Metabolic Health Expert: Why You Feel Tired, Bloated & Stressed! How To Reset Your Energy, Sleep, Gut & Metabolism Without Extreme Diets | Rose Ferguson

Thriving Minds with Alberto Zandi

In this episode, functional medicine practitioner Rose Ferguson discusses how to achieve metabolic health without falling into the trap of e

Key takeaways

• Metabolic flexibility is the ability to switch efficiently between glucose and fat (ketones) as fuel sources.
• Chronic stress keeps the sympathetic nervous system activated, which can lead to persistent systemic inflammation.

Main topics

• Metabolic flexibility
• Gut microbiome and inflammation

Notable quotes

Aging is a freaking asset.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a reassuring guide for anyone feeling overwhelme

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) If someone wants to improve their health today, where should they start? Metabolic Speaker 3 (0:03) flexibility, where you can switch between fuel sources and you do so regularly. It's really good for our insulin response. It's really good for our energy. It's good for brain clarity and cognition. We are in a world where we don't do that very much. Speaker 1 (0:16) Which supplements? What do you recommend people to take? Most Speaker 3 (0:19) supplements have a placebo effect. I mean, the placebo is amazing. It's probably the best medicine out there, right? Speaker 2 (0:24) Rose Ferguson is the queen of Reset, a globally renowned nutritionist, functional medicine practitioner, and author. Following a successful career as an international model, she retrained at the prestigious Institute of Functional Medicine, now leads wellness practice, Our Health Club. Her upcoming book, The Reset, presents a four-week roadmap to better health. Can Speaker 3 (0:40) we stop talking about aging like it's a negative thing? It's a freaking asset, but... We are the unhealthiest generation of all time. Speaker 1 (0:48) People say, oh, I feel stressed. So what is stress and what does it do to our bodies over time? Speaker 3 (0:53) It's quite challenging because it means your immune system is always triggered and always trying to... resolve inflammation. It just means that the body is irritated, desperately trying to fix it all the time. The very fact that you're getting bloating is a sign that your microbiome is not very happy and what's in your microbiome? Most of your immune system. So if the microbes aren't happy, then the text messages that are going to the brain are like, things aren't great here. Speaker 1 (1:19) And how quickly can we feel those symptoms? Is it after like one meal, days of eating bad, months, years? Speaker 1 (1:30) Rose, how would you introduce yourself and what you do? Speaker 3 (1:35) Well, I'd introduce myself as Rose. I'm a functional medicine practitioner and a nutritionist. I'm a clinician, actually, is what I do most of the time. I do work with a consult for brands about health and wellness. And I live life as best I can most days. Speaker 1 (1:56) Beautiful. If people stay with us for the entire duration of the episode, what do you expect them to learn? Speaker 3 (2:05) Well, I tell you what, I'd love people to... I hope people are reassured by the end of the episode because I come as a clinician. I have seen it all. I've been in clinic for a really long time. And the word wellness didn't actually exist when I started. And I feel like wellness has become really alienating for people. And it's really not rocket science to, you know, and I think that I think people are very, very confused. And as I say, alienated, and it really pisses me off because I think this idea of. Being well, being healthy feels very out of people's reach. But also it's one, it's just one way of looking at it. You know, it's this, I suppose the word optimization, which everyone's now freaking out about. Optimal health to me is you feeling the best that you can feel or how you want to feel. It's not like a stat or a bit of data. I mean, it might be, but you know. So I hope people feel reassured. Speaker 1 (3:01) In simple terms, what is your definition of wellness? Speaker 3 (3:06) Feeling how you want to feel and having the energy to do what you want to do. feeling good in yourself. I think it is you are your North Star. You are N of one and how you feel is everything. So if you feel great and you feel happy and you're able to do what you want to do, I'd say that's pretty well. Speaker 1 (3:28) Would you say that that's what people will learn to feel after our conversation? Speaker 3 (3:32) I hope people will understand a few ideas of how simple it can be or no. Sometimes it's not simple. I see very complex cases in clinic. So sometimes people really are, you