Podcast #9 – Dietitian & Nutritionist Susan Drake on the Foods That Heal and Habits That Transform
Doug Dvorak (00:01.116)
Good day mission possible podcast community. I’m your host Doug Dvorak and I’m excited to bring you inspiring stories from incredible guests. These individuals are on a mission to create remarkable possibilities that not only enhance their own lives but also make a lasting impact on the communities and individuals they serve. Stay tuned for some truly amazing conversations. My guest today is Susan Drake with a lot of acronyms after her last name MS RD RDN.
NCP and MNT. Hi Susan, how are you?
Susan Drake (00:33.362)
Nice to meet you today and happy to be on your podcast.
Doug Dvorak (00:38.362)
It’s exciting. It’s exciting. I’m not only the podcast host, but I’m one of your clients and we’ll unpack that. I’ve learned a lot from you in a very short period of time. And I know you’ll unpack those several acronyms that you studied long and hard for. Susan is founder of Advanced Nutrition Concepts and Mountain Medical Concepts.
Susan is a registered dietitian RD and a registered dietitian nutritionalist RDN so she is uniquely trained in the science of nutrition and practice of dietetics to design and provide
medical nutrition therapy, and other evidence-based applications of the nutrition care process that exemplify her and her profession’s systematic approach to providing high quality nutrition care. Great to see you, Susan. So today’s topic is identifying root causes with functional lab testing and nutritional solutions.
So Susan, when I think of a dietitian or a nutritionist, I think different things. Can you unpack for us the difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist?
Susan Drake (02:15.64)
Yeah, I think that’s a great first place to start. People really get confused about one or the other. even in years ago, I had people say, well, I don’t want to see a dietician. I want to see a nutritionist.
Dietitians were very unique in the fact that we don’t just work in the hospitals, but we have an extensive criteria that we have to follow to become a dietitian, which is in the beginning a four-year degree, and then we have to do an internship in the hospital, and many of us go and work in the hospitals, and that’s where I got started with my career as well, which is a great baseline to where we really firsthand learn clinical,
medical nutrition, which then I can take with me as what I say as a nutritionist where I’m working with the public and I’m a dietitian nutritionist. So the clinical background taking that to play with.
people in the population and seeing them one-on-one outside of the hospital setting. Often nutritionists, they can be a nutritionist with an online six-week certificate. So pretty much anybody can say that they’re a nutritionist. Now I’m not saying that’s all.
Doug Dvorak (03:29.649)
Really?
Susan Drake (03:35.791)
There are some very qualified nutrition programs. There’s one in Denver that is a two-year program and these nutritionists, when they come out, they are smart cookies and I would send any one of my families and friends to one of these trained nutritionists. But if you’re looking for somebody to help you, you want to really look at their background and find out what is their specialty and what is their background.
Doug Dvorak (04:04.616)
Excellent. Susan, can you share a bit about your background and what inspired you to become a registered dietitian and nutritionist specializing in functional lab testing?
Susan Drake (04:28.982)
Yes, I changed my major a few times. I knew I wanted to be in medicine back in college. And between my freshman and sophomore year, I went out to New York to be a camp counselor at a weight loss camp. And I saw how things were wrong and what the kids were doing and so forth. And I thought, gosh, nutrition is really great.
And I think I could do this. So I came back to school. I changed my major to nutrition and dietetics. And that’s where I got going with on the path to be a dietician.
So I decided to become a dietitian between my freshman year and my sophomore year when I went to be a camp counselor at a weight loss camp.
Susan Drake (05:37.879)
Went back to Colorado State University, changed my major to nutrition and dietetics and that’s where I got off and running. I worked at Children’s Hospital for about a year before I went to grad school at Eastern Illinois University, focusing more on nutrition education. And that’s where I did start off in the hospitals. And from there I switched over, really got into weight loss. But I could see that
The traditional way of looking at food wasn’t always going to help people lose weight. And weight loss was really my specialty for a number of years. And I learned that it wasn’t always just calories in and calories out. So you had to start looking at, what kinds of foods are people eating? What’s right for them?
and learning about the food supply and all of our food just couldn’t be nutritious enough for everything that we need. And so I started delving into the functional medicine side of things and looking at supplements and how can we support the body in varying ways with nutrition supplements. And that was really the beginning of my career and getting to the point of looking at the whole body and what’s pulling back the covers and what’s under the
covers so that you can really get people to reach their goals.
Doug Dvorak (07:05.53)
Thank you. one of your key areas is functional lab testing. We’re going to talk about that. And I’d like you to unpack that for our listeners. What exactly is functional lab testing? And how does it differ from conventional lab tests? But before you answer, you and I, I’ve hired you to do some functional lab testing. And I had an additional blood draw after my annual physical with that blood work. And you said some striking and scary things.
