
Paging the Doctor! | Dr. Will Cole
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Please note: This episode was recorded before the devastating fires hit Los Angeles and destroyed thousands of homes, including Ricki’s.
As a new year reset, Ricki is joined by functional medicine doctor, Dr. Will Cole, to answer all her pressing health questions. The two get to the bottom of seed oils, peptides and orthorexia, and talk through all the wellness trends you’re curious about.
You can find Dr. Will Cole on Instagram @drwillcole.
To learn more about his services and practice head to drwillcole.com.
And make sure to check out Will’s podcast, The Art of Being Well, where you may hear me as a guest on a future episode!
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Transcript
SPEAKERS
Ricki Lake, Dr. Will Cole, Stephanie Wittels Wachs
Stephanie Wittels Wachs 00:00
Hey, listeners, we wanted to let you know that this episode of The High Life was recorded before the devastating fires hit in Los Angeles. If you follow Ricki on social media, you know that her home was one of the 1000s that were destroyed at Lemonada, everyone’s thoughts are with Ricki and everyone affected by the fires.
Ricki Lake 00:22
This is The High Life with me, Ricki Lake, where we get to find out how my guests crack the code to living a full and vibrant life. So you can too. Now, as I get older, you know already that I’m really focused on my overall wellness for longevity, especially now that we’re in the new year, but navigating what it means to be healthy and how to get there can be really confusing, which is why I am super excited to have Dr. Will Cole on today’s episode. Now I’ve been following Dr. Will Cole personally for a long time. Now he is a practicing functional medicine doctor who works with patients to customize a plan for things like autoimmune conditions, hormonal imbalances, digestive disorders and so much more. He is also the host of his own podcast called The Art of Being Well, which I happen to love. And of course, the New York Times best selling author of Gut Feelings and the Inflammation Spectrum. Today’s episode is going to be really fun. He’s going to answer some of my medical questions and help me wade through popular health trends. Hi, Dr Will Cole.
Dr. Will Cole 01:20
Hey, Ricki Lake, thanks for having me on the pod.
Ricki Lake 01:23
I realize we’ve never met. I have been an admirer of yours, a follower of yours. And okay, before we start, I ask everyone who’s a guest on this show, where are you getting your highs from right now? What is bringing you joy?
Dr. Will Cole 01:37
That’s a great question. I would say a daily joy for me, hi, that is unlocking health puzzles for telehealth patients, is when you have to be a part of somebody’s health journey. Is such a sacred responsibility for me, and it never gets old. So that’s at the top of mine, because it just came out of a telehealth consult before we’re talking right now. And to serve people that are out of spinning their wheels they don’t have answers as to why they feel the way that they do. That’s a massive blessing for me. So I would say that.
Ricki Lake 02:10
I can imagine now you’re a functional medicine doctor. Can you describe to the listeners what that is and how you got into this line of work?
Dr. Will Cole 02:18
Yeah, so I was always interested in health and wellness and nutrition and all of like, that side of things. Growing up, my first job was at the finish line. Remember finish line at the selling shoes in high school?
Ricki Lake 02:31
Yeah, of course.
Dr. Will Cole 02:31
Yes it was like the they’re probably still around, like, Foot Locker. So I’m going way back, because I’m telling you, I used my paycheck at Foot Locker to go to the health food store and buy the latest super foods I’d read about. And this is in the 90s when it like biohacking wasn’t a thing. But I was like biohacking at that time, so I wanted to be formally trained in this. So I went to an integrative medicine school in Southern California, University of Health Sciences. And there were MDS and DCS and DOS and acupunctures, oriental medicine doctors all kind of learning, their their crafts, in health sciences. So to answer your question, more pointedly, that’s how I got here. But what functional medicine is? We’re looking at a tighter in functional medicine. We’re looking at, where does longevity reside, where does optimal where’s the body functioning the best. That’s where we get our name, functional medicine. So anybody that’s listening to this, when they get their labs, there’s this range that their number on their lab is being compared to, we get that reference range that that, quote, unquote, you know, normal range from a statistical bell curve, average of people who go to labs, but people that are predominantly going to labs, or people that aren’t at their optimal. So there’s a lot of people, especially women, that intuitively know like something’s off here, my brain fog, my fatigue, my hormonal symptom, whatever you’re talking about, is not normal, but they’re on these basic labs, they largely will come back, quote, unquote, normal and but it’s just they’re basically saying you’re a lot like the other people with health problems that we’re comparing you to. So it’s no way to for the person to find out why they feel the way they do. So we’re looking at optimal, not average, when it comes to labs, so we can get that person to the optimal range. The second thing is, we run more comprehensive labs, so we’re looking at underlying gut problems, environmental toxins, hormonal imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, chronic infection patterns, like viruses, biotoxins, like mold. Health history determines the labs we want to look at the stones, so to speak, that are most likely to have something underneath it. So we can get a picture as to the root causes of why people have health issues or aren’t living their best life. And then the third thing we realize everybody’s different, it’s bio individuality. So there’s not going to be a cookie cutter, one size fits all approach to getting healthy. So we use food as medicine. We use natural medicines, herbs, botanicals, things like this, mind, body. Practices, somatic practices, medications, when needed, other therapeutics. So we really want to look at what’s the most effective tools within that toolbox to move the needle in the positive direction.