know, they're ill. And then it takes it, it's not so straightforward. But for the vast majority of people who are well. There are some, there are such simple things that people forget. I think because people are always looking for the top, you know, they're looking how, they're looking for quick fixes often. It's like, I'll take that or I'll do that and it'll fix me. Actually, what I know and what the data absolutely supports is that these foundations, these basics are literally that, the foundations of feeling well. So, you know, I see people. all the time in clinic and the word longevity has a lot of responsibility around this because people like yeah but what about if i do these peptides what about if i do this cold plunge i'm like yeah but are you actually eating enough fiber protein are you hydrating do you move or do you sit at desk really basic stuff which i think is a much which opens that world of wellness that everyone thinks is so elite up to everyone and makes it available because it is It's just that the world we live in is not structured or designed to fit our human biology Speaker 1 (4:52) at Speaker 3 (4:53) all. Speaker 1 (4:54) Interesting. Why is this topic important to you? Because I believe that what makes the greatest professionals is when somebody truly cares about what they're doing at the level that is purposeful. Why is this important to you? Speaker 3 (5:15) Well, I... I can't. Do you know what? I don't know why, but it really is. And when we spoke earlier and you were asking about why I went into this field, it was the... The main criteria for my qualifications was I wanted to practice, so I had to be qualified. I had to be qualified so I could be accredited to practice in clinic, aka help other people. I think I feel very, very passionately that we've been served by a system which isn't, or not served. We haven't been served by the system. That's not to say I don't believe that there are, you know, I think the integration of lots of health practices. would be so beneficial to so many. So by that, I mean Western medicine and then things like nutrition, which should be part of mainstream medicine. As far as I just, see, I go speechless about this because I'm just like, what? why do people not talk about food this is information we give our body every single day yet it is still taught for one and a half days in a medical degree you know it's getting better but I think that for me I felt very passionately I grew up around with what was called alternative medicine now it's called complementary medicine and so I have a really strong belief that the body, you give it the right environment, it can take care of you really well, but you have to take care of it a little bit. Speaker 1 (6:48) What is the difference in between the traditional medicine, the Western medicine and the alternative medicine? Speaker 3 (6:54) Well, I suppose, so I trained in functional medicine as a practitioner. Functional medicine, because people always ask me this, is another word for holistic medicine. So we're looking at the whole body. We're not looking at the symptom. We're looking for drivers for what causes that, what's causing this problem, health problem. And then alternative medicine are looking at things that are, you know, functional medicine is quite, is scientifically backed. It's evidence-based. So it sort of sits in the sweet spot between what people call crazy stuff, like homeopathy. There's absolutely no data around it, yet people still respond positively to it. And the outcomes can be good Speaker 1 (7:33) just Speaker 3 (7:34) because we can't put our finger on why and we can't test it in a lab. But that would be cool, you know, alternative things like, I mean, you know, acupuncture has lots of data around it, but I suppose alternative medicine is anything outside Western medicine. medicine the conventional medicine as we know it i Speaker 1 (7:52) want to talk about the symptoms because many people and i've had this discussion with many of my friends they have the same symptoms and they don't understand why they feel that way so they feel foggy bloated stressed the people that come into your practice if if you see them with these symptoms what are the root causes that drive them to feel this way Speaker 3 (8:13) um Well, if you're looking at root causes, so it depends what symptoms you're seeing, but I suppose the gut is something that people always think of digestive issues, but it can be skin, it can be hair loss, it can be foggy head, it can be mood fatigue, you know, joint pain, you name it. So the gut would be somewhere that you would look to, I suppose, as it is a very, very key and foundational part of health. And then I think lifestyle is really