A lot of the blood work is done for a wide swath of the population, and it’s really not customized. It can tell you some things, but how does your functional lab testing really differ from conventional lab tests? I found it fascinating.
Susan Drake (07:49.817)
Functional lab testing is your traditional lab tests. You’re taking your standard Chemical panels and looking at your cholesterol for example or looking at your
Liver function test it’s all the same testing but in we use functional reference ranges So we’re shrinking down those reference ranges, so they’re not so wide So maybe we’re going to capture something Without it being on such a wide reference range so we may be able to catch something that might be going on Before looking at the traditional reference ranges will capture it and keep in mind as a dietitian. I can’t diagnose
I can’t treat, but I can support nutritionally. Now to take that a step further with lab testing, there are what we consider more functional lab tests, and these are ones that your doctors standardly don’t offer. For example, a very comprehensive stool test or a very comprehensive food allergy and sensitivity test. A lot of physicians don’t recognize food sensitivities.
but I’ve just seen invaluable information from both stool testing and food sensitivity testing that have been what’s some of my patients to that next level that they’ve just been struggling with for years, even some people decades, until we finally do that testing and we finally get to that root cause to get them feeling better.
Doug Dvorak (09:30.01)
Interesting. What are some of the most common functional lab tests you recommend for clients and what information do they provide?
Susan Drake (09:37.199)
Well, like I said, I mentioned stool testing and the stool test that I use goes into enormous detail on multiple different types of good bacteria, bad bacteria, parasites. The test I use, I don’t even know how many markers are on it. It’s probably 30 or 40 markers of looking at different bugs that are in our systems. And from there, I can take a look at that lab test and say, well, what do we need to do
Do we need to increase the good bacteria? Are there any bad bacteria or parasites that we need to kill off that may continually be perpetuating that problem that if we don’t rectify what’s causing the gut issues, then they’re just probably never gonna get better. You’re just gonna be putting band-aids on the bleed without actually correcting it. Food sensitivity testing, phenomenal information. And you always think about
while I’m eating a banana, but somebody may find out that that banana really is causing some intestinal irritation and you think it’s a healthy food and how could it possibly be causing problems, but there’s a lot of healthy foods that can be causing intestinal inflammation and irritability.
Doug Dvorak (10:59.144)
Interesting. Can you cite a specific example of how lab testing helped uncover a root cause that might have been overlooked otherwise in one of your clients?
Susan Drake (11:09.47)
I got a couple really good examples and I’ll start with my husband. He was having some really terrible GERD. He was driving me crazy. I’m like, dude, you gotta do something here about this. And of course he wouldn’t listen to me. So I sent him to a nutritionist and the nutritionist was actually who introduced me to the stool test that I use with people now. So Brian did the test and he ended up having a parasite.
that was probably caused from the sushi that he was eating.
And so that was the root cause of his reflux and we killed it and he hasn’t had that problem since. And so with the supplements that we are using, if he starts having it come back a little bit, then we just go on that protocol again and seems to get better. And then I’ve got a neighbor up here in Idaho and
Doug Dvorak (11:56.956)
Wow.
Susan Drake (12:11.926)
She’d been having some issues for decades and I kept saying, I’m like, how come I’m not seeing you at yoga? Where are you? And she’s like, I’ve just been on the toilet.
And we did the stool test and much to my surprise, it looked good. There wasn’t, we needed to increase the good bacteria with some probiotics and fix a few things, but there wasn’t any big culprit like Brian had. So we’ve been working on replenishing and restoring the gut. But the thing we did with her was a food sensitivity test. And one of the big culprits that came up was black pepper. Well.
Doug Dvorak (12:50.524)
Really?
Susan Drake (12:51.055)
Who would think that black pepper was such an issue? And she’s been working on this hard for, I don’t know, month and a half now. And she’s down to having an issue about every 10 days or so. And if pepper slips back into her diet, she’s having issues again. But those are a couple of really good examples of.
Getting people on the right track that if we didn’t do the food testing or the stool testing we would never know Excuse me
Doug Dvorak (13:24.113)
Right.
Doug Dvorak (13:27.848)
Susan, how accessible are these tests for the average person? Are they covered by insurance or mostly out of pocket?
Susan Drake (13:34.915)
These two tests might be covered by insurance with the correct provider. If there’s physicians that are PCOS registered, which are Medicare registered, then those tests can often get covered. I’m not a physician or PCOS registered, so any testing with me being done has to be cash paid.
