Sober Curious with Meg Gerber, RD: How Drinking Less & With Intention Served Her Entrepreneur & Autoimmune Journey

[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Abby, a functional dietitian and gut health expert. Hi, I'm Jillian, a

[00:00:05] functional dietitian that specializes in women's health and hormones. And this is

[00:00:10] Your Body Has Your Back Podcast. Together we have over 20 years of experience

[00:00:16] supporting clients in healing their gut and hormone symptoms and guiding them

[00:00:20] from overwhelmed to ease in their body. We help clients reconnect with their body

[00:00:24] and transform their lives using targeted nutrition, lifestyle and supplement

[00:00:28] therapies. Finding optimal health in our modern chaotic world is more challenging

[00:00:32] than ever and now it's our mission to provide you with the tools you need to

[00:00:37] strengthen your relationship with your body to resolve your gut and hormone

[00:00:40] symptoms and become your greatest health advocate. Join us for honest, inspiring

[00:00:44] and offbeat conversations on health that will lead you feeling empowered to

[00:00:48] take action so that you can trust your body has your back.

[00:00:58] Today we have Meg Gerber back with us on the podcast as a guest to talk about how

[00:01:10] drinking less alcohol and mocktailing more has served her entrepreneur in

[00:01:15] autoimmune journey. Meg is an integrated functional dietitian that specializes

[00:01:19] in gut health and she is also the co-founder of Juge Bitter's. Some of you might

[00:01:25] remember Meg from season two where she joined us to talk all about the amazing

[00:01:29] benefits of breathwork and we are so so excited to have Meg back on the podcast

[00:01:34] today to talk about her journey with being sober curious. Welcome Meg. Thanks ladies

[00:01:41] I love being here. Thank you. We're so excited to have you

[00:01:46] and I know you kind of gave us some of your intro of your story when you joined

[00:01:51] us last but we were really just trying to talk about breathwork and this is

[00:01:54] like a whole nother, it's almost like whole nother new dimension. So we want to

[00:01:58] kind of intro with like tell us about your healing journey especially around

[00:02:02] your curiosity and exploration with alcohol and how that has shaped so much of

[00:02:08] your healing, your social life, your career which we're going to talk a ton

[00:02:12] about which we're so excited. Tell us a little bit about like that whole

[00:02:16] development. Yeah so I feel like I had the very alcoholic college experience

[00:02:24] where I actually was diagnosed with celiac in college which I think I talked

[00:02:29] about on the last podcast but didn't go into as much detail as around the

[00:02:33] alcohol journey which was really robust at that point in my life. That was

[00:02:38] an authority, I just really valued my social life. I built a lot of my

[00:02:43] relationships and my social life around drinking and so I really didn't put

[00:02:49] two and two together in terms of how my gut health was affected by my drinking

[00:02:53] habits until honestly much later into my 20s but for many years after college

[00:02:59] I was still what I call booze-hounding just like going out multiple nights a week

[00:03:04] drinking like throughout the day all day long on weekends with friends and so

[00:03:09] for me I always was like I never felt like it was a problem because I was

[00:03:14] always the drinker and social environment so I was never the drinker alone but

[00:03:18] I definitely looked back on it and feel like oh interesting. I definitely had

[00:03:23] kind of rose-colored glasses about my experience and relationship to alcohol and

[00:03:27] had some opportunity to like really look at that a bit more curiously so for

[00:03:32] me initially I started to pull back on alcohol more like mid to late 20s

[00:03:39] mainly because I felt like I was looking around at my friends and looking at

[00:03:43] their hangovers and feeling like wow my hangover is just like on a different

[00:03:47] level than these people. Like I really suffer and it's like days after and it's

[00:03:53] the brain fog and it's just like it really tended to pull me down and as I became

[00:03:59] a bit more aware I was looking at all of these other things I was doing in my

[00:04:03] life when it came to at that point in time working with a functional medicine

[00:04:07] doctor going to acupuncture starting to have a relationship in a journey with

[00:04:12] breath having a deeper experience and trust in yoga and it felt like alcohol was

[00:04:17] like the one thing that everything else was just like compensating for or I had

[00:04:22] to overcompensate for and it was just mismatched with kind of all of the other

[00:04:28] value stances I had around my health but I think different than maybe some people

[00:04:34] when it comes to a sober curiosity journey my journey felt like kind of long

