Upgrade Your Spice Rack to Live Longer + Boost Vitality with Dr. Melina Jampolis (Plus, the 411 on Collagen)
Show Snapshot:
Beauties—You may be sleeping on one of the easiest (and most delicious ways) to upgrade your midlife health. Time to get serious about your spice and herb intake—and add years to your life, improve your overall wellness, and fight age accelerators and disease. On this week’s show, Dr. Melina Jampolis, a board-certified physician nutrition specialist and the author of “Spice Up, Live Long,” downloads on food as medicine and the power of plants and phytonutrients to fuel health and improve the gut microbiome. We cover Blue Zone spices, fresh vs. dried herbs, and easy ideas for *sprinkling* spices into your everyday eats. Plus, we dive into collagen powders and supplements. Because we know you’re wondering if they truly are a skincare superhero!
Show Links:
Follow Dr. Jampolis
Dr. Jampolis’ company Ahara Med
Dr. Jampolis’ Book: Spice Up, Live Long: A guide to using herbs and spices to live a longer, healthier and more vibrant life
Quotable:
Reducing inflammation is probably the most important thing that you can do for your long-term health span. And the wonderful thing about spices is that they're loaded with these wonderful nutrients called polyphenols, that are really anti-inflammatory. That's their claim to fame.
Transcript:
Katie Fogarty 0:03
Welcome to A Certain Age. A show for women who are unafraid to age out loud.
Beauties. I have a quick question for you. When was the last time you overhauled your spice cabinet? Do you have dusty bottles of spices hiding in the back of your cabinet? Or is that just me? Sure I have go-tos that I reach for again and again and that I restock often. But let's be real. Some of these bottles haven't seen the light of day since Obama was president. And I'm someone who actually cooks every night. My guest today is going to have you running to the store for a spice and herb upgrade. We are getting into food as medicine, the power of plants and phytonutrients to fuel health and improve the gut microbiome. Plus, we're doing a dive into collagen powders and supplements because I want to know if they work. We're getting the download from an absolute Pro. Dr. Melina Jampolis is an internist and board certified physician, nutrition specialist, one of only several 100 practices in the United States. She is the past president of the National Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists and remains on their board of directors. Dr. Jampolis is also a podcaster. She hosts Practically Healthy and as a serial author. She's written five books, her most recent is “Spice Up. Live Long.” Yes, please! I am so excited for this conversation. Welcome. Dr. Melina.
Dr. Melina Jampolis 1:23
Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Katie Fogarty 1:25
I am very excited because I'm not kidding about my spice drawer needs an overhaul? I know you're somebody is going to help us get excited about incorporating this as a sort of a longevity nutrition additive in our lives. I know you've made a career of food as medicine in many ways, though, you were ahead of the curve, right. But now Nutrigenetics and precision nutrition are hot ideas. Can you share with our listeners what those terms mean?
Dr. Melina Jampolis 1 1:51
Yeah, yeah. And I think I probably was ahead of the curve. I mean, you know, 22 years ago, when I started in left internal medicine to go into nutrition for disease prevention and health optimization. It wasn't cool. It's it's been cool, like the last five years, and it's getting more and more coal but, and then I started getting interested in Nutrigenetics, about seven or eight years ago. And Nutrigenetics is really how our genetics dictate our response to food. So we see these headlines all the time that salt is good for you salt is bad for you salt is, you know, we've saturated fat as good, it's bad. Some of that discrepancy in the media may actually be due to our genetics, influencing how we're responding to those nutrients, whether it's how we're absorbing them how they're binding to receptors in our body to do their jobs, or how they're broken down. That's what Nutrigenetics is. And precision nutrition is kind of a broader term that incorporates incorporates not only Nutrigenetics, but you know, differences in in just where you live, what types of food you eat, your food sensitivities, the cultural aspect. And then we also bring in something called epigenetics, which is actually means above the gene. So I like to say that your DNA is not necessarily your destiny, because your lifestyle choices of which diet is a major part can actually influence how your genes are turned on and off. And this has profound impact on longevity. And then precision nutrition also goes down to your microbiome, and how you break down foods in the microbiome. So we have all these puzzle pieces that we're just on the edge of figuring out how to slowly put together to really help the individual making their best dietary choices.