Ricki Lake 05:14
You talk about these labs that you do so you don’t see your patients in person. It’s all virtual.
Dr. Will Cole 05:20
No, yeah, everything’s like we’re talking now, yeah, it’s all virtual. So I’m shipping, like, if it’s a blood test, it’s lab Corp request that’s typically is covered by insurance. We’re putting the proper diagnosis codes, and then we’re just sending out their acquisition form. And if there’s a stool test, they’re doing that at home. If it’s a urine saliva test, they’re doing at home. So yeah, we’re either coordinating with local labs in their hometown, or it’s a kit that we’re shipping to their house.
Ricki Lake 05:45
Okay? And what are you mostly testing for? It’s, I assume, cholesterol, right? Good fats.
Dr. Will Cole 05:50
Yeah, it’s health history is so informative to determine what labs are the most relevant, because I think that’s a accurate, potentially accurate, depending on who you’re talking about, critique of functional medicine that people maybe would talk about negatively in functional medicine is that we run too many labs, and that’s why health history is so important. So you’re not running superfluous labs. You’re running like, what are the most relevant labs that are going to be determinative of our action steps and protocols. So when I talk to someone for initial telehealth consult, I’m talking to them for an hour, an hour and a half, sometimes even longer, and we’re really getting to the root cause of, okay, what needs to be looked at. Let’s not just be redundant and just add to their pile of labs. It’s really be thoughtful about this. But yeah, so if someone that has metabolic issues, trouble losing weight or brain fog, or maybe some other hormonal symptoms, I would run a comprehensive metabolic panel, a lot of blood tests to look at the metabolism thoroughly, and then we would run, like, for example, an expanded hormonal panel, what’s called a Dutch test to look at.
Ricki Lake 06:58
I was just going to say the Dutch test. I was just going to come off as smart by knowing that I did do a Dutch test.
Dr. Will Cole 07:03
It’s so informative and and it enables us with blood too, we look at blood hormones, and you’re in saliva hormones, to look at the full intricacies of hormones.
Ricki Lake 07:12
So it’s way more comprehensive, right?
Dr. Will Cole 07:15
It is because the training in the in the conventional model look, I think the best of Functional Medicine and the best of health care as a whole is a both and not either or approach. It’s not saying, look, we’re better and they’re not good. The conventional med is not good. It’s just there’s different tools for different people in seasons life. So emergency care, if you if someone, God forbid, needs a surgery or they’re in an accident, we have some of the best er systems in the world, the United States, but when it comes to dealing with chronic health issues or optimization, mainstream medicine really isn’t looking at these questions at all. But we have an epidemic rise of chronic health issues, and you’re looking at autoimmune problems and metabolic issues, mental health issues, digestive problems, but people are really left to fend for themselves, largely because the system’s not set up for optimization and not really set up for effectively addressing the chronic disease epidemic. So yeah, it is definitely filling in the gaps where mainstream medicine is lacking.
Ricki Lake 08:16
Do you think that our modern medical system is set up to fail patients these days?
Dr. Will Cole 08:22
Yeah, well, it’s a priority issue, right? We we’re good at looking at the bigger things in the United States, right? We’re, we’re the training is to diagnose a disease and match it with a medication. So it’s blood pressure, it’s the cholesterol, it’s the diabetes medication, it’s the antidepressants, it’s these type of like standard things. So yes, other people that are helped by those tools, certainly. But we have to look, why do we have this epidemic rise of chronic disease in the United States? It’s not a medication deficiency, like we’re not actually dealing with the root cause. We are just managing symptoms, managing disease with pharmaceuticals. But when you look at 93% of the United States have a massive metabolic problem, that’s almost all Americans. It’s not, we don’t have a diabetes medication deficiency like that’s not why we’re in this mess. So it is just like dealing with the tip of the iceberg these medications. So it’s not again, the anti medication. It’s just saying, Why do we have this problem? So maybe medications are needed in the short term to manage these symptoms, but the long term goal would be, why do I have this problem in the first place?