[00:04:39] and hard and emotional. I did a lot of work behind closed doors in therapy in

[00:04:45] my own self-awareness practice in meditation with really looking at why it was so

[00:04:50] hard for me to reduce it and or let it go and or take breaks like I had such a

[00:04:56] deep story around you are less cool you are less fun you are less

[00:05:01] dateable you ultimately have less value in the world if you're not the fun

[00:05:06] pretty girl and it sounds silly to say out loud now because my relationship with

[00:05:11] not with and now is so different but at that point in time it was so just

[00:05:16] intertwined with my lifestyle and I was single on living in Boston and I just

[00:05:20] like wanted to be loved and accepted and there was also just some embedment in

[00:05:28] terms of like deep relationships and friendships in my life and that was

[00:05:31] like alcohol was like really how we connected and so there was definitely some

[00:05:36] shame there in terms of like comments that other people would make when I was

[00:05:41] choosing to make certain shifts and I really found later that when I started

[00:05:47] to do the internal work around what's my story and relationship with alcohol and

[00:05:54] who is Meg when alcohol is either away less I'm showing up in a more aligned

[00:05:58] way with what I want it to be in my life that's when the ripple effect of that

[00:06:04] energy is felt by the people around me and so initially it was a blame game

[00:06:08] of like oh well these people are making these comments and that's why it's so

[00:06:11] hard for me to let go of and then I started to realize as we all do at these points

[00:06:16] in our lives where really the answers lie within the work lies within and it

[00:06:21] was about my story of rewriting like I am a vibrantly fun like worthy woman

[00:06:28] without alcohol or with less of it and it just took me a long time to get

[00:06:32] there it was not in full transparency like an easy overnight or even a one

[00:06:38] year like surrender it took time and for me I think because with Celiac I had

[00:06:45] to put such hard lines in the sand with gluten what also hasn't felt good for

[00:06:50] me is other like all or nothing approaches to health it just tends to you

[00:06:57] know I think any of us who have had health journeys sometimes when it's like

[00:07:00] overly hypervigilant it just adds to the stress emotionally and mentally so

[00:07:05] for me living in the and space and right now still living in the and space

[00:07:10] without alcohol feels really good but the way I'm showing up with it differently

[00:07:15] is really really looking at what you I want from a sovereign place what do I

[00:07:20] choose without anybody else in my environment influencing that decision do

[00:07:25] I want to have a drink in this experience for me and only me in my body and

[00:07:31] what aligns with me now is none of that like drinking to get drunk that I used

[00:07:36] to do in the past it's really more the culinary enjoyment of like the glass

[00:07:40] of wine with a special dinner or when I'm traveling and taking in that

[00:07:45] experience as part of like a joy making practice because it did feel like kind

[00:07:50] of a joy making piece of my life would disappear with totally eradicating it

[00:07:54] that being said I think that really serves a lot of people some people it's

[00:07:59] harder to live in the and space like I know we have clients like this in the

[00:08:03] nutrition space where sometimes giving them a little bit just makes it so

[00:08:06] they want a lot and so knowing yourself in this I think is important because

[00:08:10] for me being in the and feels really nourishing and feels good and it allows

[00:08:15] me to come to it from a place of mindfulness and presence and just like

[00:08:19] connecting with myself but I also honor that that might not make sense for

[00:08:23] everybody and there's also been points in my journey where I have had like

[00:08:27] full hard stops on it for months at a time and I I think it's useful to look

[00:08:32] at short term goals with that instead of being like okay I stopped and now

[00:08:35] it's forever gone because again that just like builds that sometimes hypervigilant

[00:08:39] pressure I feel like it sounds so much to like as you went through your journey

[00:08:43] it became like less about the alcohol and like more about like who is Meg and

[00:08:49] who do you want to be and like what you know really tapping into like how do I

[00:08:54] show up in the world and like what are the tools that I'm like using or not

[00:08:57] using to in order to like enrich my showing up like I feel like it's like and isn't

[00:09:02] that with so many things that we see with like clients and at our own experiences

[00:09:05] that it's like sometimes the thing that we're like I need to stop doing or

[00:09:09] need to start doing you're like is it actually about that thing or is it more

[00:09:12] about like my relationship to like myself in that expression of that thing

[00:09:17] and I feel like alcohol is like firm a lot of people and definitely in your

[00:09:20] story and I think I could even say it in my story is like more questioning of

[00:09:25] that like why and like helping to pull the answer from myself and and rebuild

[00:09:31] that like relationship whatever it might be with like that alcohol.