Katie Fogarty 3:43
Yeah, it's so fascinating. I love that, that you share that DNA is not destiny, because we all want to feel like we have agency over our lives. And, and I'm a big believer, that agency starts with information, right? We can't make good choices. And you know, if we're not given the information that helps support that. And I know from looking at your website that you say that, you know, no herbs or spices a cure, or you know, a pill for disease, but many are rich in antioxidants and have natural, you know, anti inflammatory properties that can potentially reduce the risk of many common diseases of aging. You know, what is the link before you before we dive into particular spices and herbs? What's the link between food spices and longevity?
Dr. Melina Jampolis 4:24
Yeah, I think that's a great question. And when I think about longevity, I think, you know, not only about lifespan, you know, the absolute number of years that you live, but I really think and I think everybody should and they probably do inadvertently is focusing on health span, and really, you know, putting more life into your years and being free of chronic disease as you age because, you know, that's really the definition of healthy aging. And I like to talk a lot about vitality, you know, being living, you know, I'm an old mom I had Kids at 40 and 44. So like, for me, I'm 53 now and vitality and being able to keep up with my kids kind of is really important to me. So, and the wonderful thing about food and spices in terms of longevity, and let's just say, you know, let's move the conversation away from just longevity, but just to increasing your health span is that there was really so many different aspects of healthy aging. And as you mentioned, spices are very important antioxidants. So we're constantly being exposed to, you know, stress by our environment, even within our body by the breakdown of food. So it's important to neutralize those oxidative molecules that can damage ourselves, and lead to things like heart disease, and cancer and dementia and diabetes, and reducing inflammation, we're learning, it's so funny, because I've been talking about an anti inflammatory diet for about 18 years now. And in the last, you know, five to 10 years, it's super cool, and everybody talks about it, but I was lecturing about it a long time ago. And reducing inflammation is probably the most important thing that you could do for your long term health span. And the wonderful thing about spices is that they're loaded with these wonderful nutrients called poly phenols, that are really anti inflammatory there, that's their claim to fame, I think they also have, you know, individual effects, particularly, you know, again, like you said, No herb or spice is going to prevent cancer, you know, it or dementia, but if they can on multiple different mechanisms, you know, if if you're one of your cells does get damaged, to help, you know, prevent that from actually growing into a cancer cell, or reducing inflammation so that the heart disease that you may be genetically predisposed to, doesn't manifest itself because you don't have that inflammation triggering a heart attack, or dementia. So in lowering inflammation, and reducing oxidative stress, so you know, things that we just can't help being exposed to in our lives are really the two most important things. And then there's all sorts of other little metabolic pathways that various herbs and spices are involved with, you know, kind of up regulating, or down regulating. So you would want, you know, kind of kick charge your detoxification, and maybe, you know, slow down the inflammation, these different things and, and I think they have really particularly exciting benefits. One of the first papers that I ever read about herbs and spices was in their ability to deal with, you know, perimenopause, which, which, you know, I was just starting on, you know, six or seven years ago, and I just thought it was so fascinating how, even with hormonal balance and detoxification and an inflammation and even, you know, mood in the brain and all these wonderful things. And I just thought, wow, somebody's got to write a book about this. And
Katie Fogarty 8:01
so you did
Dr. Melina Jampolis 8:03
go to one was spiced up slimmed down, and then I realized I didn't want to focus just on weight, because that's too, you know, narrow minded, it's really about health. And so the next one was bicep live blog was really more broad, and just about health optimization, which, which gets me the most excited. Yeah,
Katie Fogarty 8:22
and that's such an important distinction that you made. It's not just about longevity, and you know, adding more years, it's about increasing your health span and adding more vital years to the to the years that you spend. So let's let's sort of dive a little bit more into this. So these poly phenols and I hope I'm pronouncing that correct. correctly. I know, they sound like these antioxidant rockstars they come in plant based foods and spices. So are they only in plant based foods? Can you get them through supplements? You know, tell us a little bit about Okay,
Dr. Melina Jampolis 8:51
right. Yeah, that's a great, I'm glad you asked that. And I'm glad you immediately brought up the settlement question because you know, that's a really important so I have a new company that's actually in the precision nutrition space called a Hara. And one of the things that was really important to me is to take a food first approach, and, you know, supplements in my that, well, we'll get to that in a second. But, you know, all there are so many foods and yeah, poly phenols are phytonutrients. So phyto, meaning they come from plants, so you can't get them from animal products. Okay, so and the richer the color for the most part and the more diverse like if you think of color and smell as being a good marker, the better and some of the you know herbs and spices are just I love them because there's such low hanging fruit right? I mean, I'm a super lazy Cook. I'm not gonna lie. Every night I
Katie Fogarty 9:47
cook every night but let me tell you I'm a super lazy cook as well. I mean, it's you know, it's not glamorous cooking. It's just putting food on the table. Right?