Ricki Lake 09:28
Why do you have the problem in the first place? Right? Right, right. So with autoimmune disease, I’ll just talk about my sister. I’ve mentioned her before. My only sibling, she struggles with ulcerative colitis. She had her colon removed. I mean, she went and had that surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, that three part surgery, she had an ostomy bag for like, almost a year. She still doesn’t digest foods properly. She doesn’t she has issues. I mean, it’s, I don’t want to say too much for her privacy, but it’s like to see how she has struggled and suffered with this issue, why are autoimmune conditions so prevalent today?
Dr. Will Cole 10:04
Yeah, it is really unprecedented. We’re living in a time like never before in human history, because science recognizes at least 100 at this point, overtly diagnosable as to autoimmunity, and that’s things like ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s, Hashimotos disease, lupus, autoimmune diet, lupus, children’s, rheumatoid arthritis. These are the some of the most common ones. Um, researchers estimate, depending on the study that you look at, about 77 to 91% of how long and how healthy we live is due to epigenetics, which you know a lot about. So it’s looking at our environment. It’s looking at the foods we’re eating or the foods we’re not eating, chronic stress, unresolved trauma, environmental toxins. It’s aperfect storm of epigenetic variables the over 90 like close to 100% almost all of our genes have not changed in over 10,000 years, yet our world has changed so dramatically in such a finite period of time, just a few generations, when you’re putting that into context with the totality of human existence. So it’s what research to answer your question, why we’re seeing this epidemic rise of autoimmunity. Researchers have looked at this over the past 1015, 20 years. They’re calling it an epigenetic genetic mismatch, or an evolutionary mismatch, that our DNA and our microbiome, of which we’re symbiotically connected to all the trillions of bacteria in our gut, they have relatively have never really changed in 10,000 years, but they’re being triggered. They’re being messed up, dysregulated like never before in human history because of this onslaught of epigenetic variables that I mentioned earlier. So whereas before it was rare, you know, people would have it here and there, which autoimmunity was still here. It’s exploding like never before in human history because of this chasm between genetics and epigenetics.
Ricki Lake 12:07
Okay, can you give me some examples of epigenetic modulators? Is it like pollution, stress, best food?
Dr. Will Cole 12:14
Yeah, so it’s the things that people are doing on a daily basis they may not even do. It’s life itself. I mean, life itself is an epigenetic modulator. So it’s a foods we’re eating or the foods we’re not eating. So looking at nutrient density or nutrient deficiencies, it’s chronic stress, it’s unresolved emotional trauma, it’s environmental toxins, it’s movement or a lack of movement. It’s the things that are dynamic, that are information and influential on our health, on our biochemistry, on every facet of our health, from our hormones to our neurotransmitters to our gut microbiome.
Ricki Lake 12:47
What about mental health, Like is that a factor?
Dr. Will Cole 12:50
Without a doubt? Yeah, and a lot of my work is looking at how in the West, we’ll oftentimes separate mental health from physical health. But the reality is, mental health is physical health. And looking at the feet, the our guts, our second brain, 95% of serotonin, our happy neurotransmitter is made and stored in the gut, 50% of dopamine, our pleasure neurotransmitter is made in the gut, stored in the gut. So our gut is our second brain. It’s actually formed from the same fetal tissue. So when babies are growing in their mother’s womb. The gut and brain are formed from that same fetal tissue, and they’re linked for the rest of our life through what’s known as the gut brain axis. So yes, mental health is part of it, but we have to look at it from both sides, like the inside. How does our actual physiology impacting mental health? But then situational things? Yes, I mean, I’ve seen people’s jobs like, like a stressful, toxic job, stressful, toxic relationship, these situational things will influence someone’s health and their labs and their biochemistry just as much as a food that doesn’t love them back. So my, a lot of my job is like shortening that distance. So how can we get the body and the microbiome to be more in alignment with what it evolved to be so the body can function the way it was designed to. Because what’s happening here, I mean, it’s with autoimmunity. It’s something called molecular mimicry. It’s the immune system has lost recognition of self, as how the researchers refer to it is when the immune system thinks that, in the case of ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s thinks that the gut is a foreign invader, thinks it’s a virus or pathogen and it’s attacking it, yeah, so it has this inflammation, inflammatory cascade. But inflammation is not inherently bad, so the body is dysregulated and attacking itself because of these epigenetic variables.