[00:09:35] Yeah 100% and I think specifically for me and dating looking back I think a

[00:09:41] lot of my struggles in my 20s were around showing up on dates pretending to

[00:09:46] be this like girl who likes to drink and party even though deep down I was

[00:09:51] like this isn't serving me this is making me feel like crap for days this

[00:09:55] doesn't align with my health values but I was still trying to like develop the

[00:10:00] confidence in that and therefore though that in the authenticity that I was

[00:10:05] showing up with made it so I wasn't drawing in the right people obviously

[00:10:09] from an authenticity standpoint because it's like you really magnetize what

[00:10:13] you truly truly want in your heart when you are like owning that that part of

[00:10:17] yourself. So what I just hold a lot of space for is you know people and my

[00:10:23] clients who find a lot of struggle with this because I think if you're

[00:10:26] having an editor you have a social circle surrounding it is hard to just kind

[00:10:31] of assert your own confidence in it by yourself.

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[00:11:17] 100% and I'm thinking honestly about you know current clients in you know my

[00:11:22] practice past clients and you know just how you hit the nail on the head with

[00:11:26] the misalignment that you know a lot of people in their 20s might feel as there

[00:11:31] may be starting to make changes to improve their health say you know we're

[00:11:36] working with a client and they're working on their nutrition and they're

[00:11:39] developing you know mindfulness practices and working on you know sleep and

[00:11:44] circadian rhythms and you know I've seen a lot of frustration in women I've

[00:11:48] worked with where they experience that that misalignment and feel really like

[00:11:53] there's stuck between a rock in a hard place where you know they've identified

[00:11:57] that the habits around alcohol aren't necessarily serving them and not

[00:12:02] misalignment internally does not feel good but I do think there are a lot of

[00:12:06] challenges when the social norm is you know everything is built around

[00:12:11] alcohol and I'm curious if you have any tips for our listeners that this might

[00:12:16] be resonating with them in terms of like yeah this you know I've been feeling

[00:12:20] this and I want to explore this more but all my friends do is day drink and go

[00:12:25] to the bar and everything surrounds alcohol. Yeah I love what you said one thing

[00:12:30] I want to add to it that I think is kind of relevant here because I think

[00:12:33] this is just like it's a little brain blow-up bee to think about it's alcohol is

[00:12:38] really the one drug that people shame you if you're not doing it and it is like

[00:12:44] you watch any show on TV it's it's just part of the culture and so it really

[00:12:50] adds this crazy level of difficulty to go against so just to normalize that

[00:12:56] this isn't always an overnight thing but I mean my number one tool and tip and

[00:13:01] this is really what led me to launching Shosh is have a replacement because if

[00:13:07] you're just thinking about drinking less or not drinking at all and your

[00:13:11] choice is just water it feels so boring or it feels just like like I want

[00:13:18] something to like in one of the little like yummy I mean even before we got on

[00:13:22] the call we were talking about like less caffeine and Abby and it's like I was

[00:13:26] like oh like this herbal latte like tea latte because we all just like want

[00:13:30] replacements for these rituals that like bring us joy in life so I think it's

[00:13:34] so important to have something as an option so it's not just water or air as

[00:13:39] your choice that you have to pick but I also think from the mindfulness standpoint

[00:13:46] I think it can be really cool to approach this again from curiosity by simply

[00:13:51] writing down like in a journal or internally thinking in a meditation what do I

[00:13:56] want like if none of this was bad wrong judged like exiled like if people weren't

[00:14:05] gonna exile me or you know my brain wasn't telling me that what do I want

[00:14:10] like what do I actually want in my relationship with alcohol so I have an

[00:14:14] any of my clients listening are probably laughing because I have them write a letter

[00:14:17] to alcohol often in our journey together if this is like part of the container

[00:14:22] that we're working with especially if we're in deep gut repair and I'm like oh

[00:14:25] we might want to just look at sort of the role that that's playing and I think it

[00:14:29] can be interesting to personify it and look at like what are the emotions

[00:14:34] associated what has the journey looked like up until this point what do you

[00:14:39] want it to look like what would your ideal relationship with this personified

