Ask Me Anything, National Podcast Day

In this episode of Beach Vibes Healing Lives Podcast, Dr. Stephanie Minter addresses the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in the Southeastern United States. She emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to health, focusing on prevention and wellness through integrating mind, body, and spirit. Dr. Minter, broadcasting from her office at Shoreline Integrative Health, also answers listener questions about the benefits of holistic practices, osteopathic manual therapy (OMT), and the need for nutritional supplements. She discusses the roles of physical movement, emotional processing, and nature connection in maintaining health, alongside the restorative power of probiotics and symbiotics after antibiotic use. The episode ends with recognizing Women in Medicine Month and a call for mindfulness and positive energy towards those affected by Helene. Dr. Minter encourages listeners to make every day a beach day despite hardships. #NationalPodcastDay

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Podcast Website: BeachVibesHealingLives
My Clinic Website: MyShorelineHealth.com

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to Beach Vibes Healing Lives Podcast. I am your host, Dr. Stephanie Minter, and I'm coming to you live today from my office at Shoreline Integrative Health. Today is National Podcast Day and I have just such a wonderful series of questions to answer for you and some things to talk about after, um, Helene has come through and affected our community greatly.

So, Thank you for being here. Without further ado, let's dive in. 

All right, you guys, I have a series of questions here, and I think I'd like to start first just by saying, I recognize that there's so much going on in our community right now. So much going on in the Southeastern United States.  In general, there is a lot of loss and grief.  and environmental changes that have happened as a result of Hurricane Helene.

So I want to take a moment and just say I  have been speechless. I have been in shock. I have had something like survivor's guilt going on. My hometown of Anna Maria Island and Bradenton Beach has just been decimated by storm surge, um, you know, buildings moved off their foundations,  sand that is, you know, chest deep in certain areas.

People have lost a lot of their homes, their vacation spots, um, but it's my childhood home. It's where I grew up. It's how I became a beach kid. So,  You know, I have just sat in,  not silence, but just observation of everything that people are going through. Um, my folks came down from North Carolina, and if you've seen the news or watched any of those reels, you know that North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, even parts of Tennessee have been affected.

And there's just, you know, a hellscape left by Helene. I just want you to know that I think about all of you, and I, my heart goes out to everybody. And, you know, in ways I thought maybe this podcast wasn't in good taste, um, but I also thought it was a great idea to keep hope alive and keep moving forward.

So we're doing this today. It is National Podcast Day, and as a way of Bringing to life, um, the two entities that I have, this podcast that I do from home, and the, and the things I do here in my office for patients. I wanted to really bring them together in a way to celebrate. And why, what a better day than National Podcast Day. 

So let's get started. I have a handful of questions here. Um, I think the first one I should go to is, How does the holistic approach emphasize prevention and wellness?  Well, I think one of the greatest criticisms I have for medicine these days is that our system is really based on reactive care or sick care.

And, um, part of that really is due to the third party payer system and how much of the medical arts have been limited by insurance companies.  That's a whole other bucket to get into. But the holistic approach really emphasizes prevention and wellness.  And I think  The last time anyone really got a good nutrition lecture or biology education or any of those bits of information that are going to help you be a better,  more conscious, driven, and  mindful human were probably way back in high school.

Um, those of us that went to college got maybe some additional biology classes or if you intentionally  additional education because of your career path, then you potentially know a lot more than the average human walking around today. And I think as physicians or anyone really in the medical field takes that for granted somewhat.

We forget what people don't know. And so this holistic approach  Isn't a new concept. This is sort of the foundation of my practice is to blend the philosophies of Eastern traditional practices with this modern Western medical model. And so we're blending East and West, and we're saying, you know, take care of yourself.

Exercise, eat well, um, get good sleep. All of these things really are about prevention. Um, wellness in general comes from an intentional practice of choosing good things.  So let me talk a little bit about that. I like to simplify the practice. Sometimes all of this information gets way too overwhelming for people to manage individually. 

So I started Shoreline Integrative Health after really being inspired by a particular quote. And that quote is, The cure for anything is saltwater, sweat, tears, or the sea.  And I know, ironically, that's a little  hard to hear right now after all of the devastation caused by so much storm surge and water.