Dr. Melina Jampolis 9:55
I love that. So like I'll you know, I'll get like a premade you know, guacamole and I'll just Add cumin to it right so because that's actually been shown to clinically reduce belly fat in a legit
Katie Fogarty 10:06
You had me at guacamole. I'm like I am doing that.
Dr. Melina Jampolis 10:11
So So these Yeah, poly phenols but you can get them from like berries are a wonderful source any citrus fruit tea if most of us just so I now I so funny ever since I started this company I've been I've been doing this for 22 years now I'm like eating better. It's like wait, I should bout to do this everyday. But if we just had a cup or two green or black tea every day, we would go such a long way towards like our daily poly phenol requirements
Katie Fogarty 10:38
with a cup of love. Can you repeat that? Because I didn't catch it and I want to
Unknown Speaker 10:42
either green or black tea. I choose
Katie Fogarty 10:44
black tea. Okay, yes, doing tea is one of the
Dr. Melina Jampolis 10:47
best sources of polyphenols, but berries and berries, citrus tea, even whole grains, nuts and seeds. You know, it's and they all have different types. Like everybody's always asking me what's the best, there is no best, you need a combination because they work together synergistically and have like subtle differences and how they work. So you know, the more variety the better. But yeah, not just herbs and spices, it's just so easy to you know, I mean, I put cinnamon in my coffee every morning. I mean coffee is a great source of antioxidants. So they it does have some a specific type of poly phenol. So you know, any whole plant based food is going to have some, the deeper the color, the higher. In general in these poly phenols.
Katie Fogarty 11:32
You make it sound really easy and simple. And I feel like getting to midlife teaches us that when it's easy, it gets done. We're heading into a quick break. When we come back, I want to continue to talk about the spices we should have in our diet. Dr. Molina we're back we headed into the break talking about you know sprinkling cinnamon into your coffee and you know sprinkling cumin on top of your guacamole, and just really incorporating these spices in an easy, accessible way. And I am here for that. So I have a quick question that I don't know if you have the answer to it. But I'm truly curious, you know, do we need to be updating our spice store? Like do do spices lose their potency? Yes,
Dr. Melina Jampolis 12:12
they do. Okay, I was laughing when you said that at the intro. Because when my husband and I got married, like we you know, combined, whatever resources and like, you know, the big Spice Company McCormick actually changed their label about 20 years ago, and he still had you know, spices from the original label.
Katie Fogarty 12:31
He can sell those on eBay.
Dr. Melina Jampolis 12:33
There you go. So absolutely, I mean, you know, it varies if you actually need to, they're fairly not dainty, but they're, they definitely degrade, like with light and air, they get oxidized. So, you know, one to two years is probably the best, you know, in terms of, but the really good barometer is just to open up and smell them. And if they really still have that rich, vibrant smell, they're probably good because you know, those those, the scent compounds are closely related to the poly phenols. But the good news is, is that if you're opening and closing them regularly, that means you're using them a lot so you're probably going to go through but yeah, it definitely is worth I did that with my first book has biceps slammed on his eye. After researching it, I was like oh my god, I mean, this is doing nothing for me. I mean, it's not even really enhancing the flavor of the cuisine either. Like I don't even know why I'm doing this. So it definitely is worth doing a little audit. And you know start I tell people just because I mean realistically you're not going to become a gourmet chef using all these you know it's funny because in my books I always tried to do some of the recipes that the chef created and I just get overwhelmed when it's like five or six spices like okay I just need like two or three salutely Or you
Katie Fogarty 13:53
can just you know I like I'm a huge oatmeal fan and I'm not eating it now because we're recording this in August but I will say I probably eight to 10 months out of the year. And you know there's so many foods that are just you can dump other stuff on top of it and make it delicious like Cinnamon, cinnamon is a big part of my oatmeal regimen and like I'm so happy because I was doing that just you know for 10 years now and I've got I'm getting benefits so
Dr. Melina Jampolis 14:16
so then I would I would challenge you then to take the next step and you add a little instead maybe in the fall you switch to pumpkin spice which is going to get you cinnamon and cloves and nutmeg and some I think a little cardamom minute, which has even more interested like nutmeg for the skin. It has some really interesting interesting ability to block this protein that breaks down collagen. So there's like super cool little like so that's your that's your homework you in the fall instead of just plain old cinnamon. I want you to use pumpkin spice in your oatmeal.