[00:14:44] alcohol look like because I don't ever want to put words in somebody's mouth

[00:14:48] it's really cool and beautiful to see what my clients come back with because

[00:14:52] sometimes they're just like I realize it like literally doesn't matter to me

[00:14:56] at all or I realize that like I just care about it on a holiday or I do care

[00:15:01] about having it with my partner in this these once in a blue medication so I

[00:15:04] think just that is helpful because I think that many times without the thought

[00:15:10] provoking awareness moments we have this inclination to just be like oh I can't

[00:15:14] do that oh like that feels weird I don't want to think about that and just kind of

[00:15:17] like move past it and I think that curiosity places a beautiful space to live

[00:15:23] in and then in addition once you make that like choice of what feels good for

[00:15:29] you going forward I think it's helpful to have an accountability partner and

[00:15:33] that doesn't mean your accountability partner has to be you know someone who's

[00:15:38] also not drinking with you or whatever it could be but I think just voicing it

[00:15:43] naming it our words are powerful our words really make a difference in a

[00:15:46] shift in our lives which I know you guys are like fully aligned with and just

[00:15:50] speaking that to that person about like what is feeling good and aligned and

[00:15:54] what are you proclaiming and commanding in terms of even the next month and I

[00:15:59] guess that would be my last tip start short term like just jump out off more than

[00:16:03] you can to look at a goal that feels good for you in the short term I love all of

[00:16:08] those tips that you just shared and I think particularly with the last one too

[00:16:11] it's like you know letting your people in on what you're doing almost and I

[00:16:16] feel like I talk about this in other contexts even if it's like you know

[00:16:20] exploring a gluten elimination you know we don't have to like keep it a secret

[00:16:24] and you know be all close lip about it and it just creates this like stress and

[00:16:28] turmoil and we think people are judging us and we're a burden and so I I just

[00:16:32] love that you mentioned that because I think even just you know Abby and I

[00:16:35] had a conversation like this down in Charleston when she was here a couple

[00:16:38] weeks ago just talking about talking about it with a friend or you know

[00:16:42] someone you trust to let them know what you're experimenting with what you're

[00:16:45] getting curious about I just I love that tip so much yeah because there's so

[00:16:49] many people who feel like you do I think that like that we forget that

[00:16:53] there was some me my saw where it was like a group of women out at a dinner and

[00:16:57] everyone has like a thought bubble and they're all like I don't want to drink

[00:17:01] because blah I'm pregnant like different reasons that they like don't feel

[00:17:04] like drinking but everyone's sitting there with a cocktail feeling like because

[00:17:08] of that you know like mentality of the group that they all have to be drinking

[00:17:14] and so I do think there's a lot of power in just sharing with people like

[00:17:19] actually this is how I'm feeling right now how are you feeling just again like

[00:17:22] that space of like lightness and curiosity I think can be really supportive

[00:17:26] versus like adding a layer of heaviness to this where it's like oh god this is

[00:17:29] all or nothing and we just need to judge ourselves and judge the people around us

[00:17:33] and I think that word curious like allows I think sometimes we feel like in

[00:17:37] order to say something like out loud it's like we have to have like the solution

[00:17:41] we have to have the answer we have to have it like tied with a bow and it's like

[00:17:44] if we say it then it's like okay like I'm you know I think that's like the

[00:17:48] the term sober curious is like it allows for this like question period and

[00:17:52] this like shifts in your relationship that like does it mean that you're not

[00:17:56] drinking like maybe yes maybe no that's like a personal you know that's your own

[00:18:01] personal like curiosity and journey with it and your like relationship is allowed

[00:18:07] to like ebb and flow and grow and shift and all of that and it's like what kind

[00:18:11] of saying it out loud it's like yeah then you get to hear like where other people

[00:18:14] are at with things and I feel like yeah down in Charleston we were talking

[00:18:18] because I'm definitely in like a curiosity like place of like anywhere you know

[00:18:23] I do love to have like a glass of wine or like a fun cocktail but it's like more

[00:18:27] than two and I'm like my like the recovery the next day like all of that like

[00:18:32] it just feels terrible and I'm like what am I doing like I'm all about you know

[00:18:36] in that one set of life like just like you that kind of like the two worlds are

[00:18:39] like very misaligned and so that kind of like curiosity but allowing for it's like I'm

[00:18:46] allowed to like choose picking shoes like when I want to like exercise this and then