Ricki Lake 14:37
Wait, so inflammation isn’t necessarily a bad thing?
Dr. Will Cole 14:41
No, it’s a product of the immune system, right? So inflammation, in check, fights off viruses and fights off bacteria and heals wounds. So it’s healthy, measured inflammatory responses we need as part of our protective defense system in the human body. But it’s dysregulated inflammation, or chronic inflammation is another. Way of putting it, that is the problem. It’s that forest fire that burns in perpetuity. But then the question is, well, yes, we have to deal with the dysregulated inflammation. But why is it dysregulated in the first place? So we can deal with that, so the body can calm down and the body doesn’t think it’s constantly under threat.
Ricki Lake 15:19
All right, let’s take a quick break, and then we’ll be back with Dr. Will Cole.
Ricki Lake 15:23
I go back to myself and like where I’m at. You know, I prioritize sleep. I wear an aura ring. I wore a glucose monitor for six months to basically learn how my body responded to sugars and my insulin let you know, like, just to learn, it was really like an education. I hike every single morning, out the door, first thing, rain or shine, I move my body. I intermittent, fast. I mean, I know that’s like, all this stuff is, like, somewhat controversial and provocative, like, I, you know, just kind of went on this, this. It was just like, okay, I’m gonna commit to something, you know, and I’ve been, I’m someone. I don’t know if you’ve followed me, but I used to be 260 pounds, and I’ve been 120 pounds. Right now, I’m maintaining 130 pounds. I’m super healthy. My very low cortisol levels. I don’t have a lot of stress in my life, despite the world at large being really crazy and scary. My little bubble is very calm and peaceful, and I’m very grateful for that. Are all of these factors that you look into when you see a patient, as far as overall health.
Dr. Will Cole 16:30
100% yeah, and all those tools that you mentioned within that toolbox, those are things that we implement for patients. So they great. They’re great tools that are epigenetic modulators, like like what you’re talking about earlier, they’re shifting your biochemistry, and in many ways, when you look at things like intermittent fasting and looking at food and stress optimization, sleep optimization, that is what’s decreasing that mismatch between genetics and epigenetics. Because you’re living like humans, you’re living more like humans would have lived for a long time. So your microbiome, your physiology will recognize that and can be the way it was designed to be. So, yeah, these are all. These are amazing things. And a lot of this stuff is, it’s free, low cost, you know, things that people can do no matter who you are. But there’s a science and art to this, right? Because intermittent fasting, like you said, some of these, the controversy around some of these tools that we talk about within wellness, it’s because they’re not looking at the bio individuality, right? There’s there’s ways that people can fast that aren’t great, and there’s ways that people can fast that are really great for the body. So instead of it making broad, sweeping statements, I love looking at all these tools and say, well, what’s the most effective for them, and then how are they going to do it, right? And there’s so many ways to do all these tools.
Ricki Lake 17:46
So okay, I’m 56 I still get a period. Okay? I have not I’m in perimenopause. It’s definitely wonky and getting like the days are changing. But for the most part, I’ve been super regular. So I basically do a keto diet. I’m less strict now, but when I was trying to lose the weight, I was very, very strict. Keto, portion control, no sugar, no bread. I didn’t have bread for like, nine months or something, no sugar, but I’ll have a glass of wine occasionally, but I basically don’t eat until noon. I have coffee in the morning with heavy whipping cream, okay? And I eat at noon, and then I eat before I finish my eating usually about about 6pm.
Dr. Will Cole 18:23
Yeah, so you’re doing an 18 six and so if there’s 24 hours in a day, you’re doing an 18 hour fast and a six hour eating window. So that’s a great tool. It’s a I would call a moderate, time compressed feeding, or time restricted feeding. That’s a type of intermittent fasting, as I mentioned, there’s different types, but that you’re doing what’s called TRF, time restricted feeding. And yeah, it’s a great tool. I wrote a book called intuitive fasting that kind of talks about this, where I like a cyclical approach. So if someone has a menstrual cycle, many people with metabolic issues, if they’re prone to insulin resistance, that they have insulin resistance or weight loss, resistance, that therapeutic tool of fasting is almost a medicine. It’s a medicine that they will be taking that medicine of fasting for a period of time. But then when as that medicine, and it’s a real medicine, you’re tapping into your body’s medicine because you’re in this fasted state, because you’re also pairing intermittent fasting with the ketogenic diet, which is fasting mimicking, meaning it’s mimicking a lot of the benefits of fasting when you’re eating. So both are supportive of ketosis for people that are new to this, but it’s a beta hydroxybutyrate, or BHB, is the ketone that your body naturally makes in the state that you’re doing, and the foods are supportive of that, and the fast is supportive of that. But ketones are called the fourth macronutrient in the sort of fasting science space. So we have protein, fats, carbs and ketones, but it’s a way to burn fat, yes, but it’s also what they call an epigenetic modulator, like I keep talking about. But ketones are that. It because it’s a signaling molecule to lower inflammation to it passes through the blood brain barrier, so provides your brain fuel. It works on a lot of these longevity pathways. It Up regulates something called autophagy, or cellular recycling, sort of your body’s anti accelerated aging pathways. So yeah, I love it but look what when you don’t need that medicine so much, then you can loosen up.