But it helps to really simplify everything. So when I say sweat, tears, or the sea, I mean you have to move your body. You have to deal with the emotions that are trapped inside and the thoughts that take up space in your brain. And you have to get outside and commune with nature.  And I think right now we're noticing that, you know, nature is so powerful and has a way of humbling us.

And But it also has a way of grounding you. And I would argue that if we spent more time outside in nature, we might make better choices about our environment and about what's happening with our use of, you know, non reusable elements in the convenience of our lives. I argue that if you. can put yourself in parallel with nature.

If you can remember that you are a natural being, that you are human, you're this organic structure walking around and breathing oxygen and excreting things you're, you're part of the ecosystem. And so I really want people to remember that and to reconnect with nature, whether that's taking a walk outside or, you know, forest bathing breathing some mountain air on a nice good hike. 

Certainly, swimming in the sea is what I prefer to do. That's sort of my basis for grounding, and that's partly because I grew up on the beach, right? So, it is sort of what you're drawn to, but your body, your personal ecosystem needs that. And so, this holistic approach is about mind body spirit, right? Mind body spirit.

We hear this over and over again in different entities. Different modalities, whether it's, you know, Buddhist practices or yoga or any of these types of Eastern traditional health based preventive practices. But this is a discipline. This is not something that we do, you know, as a, as a, A day out or a weekend activity.

This is something that you commit to. This is something that you integrate into your life daily as a practice. This is, this is part of your life.  The other parts of that were tears, right? Tears. Salty tears. I, listen, this weekend I have shed so many tears for my community, for my family, for Just the entire Southeastern United States and everything else that's happening.

overseas and man, uh, as an empath, it's really just kind of hit me hard. So  what I mean is you have to process the thoughts that you're having in your mind and the emotions that you're feeling.  I want you to. really embrace sitting with those feelings and not stuffing them down and not ignoring them and not trying to dismiss what you feel. 

I think a lot of people are going to be feeling grief right now. Grief and loss is big right now. And I tell people, In my talks that I give and in the patients that I take care of,  emotion is really energy that needs motion. So when you're having these overwhelming feelings, when you're really sort of in this pit of despair, in this total sensation of grief and loss, You have to get in, move, move your body, move, let that energy of those emotions out.

Whether you go for a walk or whether you find a playlist that just really. It gets you moving, whether you just sort of sway back and forth you know, whether, whether you do a series of tapping maneuvers,  just get that energy moving. So emotion really is energy that needs motion. So get up and move. And that's really part of processing. 

What's overwhelming? What, what feelings are coming up that you haven't been able to control? And I'm not saying you need control. I'm saying you need a way to process. And sometimes just sitting with it and thinking it through, writing it out, journaling, talking with somebody, or movement. I think movement is such a key component in that.

And that brings me to the sweat portion of sweat, tears, or the sea. Movement is so important. I would venture to say that those people who stay active are the ones who live the longest. My grandmother, she's 103 years old, and she would tell you that the reason she has  had such a vibrant and long life is because she danced.

You know, she made that part of her life. That was an intentional commitment on her part, and all of us could do it. benefit from her experience and her recommendation to just keep moving. Use it or lose it, right? If you sit, it sticks. Your myofascia, the fascia  that wraps around your muscles, the fascia connections, the fascial lines, they need to move. 

To move. They need to get oxygen. They need access to new fresh vital proteins and enzymes that come from great blood flow. How do we get that? We move. So,  I'm just going to summarize this answer to this question. How does the holistic approach emphasize prevention and wellness? Well,  it's about addressing the mind body spirit.

It's about moving your body. It's about  Getting through the tough times, the emotions in a healthy way, and it's about addressing your environmental connections, your, your spirit, right? Your, what are you doing to support yourself? What does your support system look like?  So  in that way, we are being intentional about the things we do, about the things we think, about the foods we eat and how we move our bodies.

And over the long term, this Is the path to health and wellness.  If you're not there and you haven't been doing it and you need a program to help you get there,  then that's what we're here for. Honestly, that we created this practice to start  helping people move in the direction of health and wellness.