Katie Fogarty 14:49
I'm doing that. I'm done. I'm done with that. That's that's such a great tip but I know your book is full of them. I just want to ask you a little bit about some spices around the world. You know, the show actually has listeners in 127 countries, so the most of our downloads are in the US, but even within the US, people have very different diets based on, you know, just how they were raised where they were raised in the country or, you know, what their, their family, you know, backgrounds might be bringing to the table. Your book does talk about Blue Zone spices, though, and for listeners maybe who aren't familiar with Blue Zones, maybe you could quickly explain what that is, and, and maybe surface some interesting spices from Blue Zones that we should know about.
Dr. Melina Jampolis 15:30
Yeah, you know, so the blue zones that was kind of an inspiration for my last book, I've been trying to get the author on my podcast, but he's pretty busy. So but it's really, he did an exploration kind of over over a long time of the of the areas in the world that had the most, you know, centenarians, so people who are living past 100 And he, you know, a lot of these, I mean, listen, let's be real a lot of these were more isolated communities. It's a comprehensive lifestyle, right? So but herbs and spices just happened to be a very rich part of everything that they do so but if you think about it, you know, and again, in a more simple term, like places like Greece, like it curio grease was one of them, and, you know, different spices that we may not think of, I mean, yes, garlic and dill and rosemary but also things like a nice and but but things that we don't use as much like coriander, I like to try to bring the global you know, down so for example, cilantro is a big one. And that's another thing I always put that cilantro and cumin in my guacamole. And cilantro has we know it has great ability to regulate blood sugar, which is an issue that many middle aged women start to focus on is or have issues with his weight shifts from butt to gut, which is actually an indirect measure of your ability to control your blood sugar. So that's getting back to the international but you know, Italy we know that you know basil and garlic and margarine and oregano obviously is a big part of that time we know time is great for the brain. I started I do just a simple roasted cauliflower with time because time is one of the most interesting for you know, potentially the ability to slow down cancer and also for brain health there was a cool study I quoted in one of my books where mice after been given time were able to run through a maze like significantly faster within 30 minutes just from one like quote unquote dose of time so Oh
Katie Fogarty 17:38
yeah, it's pretty hardy time is pretty hardy I have time and rosemary that kind of like overwinter in my garden and like lavender, they we had a very mild winter last year and they they kind of hung on and hung around so that's like something interesting to
Dr. Melina Jampolis 17:50
see that's that's such an interesting thing though because their hardiness indicates their antioxidants because phytonutrients these poly phenols are built up in plants as protection against the environment. So the fact that that's such a cool like tie in that they're higher and that's probably a big part of it but so yeah, it's just an you know more like Singapore and Hong Kong with Chinese Five Spice again I'm always looking for practical ways for so when you have Chinese Five spice you get five for one just making your life a little bit easier but totally
Katie Fogarty 18:25
we're here we like the easy button Doctor millionaire we hit hit that easy button every time we can.
Dr. Melina Jampolis 18:34
Absolutely so you know those are just and of course you know more South American countries Costa Rica with things like cayenne, we know that a spicier diet to having a little bit more heat is just that alone is a 14% decreased risk of dying so it's kind of not not I do want to say that you don't have to if you don't tolerate spice well you don't have to have you know heat in your diet just having herbs and spices in general has huge upside so if you you know I don't want you to force you know, hot right,
Katie Fogarty 19:07
everyone's right. There's like a buffet of choices. And there's I think there's you know, the spice world offers enough that people can probably find something that fits their palate. I'm gonna throw something at you and I hope it's not a curveball. One of my favorite spices is smoked paprika you know what can you tell me about that? I'm putting you on the spot. Yeah, no,
Dr. Melina Jampolis 19:27
no, no, it's okay. I love it it's no but so paprika it's in the same it's in the same family as as kayak and these peppers. So it actually has some similar without the heat. So I think that's a great that's a great example and it put it has a vibrant color right? So yes, your barometer that that's a you know, all herbs and spices do my friend just got back from Morocco and was texting me pictures of the spice Marquez. She's like, you're in Nirvana, you know, but so I think smoked paprika is great. I mean, and that's something that you know, you can has a really wonderful flavor that you can throw on a lot of stuff. But because it's in the same family as Cayenne, you can really get a lot of the benefits without the heat. So that's, that's a terrific thing. And what do you what do you use it on,
Katie Fogarty 20:12
you know, I use it on the spot. I truly use it on everything, but I like to sprinkle it on avocado toast, because as much as I love avocado toast, sometimes it needs a little judging up, you know, to you know, I like a little sort of savory spicy, so that's I sprinkle on that, but I put it on, I put it on everything. Honestly, it goes in like chili, it goes on top of like toasted bread, you know, kind of olive oil. I don't know, I love it. It's one of my, it's great. And that spice jar is not dusty in my cabinet, that spice jar gets a lot of use.