important. It's, you know, ironically, it's funny you say lots of your friends have the same thing, but we all live in this mental world where we're on the go from morning to night. We do more in a single day than we have ever done. And we're expecting the body to do it, but we're not giving it the right input necessarily. So I think stress is a big one is where I was going with that. You know, I don't think I know stresses. people will come to me saying they're very fatigued or foggy. And then you listen to what they do in a day and what they don't do in a day. And you're like, wow. And I think something else that's a big lifestyle one is sedentary lifestyle. And within that, you know, we can go to the gym, we could do a two hour workout. And then we sit at desk for nine hours. That is still considered a sedentary lifestyle. And on top of that, if you're not moving your body. It means you're inside. You know, there's lots of other things that go on with a sedentary lifestyle. It probably means you're under fluorescent lighting. It probably means you're not getting fresh air. It probably means you haven't seen the sun. It probably means you haven't hung out with a friend. So there are lots of other things that are, you know, it's like a web. Basically, it's all like a web. If you think about what it means to be sedentary, it's not just that you're not moving. Speaker 1 (9:57) And why are those things important, like the sunlight, you know, walking, seeing a friend? Speaker 3 (10:03) Well, sunlight and getting out. Well, sunlight is particularly good for circadian rhythm with this internal clock that we have, which I know people in my world bang on about a lot. And while I'm talking about it, in my head, I'm going, but I travel all the time. So I understand that, you know, when we talk about circadian rhythm. Speaker 3 (10:21) The majority, oh no, not the majority, a lot of us travel, but even that, lots of us don't go to bed at the same time. Some people go out till four o'clock in the morning. Some people go to, you know, it doesn't necessarily fit perfectly in our world, but it's a nice thing to keep in your mind that your body does. respond to daylight actually when you do travel going outside in the morning is quite a good way of telling your brain okay this is morning it doesn't feel like morning but it is because those are the blue lights i'm seeing and then in the evening there is more red so then your brain's going oh okay um so that would be for that getting outside the thing about getting outside is a you're moving b you're getting sunlight maybe or daylight let's see let's you know might not be sunny um but the other thing is that actually if you're in nature even if it's in a park in a city there is something very de-stressful about being around something quieter and on top of that if you happen to be near trees there are lots of they they're really good for the microbiome i'm laughing because i think about the pollution and sort of trying to weigh up which But again, it's kind of like, it's better to be outside. But, you know, they have these little, they have lots of microbes that come off the trees, which we inhale. Oh, interesting. Great for our microbiome. And then seeing friends, well, it's just fun, isn't it? But it is really, we know, I mean, there is brilliant data coming out about, but it's been there for a long time actually, but about community and how important that is. I mean, the loneliness data came out probably about five, or six years ago where it became really a big risk factor. So when we talk about risk factors, we're talking about things like heart disease or diabetes or cancer. Loneliness is up there as a really big risk for early mortality. I Speaker 1 (12:12) think a lot of people can relate with stress. People say, oh, I feel stressed, but I don't think everybody knows what stress really is. So what is stress? What does it do to our bodies over time? Speaker 3 (12:26) It's true, because when we talk about stress, you assume it's just like load. It's like, I Speaker 2 (12:32) haven't got enough time. Speaker 3 (12:34) I'm Speaker 1 (12:34) rushing, I'm Speaker 3 (12:35) rushing, I'm rushing. But actually, when you talk about it biologically, we're talking about the stress on the body. So yes, stress in a very traditional sense is that sitting in a sympathetic nervous system, which is our fight or flight nervous system. We have two arms to it. You have parasympathetic, sympathetic, you know. So sympathetic, if you're sitting in that state, you are triggering, your brain will be asking your adrenals to release cortisol, to respond to what it sees as a threat. Speaker 3 (13:08) And also, but the problem for us is that that threat used to