So  call the office, let me know if you want a console we're here, but just be intentional about how you move,  what you do with your emotions, and Are you getting outside and are you really connecting with nature? Those three things just start there, honestly. That's the foundation  for all of the things that I would do here in my practice for you, and those are my recommendations for everybody that I talk to. 

All right, good. Next question, you guys. This one is a good one, close to my heart. Can OMT or osteopathic manual therapy be used to treat a variety of conditions, or is it specifically for the musculoskeletal tissue?  It can definitely treat a variety of conditions, and I don't want to get too sciency and lose people, but let me start by saying yes, it does directly address the musculoskeletal tissue,  and I like to prioritize the fascia.

Again, I talked about fascia, this connective tissue that really is that system of tensegrity, this  connection throughout the musculoskeletal system. It is a connective tissue, but this is what helps give your body its structure and its function, right? You have all of different types of tissue, organ tissues, bone tissues, muscle tissues, nerve tissues, but this fascia is a very unique connective tissue and it helps with Structure.

It helps with function. It helps with hydration, but it also has this ability to help with communication to your neural system and the area of fascia that is the thickest is your lumbar spine. So I would venture to say that.  Lots of lumbar pain is due to fascia.  This area is full of neuronal cells, which means you get a lot more telephone lines directly to your brain signaling what is or isn't happening.

And I like to draw the metaphor that You know, average fascia is about the size of a three piece band. But the fascia that's in the lumbar spine is more like this grand symphony, right? You have all of these different components, all of these different layers, this thick, dense layer of fascia, and The sound is going to be louder.

The communication to your brain is going to be louder. And that's important because this part of your body is really a mobile part of your body, right? If you think about how much you move, how much you bend, how much you twist, standing, sitting, your lumbar spine really is that key component that helps with your mobility.

And it also protects your spinal cord, right? Important for all of your functions, including breathing which I would venture to say is Probably the second most important thing, outside of moving, is breathing. You have diaphragms, right? This diaphragm that sits underneath your lungs, kind of behind your ribs here, goes up and down and helps create different amounts of pressure in your thoracic, or your chest cavity here. 

Your thoracic cavity, and when the diaphragm moves, your lungs expand or contract, and the contraction part is really more passive. That actually happens more with the muscles that are in between your ribs, but breathing, inhaling, is the diaphragm really pulling down and creating negative pressure in this space.

And if your fascia is restricted, if the areas around the ribs and up underneath the ribcage and in the abdominal cavity are tight, then your diaphragm doesn't move very well. You don't have great extravasation there. There's no, uh, the bellows that is your diaphragm just is stuck and it's not moving very well.

So we use myofascial release to get in there and move. that fascia connection to get that released so that you can take deeper breaths, breathe deeper, oxygenate your tissue, get all that vital, uh, oxygen and nutrients into the bloodstream so it can be delivered to the rest of your tissue.  What other conditions can OMT treat?

Well,  there's lots of studies now that demonstrate  manipulation of fascia helps with some of your hormone and neurotransmitters.  So,  We know that OMT can modulate pain. We know that OMT can help with this sort of psychosomatic connection between emotions and trauma that's been stored in the body. We know that with relieving some of these restrictions, we've been able to treat things like headaches, TMJ relief with different pulmonary conditions, COPD, and asthma.

There is some extrapolation of information and some publications out there now that show OMT can help improve cardiac function by helping with the lymphatic system and moving some of that lymph throughout the system more efficiently. Also with increasing renal function or improving renal function, knowing that, again, we're sort of helping the body be more efficient with recycling different fluids in the body.

So there is so many conditions that OMT can help. Here in the office, I do most of the OMT for pre and post op  brain and spinal cord surgical patients. And so I help  with preparing the tissue going into surgery, helping it be as vital, as well perfused, as healthy as it can be going into the surgery, and then of course being here afterwards addressing post surgical recovery, making sure that the scar and the incision area doesn't create too many adhesions, making sure that we get rid of any metabolic waste, any stagnant limb that's been sitting around while people are in recovery, and helping to revitalize those muscle tissues, those connective tissues, and of course fascia.

