The Morning Upgrade Podcast Featuring Dr. Allyson Page

Welcome to episode #125 of the Morning Upgrade Podcast. In this week’s episode I spoke with Dr. Allyson Page, a functional medicine doctor. 

Top Talking Points

• Tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
• How your gut microbiome holistically affects the rest of your mental and physical health.
• People that feel the most meaning in life are the people that have affected the most people’s lives.

Resources & Links

Connect With Allyson at GlowOn.health.

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Episode Transcript

Announcer

Welcome to the Morning Upgrade podcast with Ryan Cote where we feature casual conversations with entrepreneurs about personal development and growth.

Ryan

Hey, Allison, welcome to the Morning Upgrade podcast. How are you?

Allison

I’m very good. How are you?

Ryan

I’m doing great. Yeah, I’ve enjoyed talking to you. These last 10 minutes. And now we’re, now we’re actually being recorded. Let’s do something good for my audience and morning upgraders. And let’s start by telling everyone you know who you are, what you do for a living, and then something you’re grateful for right now.

Allison

Awesome. Happy to be happy to share. Yeah, my name is Dr. Ali Pay. And I practice a form of medicine called functional medicine. And I just started my own private practice, I’m located in active mass, and I do virtual visits as well. And functional medicine is where we look at the root cause of disease. So we try to look for the center of the issue instead of prescribing something to fix a symptom. So yeah, so we look at gut health, we look at reproductive hormones, we do a lot of work with nutrition and healing with our food choices in a ladder, a ladder work on metabolism, and really just healthy living minds and I am incredibly grateful for my children. I would say that my biggest family. Yeah.

Ryan

Especially after Thanksgiving, as we record this, you know, during those times, exactly. So do you get a lot of questions? Just curious, do you get a lot of questions from your family and your, from your family, from your friends? Since you’re the health experts, you get a lot of questions from them?

Allsion

I do. I do. I am happy to help. I really, I noticed that a lot of people struggle with their gut health, especially like a lot of people who have gut issues and digestive issues. And it may, they may just kind of normalize being uncomfortable. And so they might not come up when they visit their primary care. Or they might get some kind of vague diagnosis like irritable bowel and not really be given anything that really fixes it. And so yeah, so because there are a lot of people that slipped through the cracks, my friends are among them, and I’ll get attacks like, Okay, what’s going on? You know, and we had a lot of yucky discussions a lot about yesterday, but I’m used to I just don’t really yucky, I just, we just have to get into the process of all the you know what, good. But I’m happy to help. And you know, the gut biome is really the center of our health.

Ryan

So I want to hear about your morning routine. But I like to talk about tips on the show. And, you know, it’s usually personal development really which I consider health to be that and so to be under that umbrella. And so we’re not a medical show, we’re not prescribing anything here. But based on your experience in terms of gut health, are there any tips you can share that are pretty universal for everyone listening?

Allison

Yeah, so one of the most important things in our gut health and by the way, our gut health is no, it’s not only limited to, like, you know, good Digestion and Gut elimination, but it’s also the center of our eyes think really, our wellbeing, serotonin receptors, that form that feel good hormone is linked to our gut. And so when our gut isn’t functioning properly, it’s hard to really feel good. There’s a really strong link between migraines, stress and the handling stress and all that cortisol, that stress hormone can build up. And so when our gut is functioning well, and it’s working well, it’s easier to feel good, really at a basic biochemical level, we have good serotonin firing. So yeah, so I guess the number one tip would be, I would say, and this is gonna sound like so I don’t know, so bland, but it’s really eating a lot of good fiber at what we call prebiotics and prebiotics. I know we all know about probiotics, because we all know, I’m sure, have had engagements with probiotic companies, or we take acidophilus Bifidus, or we want to put good bacteria into our gut or inoculate our gut. But actually, what’s more important than doing that is eating well. prebiotics, which is fiber, and it’s feeding our gut buddies, I call them got buddies, which is the good bacteria in our gut, you gotta feed on that’s like a pet, focusing on a really good healthy routine in terms of what we eat. And really plant product is what feeds that good bacteria. And that good bacteria takes care of our gut. It’s really central for them. 

Ryan

So for the fiber, you’re recommending, like salads and greens and that type of stuff.

Allison

Yeah, so it’s a lot of insoluble fiber from plants, really fruits and vegetables. You could also do what we call ancient grains and ancient grains or whole grains, and we call them ancient because they’re not processed. Now, an example of an ancient grain would be quinoa, or comment or amaranth. Or you can Google them because there’s so many different types of ancient grains, but really focusing on the whole food, the whole product instead of the processed foods. And when we process the grain, we get flour, and then from flour, we make bread, cereal, pasta, things like that. pastries and whatnot. But actually what the Intro to feeding good good buddies is having the whole grain when you have the husk mask, but the gut buddies really feed on.

Ryan

There’s a diner about five minutes from my house. And I’ve become scarily obsessed with this salad they have. So I’ll bring my laptop and after a couple hours, they’re doing work. And I got the salad. And it’s quinoa, spinach, feta, pumpkin seeds, beets, cranberries, and grilled chicken. I think I got it all. Yeah, in grilled chicken. Sweet potatoes, too. And mailman. Listen, I’m telling you, I like my mouse. What are you talking about? It?