Ricki Lake 20:25
So part of why I was so excited to have you on the show is to ask about all these health trends that we see online. Can we go through some of them? Yeah, sea oils and processed food, I like. I stay away from as much as possible. I’ve learned. But how are your I assume, against seed oils, right?
Dr. Will Cole 20:43
Okay, so seed oils are definitely something that I avoid as a general rule. I like looking at the context of it, right. As a general rule, Americans are over consuming things like seed oils. So seed oils are things like vegetable oil, corn oil, soybean oil, these type of things, grape seed oil, they are high in Omega six. There’s a lot of things that I have issues from a nutrition standpoint with it. It’s the over consumption of it, because polyunsaturated fatty acids include things like omegas three, six and nine. Those are types of omega poly or PUFA, as polyunsaturated fatty acids. The modern Western diet is so high in Omega six in part, largely because of these industrial seed oils. So it’s not so much that I want to make blanket statements and say, well, never have these things, ever because they’re in most packaged foods, but it’s the over consumption of them and not enough of the long chain omega three fatty acids. So for years, of the past 20-30, years, people have been taking fish oil, and that’s doing a bit to rectify that ratio of omegas, three, six and nine. Because if you’re high in Omega six, it’s a pro inflammatory state. Inflammation, as we talked about earlier, it’s the commonality between all these health issues, dysregulated inflammation. So by balancing Omega 366, and nine, you’re going to calm inflammation in that way. So yes, in short, industrial seed oils are not helping our problem as a society. But the context is, well, if you really up the amount of whole food, nutrient dense omega three fatty acids and other types of healthy fats than the occasional organic, you know, seed oil. I don’t want to fear monger. And I think, you know, a lot of my friends are purest in the sense of, they scream it from the rooftops that these things are bad. I’m a little bit more like middle of the ground and the context matters, because I don’t want people to fear better for you options. And there’s some, like, packaged foods that would be considered, you know, packaged or processed, but they’re healthy ish options, like, what? Okay, so there’s, I’m not going to name brands, but there’s a brand that is a grain free you’re going to know when I say it, but it’s a grain free crackers, right?, They’re made with almond flowers and things like that. And and the brand has a lot of great products, but the oils that they use are considered industrial seed oils at this time for most of their products. So if I have a patient that has problems with grains, or probably, I don’t want them have processed, you know, refined foods that don’t love them back, like the standard American diet. But that better for you option that they can get a target. I would rather them pragmatically get that in the context of a whole nutrient dense diet and not freak out about every little ingredient. What can happen is it over corrects. We over correct when we get into wellness too deep, and it becomes what’s called orthorexia, which is like disordered eating or unhealthy foods. So yes, I want to educate people, yes, I want to empower people, but I don’t want to over correct and create this sort of hyper focus on every little detail, because I think there’s just bigger problems out there. And I see people that have that more balanced approach, where they don’t have to avoid every little seed oil out there, and they’re still very healthy. Their labs look great, they feel great. And that’s kind of my take on it.
Ricki Lake 24:14
I get it. Yeah, you have to be realistic. And I it’s interesting. You brought up orthorexia, my good friend, her daughter, her 11 year old daughter, had to be put in a treatment center for orthorexia. I’d never heard of it before. So it’s basically the obsession with healthy food that forces you to have, like, an anorexia type of illness.