So just know that OMT really is appropriate for a variety of conditions and not just those that are specific for the musculoskeletal tissue itself, not just the muscles. Not just the bones, but really, it's supporting all of the functions down to the cellular and microscopic levels, including hormones, neurotransmitters,  different enzymes and signaling molecules that help modulate pain, including the endocannabinoid system.

So anyone is on pain medications, even a, even a mild protocol, and people who are, utilizing medical THC or CBD,  OMT can help augment some of those therapies by improving the delivery and by  making the system more efficient. So I hope I was able to answer that question sufficiently. Thanks very much for asking because OMT is my favorite.

I am a DO. And before becoming a DO, I did massage therapy for eight or nine years. So hands on manipulation is Just near and dear to my heart and one of my great passions.  I have one question about supplements Do I recommend any brand of supplement or do I even recommend supplementing at all? That's a good question And I would venture to say that a lot of the American diet is deficient in nutrients Just because we only have so much soil to access and even though we do crop rotation and things like that There are  Signs of deficiencies, nutrient deficiencies in some of the foods that we eat, and especially if you're not eating a whole food or plant based diet, then you are definitely lacking a lot of nutrients.

If you're shopping from the aisles in the grocery store, buying the boxed foods, the processed foods, then supplementation is going to be very important for you. I recommend shopping the exterior of the grocery store, right? Just get in, go right, go right to the vegetables and fruit.  Deli area, all of that.

Go get your carrots, go get your broccoli, go get whatever apples, peaches, whatever's in season, right? Those, that's, that's why we have seasons because different food becomes available throughout the year.  When you can't eat those things, whether because of access, because of dietary restrictions, or because of anything GI going on, everybody is different, right?

So yes, supplements are going to be key for you, Especially as you reach your 30s, your 40s, your 50s, and beyond. Your body just metabolizes things differently, and supplementing is very important.  Some of the things that you might want to consider include B vitamins. B vitamins are great for health, uh, energy. 

The D vitamins is a fat soluble vitamin. So I recommend if you're going to take a D supplement that you take it with something fatty like peanut butter or avocado, something like that. healthy fat, maybe a little cheese, but definitely take your D with something some kind of healthy fat.  D is great for bones.

It's great for hormones. It's great for sleep. Uh, what else is out there? So many different kinds of supplements you could take. But here's what I would say. If you're looking for a particular brand or recommendation,  there are a few clinically  backed, third party  Verified companies out there that do make a really nice, consistent, predictable product, right?

I think that's my, my only caution to use. If you're buying something over the counter in the pharmacy or at the grocery store, even at a vitamin shop or GNC or wherever you go, a lot of these don't have any kind of third party verification. So the efficacy, the consistency of the product from batch to batch might be different.

You might be able to absorb one product better than you absorb another just because of their binders and things like that. I would say I have  pretty  good personal and clinical experience with two different supplement companies. One of them is called Standard Process and usually those Supplements you have access to via a clinical office, say like, um, an osteopathic practice or sometimes even chiropractic passes,  practices have access to standard process.

They are a whole food based supplement company and they have lots of third party verification research to  present the efficacy and the consistency of their products.  The other one is Designs for Health. Uh, this is a great clinically backed  nutrient, nutrient and supplement company. I have access to their products here in my office, so if anybody is wanting supplements through my practice, we would use the Designs for Health.

product.  I would say a lot of the physicians these days, especially those that are in, um, like a direct primary care or concierge practice, have also partnered with some of these companies to brand their own  supplements. So seek out your, your, your friendly neighborhood doctor and see really if they have any personal experience and what brands that they would recommend.

But those, those are kind of the two that I would say I could. Stand for from a clinical and professional,  um,  perspective. So that was a great question. Yes, I love supplements. If you can't get all of the vitamins and nutrients you need through foods, then supplements are your next best friend.  Always go with a third party reviewed or some, um, third party verified  So if you can find those, please send them to me.

I will be happy to review them and maybe do a second episode or continue to post here on the Facebook page about that sort of ongoing information.  Uh, this last one here, I want. To talk about briefly, but I, I love it so much that I'm actually going to do a whole other episode on this one. And this is rebuilding the microflora and microbiome after taking antibiotics.