be a really sharp threat. So if you think about jumping out of the way of a car, your body moves really fast. And that is adrenaline first, cortisol second. It saves you. And it is life-saving hormone. No, that's not true. It is there to save our lives. It's very protective. And it will win every time because it's a quick responder and it is. It's there to keep us safe. So, but it's meant to be that quick. See a car jump out of the way. I don't know why I'm using a car. Don't stand in front of a car. Speaker 1 (13:45) But Speaker 3 (13:45) you know, that really fast movement, your brain thinks fast, your body moves fast. And then you're meant to, that's meant to end. But when we're sitting at our computer getting shitty emails, our body doesn't distinguish. So we get, I'm sure lots of people know this, but you know, you're sitting in that sort of high alert. for hours in Speaker 1 (14:05) the day. Speaker 3 (14:06) And we used to sit in parasympathetic for the majority of the time with these spikes of sympathetic action. Now it's the opposite. You're lucky if you get a moment of parasympathetic in your entire day. So you've got that, which is what I think people probably understand. But then on top of that, we've got things that the body perceives as stress, things like blood glucose control. If we eat alcohol, you know, I mean, the body sees excess, not excess exercise, any exercise, it sees it as stress, but it's sort of a good stress. Your body responds, it recovers, it makes you more resilient. But if things like blood glucose rollercoaster all day, every day, your body is, it has a very, very narrow range of what we call homeostasis. Speaker 3 (14:55) It keeps your temperature in that range. It keeps your blood glucose in that. Everything stays. It's very controlling our body to keep the right environment. If you're always going out of it with blood glucose swings and roundabouts, your body is stressed about that. It's like, shit, we cannot stay stable. And so those sorts of stresses are... Speaker 3 (15:19) chronic for a lot of people and I suppose when you ask what that does inflammation is one of the key things which I know is also another term that gets thrown around but inflammation because your body's inflamed because it's irritated I think if you sort of think of inflammation as irritation it can be low level it can be really annoying to the body but that is what you're doing. Speaker 1 (15:41) And where does our body get inflamed? Speaker 3 (15:44) Well it depends you can get I mean, inflammations are funny. So when you cut your finger, you know, you get a really clear inflammation. It goes red, it's sore, it's often raised because it's healing and it's sent shit tons of immune response, which makes it inflamed. You know, there is a theory that it also makes you be aware and careful of it because you're aware that it's there. So, you know, apart from just the healing process, it's like, be careful, I've cut my finger, don't cut it again. Speaker 2 (16:11) So Speaker 3 (16:11) when we're talking about systemic inflammation, it can be anywhere. So you can feel it. I mean, the amount of people I see who are like, oh, yeah, I've got backache. Why have you got backache? We need to find out. You know, sometimes it's mechanical damage, but sometimes those joints are sore because of inflammation. Not that your back has a joint, but, you know, the skeleton. You can get inflammation in your skin. You can get systemic inflammation. I think when you think about inflammation, you're talking about an immune response. So your immune system is reacting when it shouldn't be. So if you think about any immune response, it can show up in many, many different ways, which is probably why inflammation sort of gets thrown around such a lot. Speaker 1 (16:58) And they're all coming from stress. Speaker 3 (17:00) They can all come from stress. Stress is a huge inflammatory input. Huge. Speaker 1 (17:04) And why is inflammation bad? Speaker 3 (17:07) Well, it's quite aging. I'm not talking about aesthetics of aging. It's quite challenging because it means your immune system is always triggered. Speaker 2 (17:16) So Speaker 3 (17:16) if you, I suppose... When I talk about things like intestinal permeability and things, I talk about it like a scab that you keep on picking. And so your body's always, it means that your body is always, always triggered and always trying to resolve whatever inflammation it is. And inflammation can come from lots of different places. But as I say, you know, when you cut your finger, you see the inflammation and it does resolve. But imagine if that finger never got better. And it just, I mean, if you think about... oral health which people really don't if you