Dr. Will Cole 24:34
Yeah well, yeah, you end up, like, whittling down your diet to like, three foods, or, you know, X amount of foods, because you’re just stressing about all of this, and the stress and anxiety around isn’t good for your health either. Look, there are certain people in the biohacking space, in the wellness space. We live and breathe this stuff. It’s not gonna stress us out, but when we’re on social media talking about this, we have to understand that not everybody’s built like we are, and. And it can create a lot of, like, hyper obsession, because they feel like they’re poisoning themselves every time they have this sort of packaged food, and it’s just not good. Like, yes, we need to look at food, but that’s why a lot of what I talk about with our patients is like, what are we serving our head and our heart on a daily basis? Because we could be eating the best foods under the sun. But if you’re like, like, stressing about the Healthy Food isn’t good for your health. So we just want to check ourselves. And sometimes these sort of small, you know, granular details in the context of, like, Okay, if you have the big things in place, the small things don’t matter as much.
Ricki Lake 25:36
I don’t know about you, but I have so many more questions for Dr Cole. Let’s take a quick break first.
Ricki Lake 25:51
Can we talk about ozempic? I wanted to get your opinion on it because, you know, it’s something that I definitely considered my doctor, my ex doctor, brought it up to my husband and I, we were both, you know, overweight, and he told us, being at our age, this was, this was before. It was, like, everywhere. I mean, the commercial was on TV, but it was mostly for, like, pre diabetics. I’m not pre diabetic, right? He did our checkup, and he’s like, oh, you’re not gonna, you’re not gonna be successful without it basically said, you know, you will fail without this drug. This is the miracle drug. And I read about it, I did a little research, and I saw that it takes your joy out of food, out of eating, and that was like a game changer. I was like, I love food too much, but like, what’s your I mean, it really, I know a lot of people are on it. I know a ton of people who are so thrilled with this medicine and how it’s helped them. What’s your overall thinking? Like, on a grand scale of people taking this.
Dr. Will Cole 26:41
Yeah it’s not, I wouldn’t put it fully under the category of a pharmaceutical, medication, and I know that it is, but my I treat it in my mind a bit differently and clinically a bit differently, because it is a peptide. It is a peptide, and peptides modulate the our biochemistry. We’ve been using peptides for years in functional medicine.
Ricki Lake 27:03
Wait, can you explain, what is a peptide? Sorry.
Dr. Will Cole 27:05
Yeah, it’s okay. Yeah. Peptides are signaling molecules that our body, that they make these things. They synthesize these things in a lab. But actually, GLP, one agonist, they are the body makes these things in the gut. They then, that’s why they work upon the gut, and that’s why you’re taking when people are taking these therapeutic doses of semaglutide, it can cause gastroparesis in the gut. It really can mess up your digestive system, because your body is naturally making these peptides already. You’re just taking macro doses of it in a synthesized version of it. So my bigger conceptual opinion about this is that it’s not addressing why we have this massive metabolic problems, kind of what I was saying earlier. We don’t have obesity and type two diabetes. 93% of the United States doesn’t have a massive metabolic problem because of an ozempic deficiency. So like, let’s figure out why we have this problem. But if somebody uses a lot of tools that I would advocate, looking at food, looking at nutrition, looking at improving their gut health, the metabolic health, looking at environmental toxins, and then most people wouldn’t need the semaglutide but for those people that really have high insulin resistance still or leptin resistance, they’re better than they would be. What if they weren’t doing all the lifestyle things, but they’re still stuck at a plateau. I think there’s a place for peptides like semaglutide, and I I’ve seen some great success clinically micro dosing semaglutide. So not the high doses that you’re seeing everybody doing, but it’s just small pulse doses to kind of move the needle a bit more. So it’s how you use these tools. I don’t like the way that most people are using it, and I definitely think we’re going to see some long term effects from people doing these high doses or, and I say high I mean, like the standard run of the mill. Ozempic use in the United States is not addressing why they have the problem in the first place.
Ricki Lake 29:06
And they’re having to be reliant on it for the rest of their lives, correct.
Dr. Will Cole 29:09
Right, and you can lose muscle mass, which, as we age, is important. So there’s a lot of lot of issues from a gut and muscle mass standpoint and a dependency standpoint, what happens? What’s the long term solution here? Are you going to stay on this injectable for the rest of your life. So it’s I’ve seen people gain it all back because they’ve not dealt with why they have the problem. But when they’ve dealt with these infrastructural things, if they’ve improved their metabolic health, and then maybe micro dosing, a peptide like semaglutide can definitely be a needle mover for them, and that you don’t have the negative side effects, you don’t have the muscle loss and the gastroparesis risks, you can easily come off of it. It’s just a small tool within the toolbox, so I think there is a way to use it. But as I mentioned earlier, most people, when they do the things I’m telling them to do, they don’t even need that peptide, because they’ve kind of tapped into it they’re body to make this on their own.