Allison

Loves really good. I mean, people ask me all the time, they’re like, Are you against me? Are you for me, to me, it’s not an either or it’s really all about their proportion. You know, for people that choose to have meat in their diet or animal products, that’s fine. It should only be a certain percentage of what I call it like a side dish. So if you go out and you get a cut of meat, or chicken or pork or whatever you choose to have, it really should be decided no bigger than the palm of your hand, kind of a side dish. And what that does is that allows space in your stomach for all the other stuff that we need micronutrients and macronutrients and fiber from the fruits and vegetables. So oh, about balance

Ryan

120 Something episodes, we haven’t talked about gut health. So this is a first. I’m glad we’re glad we’re opening with this. Let’s go to your mornings, how do you start your day?

Allison

So the mornings are like, sacred to me as a mother because it’s the quietest time. And so I’ll get up and it’s really quiet. And so I’ll make a cup of tea or a cup of coffee. And really, I just, I, you know, we were just talking about this earlier, you and I about kind of glorifying busy. And I think that as a culture, we do glorify it, we tend to think that we’re not doing anything if we’re just sitting and being and looking and resting. And so really, that’s a really, really important time for me. I’m in a profession where people constantly, they need something they need, they need advice on something or they need a prescription refill. I have children that need me. And that’s okay, that’s what I’ve chosen as my path. But this is the time that I can just set where I can look, I have dogs, I can look out the window, and I look at my dogs. And I really enjoy not being busy.

Ryan

Either yours. Or your property. No, they’re my dogs. Oh, that’s hilarious. Yeah, there’s a few. So you’re saying your morning routine is like solitude, just spending time watching the ducks and just hanging out by yourself?

Allison

Yeah, it’s like being unbusy. It’s like the only time carved out where I can just be and think through things and finish that. I think sometimes we’re so busy. And we use, you know, our glowing rectangles a lot, where we get a lot of data and blue light. And we just get an influx of data constantly, where it’s difficult for us to finish our own thoughts that originate from our minds and our spirit. And so I take a break from that, and just have my own thoughts and finish with that. I finished it to completion. And I really value that because then I know that when 745 heads, we’re going to be we’re just going to be it’s going to be your hustle. And that’s, you know, that’s the way it goes. So yeah,

Ryan

I try to think about what am I gonna do when my kids are all out of the house and don’t really need me every day, I’m, there’s just gonna be a huge hole to fill. And so I got time to figure it out. But it’s coming.

Allison

Yeah, yeah, it is. It’s around the bend. Right?

Ryan

And that’s why you mentioned the style, too. That’s why, you know, do you meditate?

Allison

I do. I’m not really all that formal with it. But my meditation is really just kind of sitting in silence, and either observing my thoughts or finishing my thoughts.

Ryan

To me, it sounds like what you mean by meditation means many, many things. It sounds like what you do in the morning is sort of a form of meditation. But where I was going with that, as I’ve become really hooked with this, I used to use Insight Timer. And I always like to try different things. And now I’m using the comm app. And it’s a paid service, I think I paid 40 bucks for the year. They have this, it’s really easy, because I have like this daily 10 minute guided meditation. So I know, I don’t have to think I just open up the app. In 10 minutes I’m going to be done. And what I like about it is it’s guided in the sense that they weave some sort of life lesson into the meditation, like perfectionism not to be not trying to be perfect or in like, things like that, you know? And so it’s kind of like two prongs to get into meditation and you’re getting some sort of life lesson. I’ve found that like that solitude, that silence. It’s very rejuvenating the word I was trying to think of.

Allison

That sounds amazing. Yeah, I have heard of calm and it sounds, you know, I feel like life has this sort of entropy and I don’t think our culture naturally is prone to being spiritual. I think that we’re just not you know, when we look at cultures like India or Thailand or other countries where spirituality is really interwoven a little bit more into the day to day routine. I don’t think ours is. So I think taking time out there really helps us with any spiritual concept, even if it’s just for 15 minutes can have a really, really good effect.

Ryan

Well, since you mentioned that, let’s go to the topic of meaning of life through Ali’s lens and all the experiences you’ve had up to this point, what do you consider to be the meaning of life,

Allison

I don’t really know what the meaning of life is. But I do feel strongly that if we come I do believe in reincarnation. And I do think that if we incarnate into this lifetime on Earth, that we’re here for a reason. And then everyone has a divine purpose and a soul contract. It’s really to know what that is, is our passion. I think that Joseph Campbell has been real, you know, he’s a philosopher, and he’s done a lot of interviews with Bill Moyers. He was a professor of mythology. And he would say, you follow your bliss. And if you follow your bliss, and you follow your passion, that is your meaning. And so when we follow that, we give back to the world naturally, in what we’re supposed to be doing here.

Ryan

You consider functional medicine. That’s your reason. It’s your meaning of life. That’s your passion.