[00:18:50] kind of getting curious on the other side and I feel like this is like the rise of the mochelle

[00:18:55] and literally whenever I think of mochelle I think of you Meg and like especially

[00:19:00] yeah I'm like much I'm like oh Meg and judge is like the very next thing that I think so like

[00:19:06] you and your partner Alex like truly leaning into this like kind of new phase of exploration

[00:19:13] like Foundage judge which is this amazing bitters company to really bring like a playfulness

[00:19:21] to I mean not only a like medicinal quality which like we're gonna get into because it's

[00:19:25] like so cool but in a whole another side is like this like playfulness this interesting this

[00:19:31] like complexity to mochtails where sometimes they can be like so sugary or really boring or

[00:19:38] just like water or like a club soda and you're like oh this is like isn't fun they can bring

[00:19:43] like this funness to it so tell us a little bit about like let's intro judge like what is judge

[00:19:49] what does it mean because it's such a fun name and and let's talk more about like this like kind of

[00:19:54] like playfulness of the mochtail yeah I love that you're saying that because I feel like

[00:19:59] I'm typically talking about the science but there's like the big sober curiosity piece to judge so

[00:20:04] judge is a digestive bitters at its baseline but it's mainly designed for mochtails you also can use

[00:20:10] it for cocktails and it is designed to enhance digestive secretions blood sugar support liver

[00:20:18] support which I know we'll get into but on the other side of the coin it's really meant to give

[00:20:23] you back that joy making practice of social drinking and for me that was a big reason for the

[00:20:28] launch of it I in full transparency a big way that I stay social so when I first moved to Austin

[00:20:36] I was single at the time and I was oftentimes just having girlfriends and friends over for dinner

[00:20:42] and I would do mochtails all the time because I was like I don't typically serve alcohol when

[00:20:48] I'm having people like during the week I dinner at my house but it's just this fun practice where

[00:20:53] you get the creative juices flowing and Alex my partner is definitely very creative super creative in

[00:20:59] the kitchen and we both have that alignment of like kind of wanting to give people that like fun

[00:21:05] little you know like try a little of this taste and see like what do you like of course we give

[00:21:10] people guidance on like how much you could use in your mochtail but it's really meant to get some

[00:21:14] of those like juices flowing for lack of better words of like put a splash of juice or try like

[00:21:20] we've been trying we've been loving bergamot fruit squeezed into our mochtails which literally

[00:21:25] has the taste of like you think of Earl Grey bergamot but I just didn't even know that like

[00:21:30] that citrus has that strong of a taste so we've been experimenting with that with the lemon and

[00:21:35] the cran viscous in like bubbly water and it's been super yummy and it's it's just an interesting

[00:21:40] botanical experience that doesn't come with that blood sugar bomb feeling where you feel like

[00:21:46] you're riding a roller coaster but also not just straight up water it's like oh this is something

[00:21:51] interesting and an experience that I'm having but it's not you know again it's just so an alignment

[00:21:57] with my health values and supporting my body versus taking away and I think that's where I got

[00:22:03] with my alcohol journey even as I started to drink less I felt like you know many times it was kind

[00:22:08] of taking away from me or stripping me and once I was in a rhythm in my late 20s of like

[00:22:14] drinking a fair amount less I still actually felt like it was stripping me from a mental emotional

[00:22:20] standpoint like I would call it the anxiety the next day like it just without for lack of better words

[00:22:27] I felt that shift in my vibration from it where like especially those of us in the entrepreneur space

[00:22:33] like you know what I'm talking about where it's like we want to be creating we want to be manifesting

[00:22:37] we want to be calling people in we want to be magnets for people and I would just feel that shift

[00:22:42] the day after even with like two drinks for me I just was like ugh like I'm vibrating lower

[00:22:49] and so that's where like the pivot really happened for me of like it just you know it's a small

[00:22:56] facet of my life now whereas you know judge it's well it's not a psychoactive product by any means

[00:23:03] it definitely enhances that like joy making enjoyment as well as you know we're not marketing it

[00:23:09] as a supplement in my opinion but we've just had so many people organically reach out to us about

[00:23:15] the benefits from bloating which like we all know I mean bitters have been like an OG in the

[00:23:20] functional space for so long so I like to think about like really trying to make them fun and cool

[00:23:24] again because for us it's an easy sell but I don't know that like everyone just like the typical

[00:23:30] person knows how amazing bitters are and how much they're just like a game to enter for health.