Ricki Lake 30:02
Right, let’s talk exercise. Are you a big fan of the heavy weights, like I’m hearing? You know, with with perimenopause and menopause approaching, for me, that we’re supposed to be women are supposed to be lifting heavy weights. Are you a fan?
Dr. Will Cole 30:16
Yeah, I would say heavy weights with good form, due to no injury your body where it’s at, yeah, no injuries. If you’ve never worked out, definitely don’t start with the heavy. Heavy weights. Heavy is relative, right? It’s like, what can you get in eight to 12 reps? That’s for some people, that’s going to be 15 pounds. For some people, it’s going to be 80, 90, 100, pounds, right? So it’s depending on the muscle group that you’re talking about the exercise you’re talking about, and where you’re starting at I think, relative to you a heavyweight getting into that eight to 12 rep and then a few rounds of that, it’s you need to do that. We need to pick up heavy things to build lean muscle mass. Our muscles are glucose sponges, and as we talked about this, the staggering numbers of metabolic issues. The more lean muscle mass we have, the more your body’s gonna absorb that blood sugar instead of it circulating in the blood. So it’s a fantastic metabolic enhancer. The more we can support the maintenance of our lean muscle mass.
Ricki Lake 31:16
You have something called Exercise snacking.
Dr. Will Cole 31:18
Oh, yeah.
Ricki Lake 31:18
Right? Is that something like little bursts of exercise.
Dr. Will Cole 31:21
Yeah, for sure. So I, I think that sometimes people over complicate exercise and they feel like I need to, I need to. I need that hour, right? And it great if you have it, then have it. But I’d rather some someone do something versus nothing at all. And there’s studies that show that just even 15 minutes of walking, like I just got an hour or so ago, I had a I walked on my lunch just 15 minutes, 20 minutes of walking can do a lot to stabilize your blood sugar, to increase endorphins. So yeah, these like micro moments of either movement or micro moments of stillness, like some people will say, I don’t have time to meditate, right? And these practices, these acts of stillness, are can be done in little snack bite sizes as well.
Ricki Lake 32:07
And what’s that? Just like turning out the noise, just closing your eyes, breathing, as simple as that?
Dr. Will Cole 32:12
Yeah, exactly. So some, most people have, we have this epidemic of inflammation issues. It’s part of a larger what’s called the neuro, immuno, endocrine Access. It’s the intersection between our nervous system, our our immune system. Inflammation is a product of the immune system and our endocrine system, our hormones. So movement, exercise have to, has to be seen as a medicine and be done consistently. But also these like exercises of stillnesses, these practices of stillness, the vagus nerves, about VA G U S, it’s the largest cranial nerve in the body. It is weak in a lot of people, so breath work and meditation getting out in nature, earthing, right? Earth. These are all ways to support vagal tone, or toning a weak nerve that’s responsible for that parasympathetic. So, yeah, it’s, I prescribe these, like a conventional doctor, prescribe a medication. It’s like, how can we get these micro moments of Exercise and Movement and micro moments of something that’s supportive of the parasympathetic and done consistently, right? It’s like, you can’t just do it once or randomly and expect and say what doesn’t work for me, it’s going to take a practice to build something that is is weak, whether it’s a weak muscle or a weak vagus nerve.
Ricki Lake 33:30
What about probiotics? Are you a fan?
Dr. Will Cole 33:33
I am a fan. Food is first. You can’t, like supplement your way out of a poor diet, but I would definitely start with prebiotics and probiotics from food. So fiber rich foods like fruits or vegetables or other plant foods that are fiber rich are prebiotics. Like fiber is a prebiotic. So the more diverse fiber you’re consuming, it’s going to help with it’s the food for all the probiotics, all the trillions of bacteria in our gut, depending on the study that you look at, we have upwards of 100 trillion bacteria in our gut, known collectively as the microbiome. We have about 30 trillion human cells, so we are exponentially more bacteria than human so probiotics are the good guys. Are the good, beneficial bacteria that are fed by prebiotics. So eating fermented foods like Kimchi and sauerkraut and COVID. These are, these are food fermented foods which have the prebiotics and the probiotics, but yes, the supplement wise, I’m a fan of spore based probiotics. I’m a fan of many different types of probiotics. So I think finding a good, trustworthy science backed high survivability, because a lot of these probiotics, you want to make sure they can actually survive your stomach acid and actually get the job done in your intestines. How do you know that? How can you tell well, you have to go for a brand that does the work to pay for third party testing that is transparent in the effectiveness. Has some studies behind it as far as their delivery system and the strains that are used in that. So it does take a little bit of consumer education.