Dr. Melina Jampolis 20:48
That's good. That's very good. Nobody and even things like, you know, eggs are such eggs and chili are probably my two favorite, like lazy moms thing is to add herbs and spices. Because, you know, like I'll just throw some oregano in my kids eggs in the morning. And I feel like a good mom, you know. So that's, that's like any any herb or spice and I do like a different combination of frittatas, which is awesome for herbs and spices and then chili. I mean, you could just throw
Katie Fogarty 21:15
it you can throw in everything. So maybe this is yeah, that's a good. So this maybe is a good time to ask this question. You know, what is the difference between a fresh herb and a dried herb in terms of its efficacy?
Dr. Melina Jampolis 21:28
Yeah, it's a good point. So So dried is going to be more concentrated, right? So it because it doesn't have a lot of water, but fresh is going to have more naturally occurring vitamins because especially the water soluble vitamins like B and C can degrade very quickly over time. So I always tell people are always asking me what's the best herb and spice which should I have a pressure dry, have them how you will have them on a regular basis. So for me, I far prefer cilantro to coriander. So Coriander is like the dried seed of this ultra plant. I'm not a big fan of coriander, it's just a little bit but but cilantro. I mean, as long as I eat it fresh, I will have until the cows come home. Yeah,
Katie Fogarty 22:10
me too. I love cilantro.
Dr. Melina Jampolis 22:12
So I think have what you want. I mean the thing that but the the spice is going to be over the dried form is going to be more concentrated. And also just for the average person, like I don't know about you, you're probably better than me. You have herbs, but like I'll buy, I'll buy all these fresh herbs and have all these, you know, hopes of and then the weekends away from me and I'm like, wow,
Katie Fogarty 22:38
I know, I believe me, I have thrown away many, many bags of wilted wilted herbs, because, you know, and also the spring Max, right? There's that old like the joke about like, I need to buy a box of spring mix, so I can throw it away at the end of the week. You know, we we all have, we all have these dreams and hopes. But you know, I've got a funny hat. I grew up in New York City. And so we did not have gardens really, but I live in a suburban neighborhood now. So I am able to have a garden. That's why I've got some of these herbs. But here's a little hack that I picked up a few years ago. I grocery shop everywhere. But when I go to Whole Foods they often sell at the beginning and throughout the summer little basil plants and I keep a basil plant on my kitchen windowsill because talking about the easy button like even though I've got basil, even I've got basil my garden and like my garden is several steps away from where I'm cooking. And so it's great. And it's like, you know, and it's, it's just like, Yeah, I kind of tear it up and just throw it into whatever and when you said eggs, I'm like, That's exactly where the eggs are gone. Like the the basil is going. It's getting mixed into scrambled eggs. And I do it a lot for my boys because you know, I you know, I eat salads, I enjoy salads, but they you know, you got to sneak some of the greens in for them. So that's a little hack for anyone who's listening who's thinking, I don't have a garden, it's like, but you probably have a windowsill and you can keep some of the stuff on there.
Dr. Melina Jampolis 23:55
You know what else I do with the basil leaves because it is the one plant that I don't regularly kill in my house is I'll actually I'll tear off a few leaves in like if I do like a turkey roll up wrap for lunch. I'll use the basil leaves instead of linens in the little. And it's with a little Dijon mustard. It's fabulous.
Katie Fogarty 24:11
That sounds good. All right, you know what I'm having for lunch after I go hit the store on my way home from this podcast recording. I just want to ask you a little bit. I know in your book, you talk about age accelerators, and some things to avoid. And so what are the kinds of not just lifestyle? Maybe it's lifestyle, but what are some sort of foods and things that that are causing that sort of oxidative molecules that we want to that you've referred to earlier in the show that we want to work against?