[00:23:40] When it comes to supporting gut health in hormones balancing blood sugar is step number one

[00:23:45] the foundations for supporting blood sugar balance that we discuss extensively on the podcast

[00:23:49] are an amazing place to start but everyone is unique and really responds differently to nutrition

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[00:24:33] show notes to enjoy $30 off your order. I was going to even ask you we've talked about bitters

[00:24:42] you know through throughout various episodes on the podcast but for you know any new listeners

[00:24:47] who might not even know what the heck we're talking about with digestive bitters would you maybe

[00:24:51] even take a step back and tell people like what digestive bitters are and also maybe even you know

[00:24:58] kind of the other angle of what led you to create juice in terms of the actual product itself

[00:25:04] in like the quality of those pieces which I just think is so fascinating. Totally and apologies

[00:25:08] because yeah I didn't get into the specifics enough it's basically an infusion of bitter herbs and

[00:25:13] plants so added like baseline it's an infusion so typically infused in alcohol we use a non-GMO

[00:25:22] organic actually local vodka from Austin that they source from natural mineral springs nearby

[00:25:30] so there are some products that use like a glycerin base for example we're experimenting with

[00:25:35] that we don't find that it's as high potency and we really like that like strong potent flavor

[00:25:41] so it's any number or any blend of bitter herbs and plants for me I've been using bitters

[00:25:47] for a number of years now and really found them early in my celiac journey because any of us

[00:25:52] dealing with autoimmune commonly we just deal with more intestinal damage especially small intestine

[00:25:58] where you have that brush border enzyme output and I just felt like bitters were my dirty little

[00:26:03] secret like I know that my friends remember me living in Boston like spritzing bitters in my mouth

[00:26:08] and we would go out to dinner at like Lincoln and Southy so it's been a big part of my life but what I

[00:26:14] didn't love or where I felt like almost like the customer of Naujaj is not there really aren't any

[00:26:21] I still don't know of any celiac save tested for blue and bitters on the market and so I was

[00:26:28] reaching out to companies and like double triple checking and like testing things on my own to just

[00:26:32] be like is this safe for me but I really wanted to create something that I could stand by like as someone

[00:26:37] who has worked with celiac disease like is this measurably less than five parts per million which is

[00:26:44] like even steeper of rigorous guidelines compared to like the FDA which is 20 parts per million I

[00:26:50] just wanted to be extra super safe and careful just so that people could have a level of safety and

[00:26:55] peace with the product along with free of mycotoxins along with testing for pesticides organic

[00:27:01] ingredients or saying that obviously is something that's a huge value of mine that I stand by in

[00:27:06] terms of like what we're getting in a product and then in addition I think if people are familiar

[00:27:11] with bitters they're probably familiar with the old-school brands like Ingo Stara that are on

[00:27:15] like a bar back and if you actually look at those ingredients they're crappy for lack of better words

[00:27:21] so they're like caramel color they usually add artificial colors and flavors and then oftentimes

[00:27:27] the actual bitter component like I'm thinking of Ingo Stara in particular not to pick on them

[00:27:32] that they just have gentian and then everything else is just like filler weird ingredients we wanted

[00:27:36] something that's like it's a digestive bitter because it is an infusion of bitter herbs and plants

[00:27:41] and that's all it is one exception to that is the lemon flavor has some manuka honey in it we wanted

[00:27:47] sort of a bridge flavor that could be like a little hint of sweet fruit anybody who's new to the

[00:27:52] bitters world which bitters are bitter so I have had a lot of people who are new to bitters be like oh well

[00:27:59] that is bitter like that's potent yes it is and there's good reason for it because we have the

[00:28:04] most receptors for bitter lining our GI tract in terms of like triggering that digestive motility

[00:28:10] which is why it just has so many beautiful outcomes especially if you're like me in a big part of my

[00:28:15] healing journey has been like constipation and bioplow issues and like stagnancy in the digestive

[00:28:20] tract so yeah many reasons for sort of like some of the value stances behind the flavors and then

[00:28:28] each flavor has a little bit you know they're all great for digestive secretion enhancement but

[00:28:34] they each have like a little bit of an added benefit so like the oranges richer in

[00:28:40] carminidives like cardamom like ginger so I think of the orange like the real classic like someone who