Ricki Lake 35:08
Absolutely, like you’ve got to do. You got to advocate for yourself in all of these areas of shopping, for these magnesium Right? Like which brand it’s, it’s really overwhelming I think.
Dr. Will Cole 35:17
It can be, it can be. That’s why keeping it simple. Use food, whatever you can, so you don’t have to depend so much on all of these brands. And I think, like, I’m at the clinic 10 hours a day, I’m only can see so many people. But then I think, okay, social media, that’s the blessing part of social media, because I can provide people insights that I’ve seen work clinically, that maybe never be a telehealth patient, but can, like I’ve seen this brand or that brand work well. So hopefully they can use social media to its advantage and say, I can do the vetting for them if they want to, and if it’s not me, find someone else in functional medicine or in wellness that you trust that does this for a living. So you have some, you know, some reputable suggestions.
Ricki Lake 35:59
Okay, a couple more questions. Apple cider vinegar, yay or nay?
Dr. Will Cole 36:06
But not straight up. I would dilute it in water. I like it with the mother, so, like, brags, apple cider vinegar, you get some prebiotics there too. But the acetic acid is really good for the gut. And yeah, I’m a fan of it overall.
Ricki Lake 36:19
How do you consume it? Do you just, like, drink it cold, or do you put it on a salad?
Dr. Will Cole 36:23
You could do that. That’s a great idea. So making a dressing would be one way to do that. But if somebody, what I mean not straight up, is some people will just take the shot straight up, concentrated, which, here and there, no big deal. But if you’re doing that consistently, it really can burn the throat and the stomach. It’s strong, so you can have it, but in that high amount, straight up, concentrated isn’t the best long term. It’s not advisable for most people. But you just dilute it with some water. You can add some cut it with some water, basically.
Ricki Lake 36:51
And I know with the keto diet, and I know it’s trying to keep your blood, like with the glucose monitor, to have some apple cider vinegar before you consume a regular meal, it’s really good at balancing.
Dr. Will Cole 37:00
Yeah, exactly. You’re going to stabilize your blood sugar a lot more. And it’s that acetic acid that does that, yeah.
Ricki Lake 37:07
Wow, I all of this. I mean, I’m no doctor, but I feel like I’ve learned so much from doctors like yourself.
Dr. Will Cole 37:13
I will say this. I don’t want to throw shade on anybody, but you know, you know more about nutrition than most conventional doctors, which doesn’t say much, but you know a lot is what I mean to say. Like, you know a lot about health and wellness, I could tell because you’ve had to learn yourself, right? You’ve had to be your own health advocate.
Ricki Lake 37:31
I just didn’t want to go along with what this guy was. I didn’t want to succumb to taking a drug or a peptide that I didn’t need, that I didn’t think I needed, you know, and it has been a journey. It’s something you know, something you don’t just fix. It’s just an ongoing process. But I feel amazing. I’m super proud of the work I’ve done. I loved having you on my show today. Thank you so much. I’ve always wanted to have you on here, and I’m so glad we had this time.
Dr. Will Cole 37:58
Thanks for having me.
Ricki Lake 38:02
I really feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to talk to Dr will Cole for an hour and to ask these questions that I hope I was able to ask questions you guys have as well. He’s so knowledgeable, and I like that he was, like, very balanced about, you know, pharmaceuticals and incorporating, you know, different modalities and alternative medicine. I just like that he’s not just all or nothing you can find Dr. Will Cole on Instagram @DrwillCole to learn more about his practice and his services head to dr.willcole.com and make sure to check out his podcast, The Art of Being Well, where you just may hear me as a guest on a future episode. Thank you all so much for listening, and there is more of The High Life with Lemonada Premium. Subscribers get exclusive access to bonus content like premium with my new friend, Dr. Will Cole, where we talk about Infrared Saunas versus dry saunas, cold plunges, etc, etc. Subscribe now in Apple podcasts. The High Life is a production of Lemonada Media. Isabella Kulkarni and Kathryn Barnes, and Isaura Acevez produced our show. Our mixes by James Sparber. Executive Producers are Stephanie Wittels Wachs and Jessica Cordova Kramer. Additional Lemonada support from Rachel Neel and Steve Nelson. You can find me @Rickilake on Instagram. Follow The High Life with Ricki Lake, wherever you get your podcasts, or listen ad free on Amazon music with your Prime membership.