think about it and you have this constant people have this constant bleeding gum that's what that's a chronic inflammation but it's going on in the body and it's just it just means that the body is irritated and desperately it's exhausting it's desperately trying to fix it all the time um and sometimes you will have low grade inflammation that you don't even notice i think but i think most people probably do We live in a very inflammatory world. Yeah. Speaker 1 (18:22) I want to talk about another symptom, which happens regularly to my partner. She can sleep for seven or eight hours, but she wakes up tired and exhausted. Why could this be happening? Speaker 3 (18:33) Quality of sleep? Speaker 1 (18:34) Hmm. Is it also stress? Speaker 3 (18:37) It could be. I mean, I think the typical signs of stress, sleep, is waking up at 3 o'clock in the morning, which can also be a blood glucose. I mean, it's really hard because everyone is different. So I think listening to yourself is a really, that's something that I'd love listeners to take away, is that if something like that is happening to you, think about what precedes a better night. Think about, this is where journaling is quite good because you start to. You might, sometimes you don't, but you might start to see a pattern emerge. It's like, okay, last night was a terrible night's sleep. And before that I was, I don't know, you know, the classics are on my screen or I read a stupid email that I wish I hadn't looked at or I went out and ate 10 minutes before I went to bed. But I think, so waking up tired is quality of sleep. And if your girlfriend is... doing any of what I just said that might be it um but there can be things like sort of I'm just trying to think because there are some we used to always talk about um Speaker 3 (19:43) Zinc and magnesium, those two can make a big difference if you start eating zinc and magnesium foods. This is where I would say a wearable can be quite useful. You know, something like an aura ring for sleep, just for like a three-month period to see. Or even if you just wore it for a week, you would be able to see where your sleep is. It's not perfect. I did have, I had a, I... A friend of mine who's at Johns Hopkins University and he works in the sleep center there researching, he said aura are not perfect, but they are pretty good. It's good to get an idea. So I was like, okay, good. But it might be a way of her understanding whether she's getting REM sleep, deep sleep, neither, too much one, too little of the other. Yeah, and having a look at what goes on before. I mean, alcohol is terrible for sleep. Good for other things, terrible for sleep. Speaker 1 (20:42) Is there a place for alcohol in a healthy life? Speaker 3 (20:46) It depends which angle you're going from. I mean, my answer for me is yes. I think, I mean, we know biologically it's really got, it doesn't have a leg to stand on. Biologically, poor alcohol is like, no, does nothing. Emotionally, and therefore the link to biology. Yes. So what I mean by that is if we took alcohol and looked at a cell's response, Speaker 2 (21:12) not Speaker 3 (21:13) much to say other than it's a toxin. The body is freaking out, talking about stress. The body prioritizes sorting out the alcohol first. It will stop everything else because it's like, holy shit, we've got this neurotoxin coming in. We've got to get rid of it. But then if you think about talking about community. Speaker 3 (21:34) hanging out and having a glass of wine or I mean whatever it is emotionally how you feel when you do that physiologically and biologically reduce it could reduce stress you know so it's sort of like and it makes you feel more connected it's definitely going to disrupt sleep um but there are there are positives to it and I think obviously aside from someone who has an addiction Speaker 3 (22:01) I think there is a place. Speaker 1 (22:04) And sugar. Is there a place in our lives for sugar? Because right now we're hearing everywhere on social media, on TV, glucose spike and it's going to accelerate your aging and it's going to make you feel like your energy is going to deplete. Speaker 3 (22:19) It has become Speaker 1 (22:20) like this very bad villain. Speaker 3 (22:22) I think it is quite a bad villain, actually. Speaker 1 (22:24) I Speaker 3 (22:25) think only, and it's not sugar. I mean, it is. It's the amount. Speaker 1 (22:29) It's the amount. Speaker 3 (22:30) It's Speaker 1 (22:30) the Speaker 3 (22:30) amount. So it's sort of like, you know, I think where I draw the line is when people start banging on about fruit. I'm Speaker 2 (22:37) like, oh, come on. Speaker 3 (22:39) Fruit has got so many good things in it. You would be amazed how many people walk in