[00:28:47] needs motility constipation blow acid reflux support like that is like the go-to digestive formula

[00:28:53] in my opinion whereas the crembiscus which is our most popular flavor is the most polyphenol dense

[00:29:01] so I think of that as like more so kind of the gut repair restoration flavor in terms of like

[00:29:06] that antioxidant polyphenol compound component and then the lemon is richest in liberty

[00:29:13] toxin herb so things like milk this will dandelion so someone who say has like estrogen dominance

[00:29:19] and is working with like a little bit more of like let's get the liver some love not would be

[00:29:24] the formula that I would go to and they're all so good and so fun to play with and then now knowing

[00:29:30] that other layer that you're like oh I'm playing with these fun things but I'm also doing like

[00:29:35] really deep work in my like supportive liver my like moving of detox pathways my gut motility

[00:29:41] like feeding a my gut bacteria like all of that and that there are there's not that many things

[00:29:47] I think that we can like say it truly that bring this like joy this routine replacement this like

[00:29:55] serves so many things like all wrapped up into one which is like the coolest thing about

[00:29:59] bitters I feel like we could like this podcast is now brought to you by bitters and we will only talk

[00:30:03] about bitters moving forward yeah well it's so true because you know one thing I've been doing

[00:30:08] on our Instagram is a day in the life series because there's a lot of ways that you can use it I mean

[00:30:12] you can start your day with a little bit of warm lemon water and the lemon flavor is just a way

[00:30:17] to like set digestion up her success and create a ritual around it you can have a little bit on

[00:30:22] a spritz on your tongue before a meal is to help you with float say when you're eating out

[00:30:26] you also can add it to salad dressing so I love adding the lemon actually to salad dressing as

[00:30:31] like a little jajuj of bitter for a lot of matter words to just you know add to that component

[00:30:36] of health benefits and by the way so the word jaj I take full accountability for the name of the

[00:30:44] product because I've been saying for years in terms of like making mocktails and drinking less

[00:30:50] like I just want to judge this off I want to make it a little more fun and I would like add bitters

[00:30:54] to my drink add citrus add citrus peel add different herbs muddle berries muddle herbs and so in my

[00:31:01] mind just just means like make it better make it fun make it enjoyable enhance it and it's just

[00:31:07] has felt like a perfect name in terms of alignment with the brand.

[00:31:11] It's so perfect and it's it's just you know I feel excited I feel your energy just hearing

[00:31:17] you like you know talk about each of the products and you know Abby and I obviously is also being

[00:31:22] functional dietitians it's like we're just so excited like you know to be able to recommend

[00:31:27] these products so like wholeheartedly you know based on the quality how thoughtful the formulations

[00:31:33] are and and the fact that they're fun you know it's just like it's so cool and we are very very

[00:31:39] proud of you. It's funny when I was down in Charleston Jillian I were having a conversation we were

[00:31:45] like so how much bitters is too much bitters because like we're like we're asking for a friend asking

[00:31:50] for a friend because I similarly like we'll use bitters like all day long and I did I don't know

[00:31:56] actually if I told you Meg but I've been meaning to tell you it's like comes up again like right

[00:32:00] for him falling asleep and I'm like must tell her tomorrow I've been using like not only I'll put

[00:32:04] bitters into like a little like mocktail I usually have one in the middle of the day and then like

[00:32:09] one also like at my like kind of dinner time and because I feel like a mocktail in the midday I'm like

[00:32:13] oh it's fun and like edgy. That's what Alex does he's big on like the mid day like just add a

[00:32:20] little joy maker to the day. I love that especially when I'm like gonna sit down to like a couple

[00:32:24] clients in a row then I'm like okay like let's have you know an interesting drink along with my

[00:32:28] like water and my tea and all the other things but I've also been using bitters before every meal

[00:32:33] because I got I was wearing a blood glucose monitor the continued like a CGM and just seeing like

[00:32:39] there were you know some opportunities there and it massively improved my blood sugar. Oh my god

[00:32:46] you didn't tell me that. No I like have meaning to and it was just so cool and I felt like the more

[00:32:52] now I've just continued for it's probably been like three months and I pretty much used bitters

[00:32:57] before every single meal and it's like my digestion continues to improve like motility like all

[00:33:02] the things I'm like this stuff is just like magic and it's like so it feels like a simple tool