Dr. Melina Jampolis24:41
Yeah, that's, that's a great question. And, and what the interesting thing is when I first wrote this book, I hadn't started my new company and I hadn't really dug into epigenetics, you know, which is something that we actually test at a hora. We test how fast your cells are aging compared to your actual chronologic age. So that's super interesting. So I have even more data on these age accelerators in increasing the rate of aging, so if you can manage your rate of aging, which is something that now, this company actually just came out in 2020. And where they are, they're really more accurately measuring the rate of aging. If we can slow down the rate of aging, we could decrease the risk of chronic disease by about 57%. Wow, individual level. So and the biggest contributors to Excel that are really putting on the gas are probably I would, I would narrow it down though, to three things. Ultra processed food, what does that mean? Because we get with the term processed food gets thrown a lot out on you know, Instagram and with Tik Tok whatever. But Ultra processed food is really just food parks, like they'll take corn solids, and combine it with artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, sugar, fat, whatever it is, and it's not actually, you know, it's Yeah, corn is the basis but it's an extract of corn, it's it has no real food in it, that's Ultra processed food. So and also, some of it has real food, but it's been, you know, processed to within an inch of its life, whether it's added sugar, or salt, or fat or fried, or added, you know, emulsifiers or preservatives so that, you know, a Twinkie can live for, you know, 130 years and not be so Ultra processed foods, we know accelerates aging, sugar sweetened beverages, even more than sugar itself. I think people are, I mean, I don't know about you, but I have a sweet tooth. And I think this sweet tooth actually got worse during perimenopause. Whereas now like I can't, if I a meal is not complete, unless I have a little something sweet. I'm so
Katie Fogarty 26:50
happy. You said that because I have to end every meal with the bare minimum like chocolate covered almonds.
Dr. Melina Jampolis26:56
Yes, that's a great choice two very good, dark chocolate, great source of poly phenols, and soy or almond. It's also a great source of soluble fiber. So sugar sweetened beverages, and then processed red meat and charred meat. So those two charts so when you put things on a grill, that that wonderful grill, which I have to admit, I love that. But it causes some, it actually causes, you know, cancer causing compounds called hetero cyclic amines. Now, this doesn't mean that you're gonna get cancer if you go to a barbecue. But the cumulative effect of having too much processed red meat or charred meat over time, without balancing it out with herbs and spices. So that's a cool thing, too. One of my colleagues at UCLA did this study, where she showed that just adding rosemary to a marinade of meat when you barbecue, it decreases the formation of those cancer causing compounds by 70%. So only
Katie Fogarty 27:52
to lead out that's wild. Isn't that cool? Yes. Because my husband loves to barbecue and frankly, he's very good at it. So this is this is mine, and
Dr. Melina Jampolis 28:01
my husband loves his smoked meats too. And he's even better at that.
Katie Fogarty 28:04
And we're gonna have dinner Dr. Molina at some point, but and then we're gonna make the men we're making the men cook it.
Dr. Melina Jampolis 28:12
Oh, yeah. Well, that's pretty much a normal thing in my house. Again, I the one time I tried to cook I was getting, I was gonna boil some eggs. And I tried the pot on and then got distracted on the computer and the pot melted.
Katie Fogarty 28:24
Oh, my God, that's hysterical. It's hysterical. But best in the kitchen. Yeah. But this is good to know that you that you can kind of still enjoy in moderation, some foods that, you know, I think we will get an issues, right and
Dr. Melina Jampolis 28:39
sugar completely, but it's really the sugar sweetened beverages that do this huge, like dose of sugar right to your liver. Because they just they're just absorbed that quickly. And that's really, you know, that can be pro inflammatory. And it can also lead to fatty liver disease, which is something that we see a lot with poor blood sugar control. So, you know,
Katie Fogarty 29:01
and is that something that increases as people age, this fatty liver disease? Is that just aging play any role in that? Or is it simply just the food choices?
Dr. Melina Jampolis 29:09
No, it's a combination of things. There's hormonal changes, but a big part of it is changes in body composition, right, which are due to hormones. So as we age, we lose about 3% of our muscle mass with each decade, which doesn't seem like a lot, but it adds up. And it's any any muscle loss is significant, particularly for women who you know, don't have as much in the first place. But then, you know, the more fat you have in the less muscle, the more insulin resistance you tend to have. So fatty livers really related to insulin resistance. So when your body doesn't respond as well, and that definitely increases with age and we see a dramatic increase. That's one of the biggest things with I don't know about you, but I mean, for me, I've so many women patients who come in and say, I never had a gut before. I mean, you know, I was always more now it's like my back is nothing I was like a pancake and I've got this gut. And that's insulin resistance. And that's associated with fatty liver disease. So we definitely see more of that with age. Yeah, absolutely.