Well, I know a lot of people out there are very concerned about taking antibiotics. They can eradicate all of your good. gut bacteria in addition to Serving their purpose and getting rid of all of the invasive and opportunistic bacteria I would say, you know, if you have a bacterial infection that is causing significant health consequences You are at risk, right?

You could potentially Become septic and sepsis is deadly. So please embrace the use of antibiotics when it is appropriate, right? Let's not overuse antibiotics. Let's not  create resistance. Let's be good stewards of the medicines that we have access to. But if you have to take an antibiotic. And when it's appropriate to do so, you are going to have some collateral damage, right?

You're, you're going to lose some of your natural gut flora because of the antibiotics. You're going to see changes in, uh, skin. You might have some  oral, uh, gingival changes. You might have GI changes, right? Diarrhea. You might have genitourinary  changes like a yeast infection or those sorts of what we would call  Um, you know, coinciding events with taking these medications.

They're not necessarily side effects, um, we kind of anticipate them. Uh, so how do you avoid  the severity of a potential, uh, experience with antibiotics?  The key is probiotics and synbiotics. And let me just tell you guys, this is such a big, huge subject that I don't think I can cover it all right now, but, um, The key is to start the probiotics or symbiotics before you start the antibiotic or with the antibiotic.

Don't wait until you've completed the entire course of antibiotic to say, Oh, this is bad. I need to replace my gut flora because yes, you do. We know that's going to happen. So get a multi strain. I think that's the key is to find a probiotic. That has multiple strains and some of these are Bifidobacteria, uh, Lactobacillus, just look for a nice good probiotic that has multiple strains of Good,  symbiotic,  synergistic bacteria. 

It's hard for me to say that there's any one particular product that is going to work for everybody. Because here's the key. Your gut bacteria, your gut flora, is a result of your environment. It's a result of your genetics. It's a result of your body. birth process. We're exposed to our first gut bacteria in the process of delivery.

And it's not ironic that my sister's going to be having a baby today. I'm so excited. Uh, but that's your first exposure. That's how you start the foundation of your GI.  microbiome, right? You have this little ecosystem inside of you that helps you break down foods. It helps, um, digest and break apart components.

It helps with absorption. It helps sometimes carry these nutrients across the lining of your bowel so that they can be reabsorbed. You have a great symbiotic relationship with these gut flora and these gut bacteria. So you do want to continually be restoring them if you can. But everybody's is so individual.

Like you got your first dose of gut flora from your mom during delivery. You then are exposed to different foods. Whatever region of the country or region of this world you grow up in,  your foods that you eat have some inherent bacteria in them. And so your GI tract is going to be an expression of your life growing up and everybody's GI tract, everybody's gut microbiome is going to be so unique to each individual person.

So it's hard for me to recommend one supplement for everybody, but I would say your best chances at restoring your gut flora are to find those supplements and those probiotics that have a variety of  gut flora strains, right?  You also want to look at fermented foods. Kampuchas, um,  sauerkraut, kimchi, those things that have all kinds of different fermented elements to them will introduce these sorts of healthy and symbiotic gut bacteria. 

Well, you guys, I promised to keep today's episode a little short. So it's, uh, we're getting to about 30 minutes here.  I just wanted to tell you everybody, I I'm so proud of all of my women physicians. This is the last day of women in medicine month. And so, you know,  thank you all of the lady docs that are out there being pioneers, um, and studying the female body.

As a woman in my mid 40s moving into perimenopause, I am so grateful that we are now focusing on studying the female body and the effects of estrogen and hormones. So you guys look for more podcast episodes coming up about that.  I just want to say,  You know, our coastlines have been devastated by the storm surge and the families and people that live there now will recover  maybe in your heart today, just because the beach is just so near and dear to me  sit  in a moment of mindfulness, really be intentional about. 

Visualizing our lovely, healthy, clean coastline again. Let's just really send some good, positive energy out there to everybody. Who's going to be recovering from a lean for months to come  and do your best to make every day  a beach day.  Thanks so much for joining me.  Have a great day.