol levels or on your needs.
But
Dr. Brighten: yeah, tell people what adaptogens are just so they are. I mean,
Pamela Berrondo: adaptogens, the way I explain it, it's like these herbs or plants that help your body adapt. [00:58:00] They're mainly, they can be used for many things, but they're mainly used to help your body adapt to your nervous system, to your stress level. So, Some of them, or some people react to them by having a raise in their cortisol because some people have lower cortisol.
People always hear cortisol and they think, okay, lower is better. But it's not always the case because a lot of people come in with very low, uh, levels of cortisols. So you have to help them raise a bit or their cortisol in order to just balance or um, circadian rhythm and just like get everything flowing.
But there are many adaptogens that are like neutral or that they help you really. depending on what you need. And then if we're talking about insulin and we're talking about cortisol, you have to do something for the cortisol part, because if not, then it's like this part. Um, I love vitamin C as well for, uh, cortisol and vitamin Bs.
Yeah,
Dr. Brighten: I'm obsessed with methylated and activated B vitamins. I'm like, let's take one, one [00:59:00] step out of the loop and just get us what we need. I mean, it's
Pamela Berrondo: like, why, why wouldn't you take something methylated if that's what going to be bioactive and your body's going to absorb it, then a lot of people don't even have the gene to, yeah.
Yeah. To activate the folate. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. So, um. I mean, resveratrol is also great for insulin. There's so many things. The great thing about supplements is that it's not like just one thing works for one thing. They've worked for so many things. They're marketed for one thing, but they actually, then you see zinc helps for progesterone, but also for gut health, but then for your skin.
So when you use them and you're, you're eating them in your food, but how, why not get them in a concentrated, concentrated amount in order to have through a pretty, through a. Sorry, my English is not flowing anymore. Um, but, uh, a bigger benefit, right? So yeah, I mean glutathione [01:00:00] is also a great antioxidant.
I think it depends because I don't know, but you, nobody comes with just one. I only have insulin resistance. I mean, it's because the body is so complex. You come with many things. So of course it depends on the individual and depends on their pain points. It depends on their system, on their symptoms and also on their, uh, a lot of people don't tolerate so many supplements.
A lot of people have, I don't know, and, and it's okay. You don't have to take all, but then try and do some things. But I think I said my, the main, the main ones that I love.
Dr. Brighten: And you started with like, I think the, the two main ones that have a lot of research And myo inositol is one, why I love it for women's health is because it's also going to support ovarian function, egg quality, it is the, just like, I mean if you want to bet on a horse in a race with PCOS, bet on myo inositol because the research is always proving it to be a winner there.
So that's I think those are two really good ones to look at, [01:01:00] especially when you're someone who's maybe taken metformin, which is an option, and it works well for some people. We know it's an effective drug, but it can have gastrointestinal side effects. And so those are some alternatives you can talk to your doctor about that you may tolerate better.
And as you were saying, they have benefits outside of just insulin. So, and I think that's a great list. I mean, if we're not eating enough magnesium, we, if we're not getting enough of these minerals, like they're cofactors to so many processes in the body, we're not going to function at our best. So I love how you went so into detail on the nutrition and lifestyle aspects of what people can do.
You shared some really great tips today. I want everyone to definitely check out your cookbook, check out your Instagram, where else can people find you?
Pamela Berrondo: I mean, we're, um, I have two Instagram accounts, one that if you're just interested in food, it's called Mesa Sana. Uh, we. We want to give you like the recipe that we know they're proven and they're, um, it's not, I don't know, [01:02:00] really easy recipes, but they have like a twist.
You feel like you're eating a restaurant, but it's just really easy. Uh, it's called Mesa Sana. Follow us there.
Dr. Brighten: And when she says easy, I want you to know she has a one year old and a three year old. So she means easy.
Pamela Berrondo: Yeah. Easy. They don't look easy. It's like. It's like they impress people, but they're when they do it, it's like, Oh, I, I, I got it right.
And that's, that's the point. That's our point that that's why we've been growing so much. And a lot of people are doing our recipes and we love that. And then if you're more into this, um, functional medicine, nutrition, hormones, and kind of lifestyle, um, uh, my Instagram account, it's, uh, at Pamela Barrondo, I guess you're going to leave it in the show notes.
I will link it. Yes. Uh, that's where I'm, uh, I hang out the most. So yeah. Thank you. Yeah. I would love to see some of your faces there. Well,
Dr. Brighten: thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat.
Pamela Berrondo: No, thank you for having me here. It's been an [01:03:00] honor.