Katie Fogarty 30:09
I mean, I've had that experience myself, like I just, you know, yes, I've seen my own body change. And I've been trying to build muscle because I've had a number of fitness experts on the show, who talked about the importance of it and the importance of adding protein to your diets in order to build muscle, which is a, an effective fat, you know, burning machine. And, you know, obviously, we also need muscles to keep our, you know, muscular skeletal system upright and intact and, and talk about adding to, you know, your healthspan and aging with Vitality, you really need to, oh, that's
Dr. Melina Jampolis30:41
a huge issue. Yeah,
Katie Fogarty 30:43
we need to focus on
Dr. Melina Jampolis 30:44
these things. The mouse is a big, you know, it's a big component of that, and it's a component certainly of vitality and, and just general disease. I mean, we know that when we look at epi genetics, that exercising at least four days a week, including strength training, and that is really critical to slow your rate of aging. I love that as, as as stress management, but you know, we can only I can only do so much.
Katie Fogarty 31:11
I know, but it's important. And I really do think the word is getting out. Because I look at the women in my my just my own life, you know, from across a range of places, and women are really prioritizing, you know, weight training, it's so important. It's so important. So anyone who's listening to this, who hasn't done it yet, it's not too late.
Dr. Melina Jampolis 31:31
Definitely wait one more thing that you don't have to go to the gym. I mean, I honestly I do like push ups, and I do I have a home workout that I do, because I just don't have time to go to the gym. So I just don't I want your listeners to they, they don't have to pump iron. I mean, it's great. But doing a real push up and working your way up to that is probably one of the single best exercises that you can do for biceps, triceps, back chest, shoulders, I mean, it's abs, it's very effective. So you don't necessarily have to go to the gym, you know,
Katie Fogarty 31:59
you can be at home doing doing weights, doing things with your own body weight as you push up, which is a great, great point. Let's switch gears for a minute. Because we you know, we, I would love to talk to you forever. But we have a limited amount of time, I want to talk a little bit about collagen, which I know is you know, the scaffolding of our skin. Collagen is impacted by aging. And I'm just curious, we I personally, you know, see a lot of marketing around powders and supplements. It's really, you know, when I'm on Instagram or on Facebook, when I'm like opening a women's magazine. And I'm always curious, and I haven't had somebody to ask, but now I have you and I'm I'm just dying to know, what's your take on this are powders and supplements effective? Is one more effective than the other?
Dr. Melina Jampolis32:44
Yeah, I mean, I think that's a really important question. And if you would have asked me this 10 years ago, which people did, I would have said, No, but I think there's, there's because I would have said protein is protein. And if you have high quality protein, it's broken down into the basic amino acids. And I still believe that to some extent, but I think there is newer research that's been done. And here's the thing where you have to be kind of a smart consumer, and not just fall for the claims. But there are like branded types of branded ingredients, not not brands, specifically, I'm not going to, you know, show me brands, but there's one called Vera salt. That is actually a clinically proven form of college. And so,
Katie Fogarty 33:28
you know, how do you spell that Dr. Molina How do you spell
Speaker 1 33:32
V is in Victor E R, i s o l, okay. And that is an ingredient a collagen ingredient that has been clinically proven. After three months. Now it takes three months, because that's how long it takes for, you know, collagen to kind of turnover in your body. But it's been clinically proven to increase you know, the elasticity of the skin to decrease wrinkles. And then there's another form of collagen called UCP. Two, that's more on the joint side because we have, you know, a lot of collagen in our joints. And that's been clinically shown. So I think, you know, it is important when you're choosing supplements in general is to, I think you really have to have a third party tested and whenever possible have branded ingredients. So it's really simple. You don't even have to know the specifics but if you just turn it over and look for like a trademark or registered in the ingredient list that tells you that they've invested the money to do research to show that the form of collagen and the dose so you know there's different sizes of the collagen molecule where some maybe some may just be not really that well absorbed. So you're not really you know, getting what you pay for. So I think it is important to look for branded ingredients and third party tested supplements and taking them in the right dose. So anything be suspicious if they just have like a little star next to it. You know, you just don't know how much actual collagen is in there. And it could be just, you know, fairy dust that they're putting in these brands, but these branded ingredients are more expensive, right? So of course, I mean, I know because we're actually formulating a lot of our own products now for a horror. And, and, you know, at some level, you get what you pay for. For specifics, you know, vitamins and minerals are cheap. So you can get those you could, that's why you can get a multivitamin, just a basic one for a fairly reasonable price. But when you start getting into like, you know, specialized supplements, and I would certainly call collagen, you know, if you're going to invest in college and invest in a branded ingredient, containing supplements as third party tested, and I think it'd be good to go but there is pretty good research on it if you're using the right product and in terms of but you have to
Katie Fogarty 35:51
you have to stay gotta do your homework, like anything else. So that's, that's great advice. And it's a great tip about turning the bottle over looking to see if they give you like dosing information looking for for proof that they've invested in, in clinical trials and stuff. Thank you. That course yeah,
Speaker 1 36:08
no, it's you know, the supplement world is is dizzyingly complex. And, you know, social media has really, you know, unfortunately, you know, these influencers now have the reach out the voice of, you know, they put their name on something, and it's an overnight Oh, it must be good if whoever acts is doing it, and you do have to still be, you know, a savvy consumer and take things with a grain of salt or, you know, a grain of
Katie Fogarty 36:34
salt. Is there a particular like, I know, when you think of like Consumer Reports, you know, is there something that that? Is there an organization or a website that you're aware of that that helps people decode the supplements and assess which ones are worth their time and money?