Allison

Absolutely, yeah, medicine as my, my father is a physician and I kind of grew up in his practice, from the time I was three years old, he would take me to the hospital on rounds with him, which I don’t think we can do anymore. We have like HIPAA and all these different things back when I was 3456 years old, literally. And, uh, he’d do his rounds in the hospital. And I’d go in and make the, you know, I would just say, I was like, this little girl dressed in a little Sunday dress, and I would make the new patient smile and, and then as I got older, he would explain more about medicine. He was a hematologist, or he specialized in blood disorders and took me to the lab and showed me mirrors of different red blood cells and why they were diseased and what he does to heal them. And I don’t know if it was nature or nurture, but it really is, in my blood, I think to be doing this, it is my passion. And when I discovered functional medicine, it just came together, it made sense. I felt that over the past 20 years, really, medicine has evolved to be a little bit corporate and functional medicine pulls it back to be about the patient. What is really the root cause here? What if someone has a for instance, we were talking about digestion, that digestive issue? Do we just give them an antacid and send them on their way? Or do we figure out why? What’s the imbalance that’s causing this? Is it dietary? Is it bacterial? Is it you know, and not stopping there? And so yeah, it absolutely is my passion.

Ryan

To go back to something you said about the meaning of life, I heard a stat, I don’t remember where I heard it from, I don’t even know how they come up with this number, this mathematical equation or whatever it is, but they said, like, your chances of being alive is like one in 400 trillion. And so I’m looking for that too. But I’ve heard that twice now. So that must be a source of where they got that from. But like you think about it from that point of view, like, yeah, there’s a reason why we’re here. And so it’s just like, the chances of us, especially the chances of me and you having this conversation right now, like chances of you being born and me being born in the heavens conversation, it’s like, really crazy when you start to wrap your head around it. And so that’s why I asked this question about the meaning of life because I just try to, like, I’m always thinking about it, because I’m like, why are we here? Like, the chance of us being here in the first place is so astronomical. And so like, why are we here? And what? What can we do about it?

Allison

Absolutely. Know that, you know, when I was a, I was a floor nurse, before I got my doctorate, I got my, I was a floor nurse. And then I got my masters and my doctorate, I held a lot of hands as patients were crossing over as they were dying. And I noticed that those patients that had peaceful crossings had a peaceful transition, really felt that they were added in a meaningful way to other people’s lives. So they hadn’t fully engaged with people throughout their life. And the people that really struggled towards the end, regretted the lack of meaning and wished that they had more meaningful interactions. No one has ever told me, I wish I had made more money. I wish I had a bigger house, you know. It’s about the love that we share about what we give, really, and the meaning, the meaningful interactions that are kind that give us meaning. I always took that with me from floor nursing. So I think it really has something to do with having meaningful, meaningful connections with people, whether they be brief, or whether there are long term meaningful connections, like with a spouse, or with our children or with our family or good friends, they can be short and they could be brief, and it could just be an interaction that says, you know, I acknowledge you and and I respect you and you have a view of a reason to be here. And so do I in finding that, you know, finding joy in that short interaction. So yeah, I think that

Ryan

Yeah, I 100% agree with you. I always feel my best when I’ve had a night out with friends and that to find that out with Friends and family and just fills my cup. So yeah, I’m right with you on that. Definitely. I’ve got one last question for y’all. I told you this time would fly. I’ve got one last question for you, then we’re gonna wrap up with you telling everyone how they can connect with you. So my last question, just want to buy habits, just give us a sneak peek into some of your pillar habits that you rely on every day.

Allison

So my pillar habits, I would say, well, from a concrete perspective, I tried to use a lot of herbs like fresh herbs and cooking because the fresh herbs have a lot of volatile oils that are cleansing to the body. So that’s just like a concrete kind of more physical habit that I use. And then another habit is really just making sure that I can act and I do try to connect in a good way with people that I love at least once a day. You know, if I just It means a lot to me, even if it’s just a quick, you know, rubbing my son back as he falls asleep or saying a prayer or doing something that is a connection point with someone that I love. I try to do that every day.

Ryan

You made me think of one other question. And then we’ll wrap up. I’m just curious. This is just more from my curiosity. What does a functional medicine doctor have for Thanksgiving? Like what is your Thanksgiving spread? I’m just super, super curious.

Allison

Honestly, I am totally open to people finding joy in their food. And so I think Thanksgiving is such a beautiful holiday. So I say eat whatever you want and Thanksgiving we ever. But in general, you know, in general, we tried to go for the whole stuff, the whole foods and turkeys fine and vegetables are great at this. In a perfect world, right? It would be like whole grains instead of pasta or things like that. But now we’re. I think that finding joy in your food is so important and enjoyable and I always tell my patients and like these are foods that would be great if you could integrate. But before you do that, Oh, me too food you genuinely enjoy eating. You have to derive joy from the process.

Ryan

Perfect, perfect. All right, Ali, this was great. If someone wants to connect with you, where should we send them?

Allison

So my website is glow on dot health. And also if you Google Dr. Allison page, I’m two L’s and a y. You can find me but my practice is called glow on

Ryan

glow on dot health. Perfect. Thanks, Ali. Thank you.

Announcer

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