[00:33:10] which is nice and it feels like I'm like going back to like a like a basic foundation tool that

[00:33:15] just like I'm like and it's like natural and all the things so I thought that would be like

[00:33:19] so interesting to share. Oh my god that brings music to my ears I'm so happy thank you for sharing

[00:33:24] that. I mean it is quite broad spectrum I would say I'm mindful like and we have us on the FAQs

[00:33:32] that there are some people that I would say check with your doctor I wouldn't recommend better

[00:33:36] to just start on your own so for example it's actually wonderful for the person who probably has

[00:33:43] acid reflex because of things like low stomach acid but if you're far down the journey of acid

[00:33:48] reflex and you have like high ital hernia or you have like severe gastritis ulcerations going on

[00:33:53] I would check with your doctor I would say like betters would not be your your go-to remedy at

[00:33:58] that point in time it might just burn it more and then people with things like peptic ulcer disease

[00:34:03] so I'm just mindful of like that camp and someone who has had over gallstones so again it's like

[00:34:11] the people in that middle ground which is most people where there's bile sludge or slowed bile

[00:34:16] function or slowed detox pathways it's fabulous it is so supportive and it's preventative

[00:34:21] I'm like getting down the train of gallstones but if you've had over gallstones or you think you're

[00:34:25] going to be passing a stone I would recommend not doing betters for like the risk of that like you

[00:34:30] know potentially igniting something and then in addition so we're working on this year a pregnancy

[00:34:38] breastfeeding safe like approved formula I just always recommend because of that population and limited

[00:34:45] data and just like being the of the utmost careful check with your doctor before you two betters

[00:34:51] I would feel comfortable if I was pregnant having a dropperful in a mocktail but I just think it's

[00:34:58] important to like be super careful if you are pregnant like just you know check with doctor

[00:35:03] I love it there's like say yes so much so much that you can do and knowing that

[00:35:09] excited for those things like in the pipeline yeah yeah we'll keep you guys posted we're gonna be

[00:35:15] rolling out more flavors soon too we're working on a kick-how betters which is really fun

[00:35:20] so yeah just kind of expanding ways that we can incorporate more bitters when that's usually the

[00:35:25] food category that most people are the least used to which is why I think too we kind of see shifts

[00:35:31] and blood sugar so readily for people oh yeah so we have a discount code also that we'll be sharing

[00:35:39] as our kind of link in the show notes if you are now curious of like I want to get some judged

[00:35:44] my life and start judging up my mocktails and maybe like wearing that you know sober curious hat

[00:35:50] whatever that hat looks like this is very much the the nature of like this podcast conversation is

[00:35:55] to say like we all have an individual journey and wherever you are in it is like where you're at

[00:36:01] and where you're meant to be but these are some really wonderful tools that we want to you know introduce

[00:36:06] to you not only to support your health and you're gotten your hormones in so many ways but also to

[00:36:10] support that like curiosity more play I think like ultimately like we all just need more play 2024

[00:36:15] is like the year of play truly truly intention for the year and to wrap things up Meg could you two

[00:36:23] things one tell everyone where they can find your remind them where they can find you you know

[00:36:29] Instagram website all of that good stuff and then also if you have a go-to mocktail recipe using

[00:36:38] judge that you could share with our listeners that would be amazing yay so they can find us at

[00:36:44] livewithjuzge.com so it's just live with jiuj so you don't have to worry about the umat when

[00:36:50] you're typing anything and then we're at judge vitters on Instagram so jiuj vitters on Instagram

[00:36:57] would love to connect with all of you so my go-to does actually readily change and shift

[00:37:04] for the moment i'm really into splash of grapefruit splash of lime and cranberry and soda water

[00:37:11] like simple as that and usually a pinch of salt that sounds so delicious I was just thinking of my

[00:37:18] head if I have all of those things in my fridge right now to make that very simple I love it

[00:37:25] amazing well thank you again thanks ladies

[00:37:38] thank you for listening to the your body has your back podcast if you enjoyed today's podcast

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[00:37:55] tag us as you start to live out the your body has your back lifestyle we can't wait to see it

[00:38:00] if you're looking for more support on your gut and hormone healing journey connect with abbie and

[00:38:04] i over on instagram you can follow abbie at above health and yet you can follow me jillion at

[00:38:10] jillion greaves rd thank you and see you in the next episode