Speaker 1 36:52
Well, I really like a site called consumer lab, but it's a subscription site and the problem with them is that they're limited that to who you have to, you know, the company has to give them the product to assess. So, you know, I think going for one with bigger name companies is probably safer because they have more to lose these Fly By Night companies that you know, I remember when raspberry ketones were hot and like every company was like a, you know, as seen on Dr. Oz, blah, blah and, you know, be suspicious of those overhyped claims because a big company that's done the research is never going to overhype things, so if it sounds too good to be true,
Katie Fogarty 37:31
it is it is I love that there's just great advice Yes, great advice and a great reminder this has been fantastic we are heading into our speed round it's just a very quick way of moving through a little bit more material before our time together ends and it's just one to two word answers to these questions. Are you ready?
Unknown Speaker 37:51
I'm ready Let's do well.
Katie Fogarty 37:54
This is this is like a pass or fail he everyone passes back and everyone passes by the way All right. Okay, this is often this spice or herb is always in my grocery cart.
Unknown Speaker 38:05
Reagan up I keep
Katie Fogarty 38:07
meaning to add more of this spice to my diet. time I reach for this spice almost every time I cook even though mostly it's my husband is cooking cumin cumin, okay. Vitamins have their role to do you believe in multivitamins are individual ones. Multi, okay, is there a vitamin that helps our body better absorb all the nutrients from our food and spices?
Unknown Speaker 38:33
Actually fat Ooh,
Katie Fogarty 38:35
it's not that interesting.
Speaker 1 38:38
With all the fat soluble vitamins that's a big mistake that people make sorry You said one word no
Katie Fogarty 38:42
but that's good advice that we need more than one word on that so that's that's helpful to know. Thank you. Okay, even health and wellness practitioners get stressed What is something that helps you manage stress and optimize health outside of work?
Speaker 1 38:57
I'll tell you the healthy thing first is exercise and unhealthy is why
Katie Fogarty 39:03
you and I are unhealthy. i That's so funny when I if I had to answer this question, I would say Bikram yoga is my healthy de stressor and delicious glass of rose would be my more you know, what's my lazy my my lazy, right? I love it. Alright,
finally your one word answer to complete this sentence as I age I feel humble. Humble. That's a good one and no one's used it yet. Dr. Melina, thank you so much. This has been really so incredible. I am excited. Everyone needs to put “Spice Up. Live Long” in their Amazon cart and their Bookshop.org cart because it's a wealth of information. Before we say goodbye, how can our listeners find you learn more about your podcast and keep following your work?
Speaker 1 39:51
Yeah, I'm on. I'm on Instagram. I have a website Dr. Melina it's Dr. M-e-l-I-n-a. My Instagram @DrMelina. I haven't brought myself to do tick tock. The podcast you can find it my website and then my new company which is really where all my heart and soul is going into right now is as Ahara. And it's really it's you know there's there's tons of recipes to some of which are from my chef, not from me -haha- but and you can get you know precision nutrition without even having to do any testing which is kind of cool but it's my baby now so it's where I'm super excited about putting the majority of my resources.
Katie Fogarty 40:35
Fantastic. I'll put all of those in the show notes so listeners can find them. Thank you so much. Dr. Melina. This wraps a certain age a show for women who are aging without apology. Want more of a certain age? Sign up for our newsletter age boldly over on our website a certain age pod.com or follow us on Instagram at a certain age pod. We share bonus content, giveaways, links and mid life resources come hang out. Special thanks to Michael Mancini who composed and produced our theme music. See you next time and until then age boldly beauties.