There are some tests out on the market and there’s more and more kind of distributor type.
companies that are offering testing direct to the consumer direct to the patient that you can go on and you can buy it. Some of them are not as comprehensive as others. So I always recommend do your research, find what’s out there, but make sure that it is a comprehensive enough test.
to meet your needs so that you’re not just spending some money on something that may not be everything that you need. And find a functional medicine doctor or a nurse practitioner or a naturopathic physician that can order some of these functional tests so that you do get it comprehensive and maybe even covered by insurance.
Doug Dvorak (14:57.896)
Great, great information.
Susan What are some surprising or less known root causes of common health issues that you’ve seen in your practice?
Susan Drake (15:39.117)
Well, I think a lot goes back to the food sensitivity testing where people may have, it’s not just digestive issues. They may have headaches or skin issues and they can’t really relate it back to anything because it could be a food sensitivity. And with food sensitivities, those symptoms may not present for 72 hours. And I don’t know about you, Doug, but I can’t remember what I 72 hours ago.
Doug Dvorak (16:07.25)
No.
Susan Drake (16:08.18)
And so that’s why food sensitivity testing is so great because you may find out that it’s that black pepper or that it’s salmon. I don’t know. test, the test I use is 144 different foods and additives and environmental.
antigens that may be impacting you within that 72 hours. So when people get leaky gut, their gut becomes like a spaghetti sieve. You really want that microvilli to be really tight junctures, but when there’s something that keeps bombarding that digestive tract over and over, then the gut lining can be more like a spaghetti sieve and these food particles, healthy foods, can get through and become symptomatic.
Doug Dvorak (16:55.976)
Are there certain patterns you see in clients based on lifestyle or environment that stand out as recurring root causes?
Susan Drake (17:03.806)
I can see that people with the what we call sad the standard American diet if you’re eating out a lot Various things that can impact the digestive lining can be alcohol. It can be sugar can be stress Can all impact that gut lining and the digestive tract is really the Window to to the body. It’s the window to the soul that a lot of times the first place I start is
let’s work on the gut. We got to get the gut healed and that’s usually where people can start getting some relief is once we start working on the gut.
Doug Dvorak (17:45.05)
Interesting. Susan, once root cause or causes are identified, how do you design a personalized nutritional strategy for your clients?
Susan Drake (17:55.427)
You know, I do look at the lab testing and I do love like I did with you, Doug. We just took your standard labs that you’ll get from any doctor and I plug it into this software and the software gives me an amazing report, gives me supplement recommendations, and then it even identifies the top priorities of things that we need to work on. So that’s a really good place I like to start.
Then if we take it a step further and we do the food testing or we do the stool testing, I do like micronutrient testing too. didn’t mention that before, but that looks at micronutrient testing is looking at all your vitamin and mineral levels and seeing if you’re deficient. And that’s a good, that’s a fun one to do too, because then we can say, well look, you’re deficient in vitamin D, you’re deficient in B vitamins. And so we know we need to get
Doug Dvorak (18:36.2)
What’s that?
Susan Drake (18:55.441)
all of those uplifted in the body and looking at the body like a car. If your car’s missing oil or it’s missing transmission fluid, then it’s just not going to run efficiently. So we want to make sure and get the body working efficiently through the digestive tract. We want to make sure you’re absorbing all your nutrients and you’re taking your nutrients in the right form. For example, B12.
It’s as we get older, we don’t absorb as much in our digestive tract because we’re missing what’s called intrinsic factor, which helps you absorb B12. So I always recommend having B12 be sublingual and you absorb it in your mouth so it goes directly into your system. So we go to the micronutrient testing and we can see what nutrients you’re missing and then we can start working on that too.
Doug Dvorak (19:52.744)
Excellent, and I was amazed at our interactions. It was very insightful, but it was easy. I sent you all my, for my annual physical, my blood work, you wrote an order to have another blood test. You got the results, you plugged it in, we sat down and had our consultation, and you gave me a complete list of supplements that’ll be here this afternoon, I’m proud to say. But are there any specific dietary principles?
you recommend universally or is everything tailored based on test results?
Susan Drake (20:25.918)
No, there’s a lot of universal stuff. There’s so much information coming out right now on how bad seed oils are for our digestive tract. they may be even like, seed oil could be sunflower oil, any, any soybean oil, any type of seed oil, I really am steering people away and they’re really,
Doug Dvorak (20:35.804)
What kind of seed oils? Grape seed?
Susan Drake (20:50.699)
Starting to link those to maybe colon cancer. There’s been an uptick in colon cancer and so maybe that’s a piece to it So I’m steering people away from that Obviously steering people away from sugar
If anybody could do one thing and they wanted to change one thing in their diet, it would be to eat more vegetables and getting as many fruits and vegetables as organic as possible. But I think that’s where one area that most people fail at getting enough vegetables.
Doug Dvorak (21:29.256)
Susan how do you balance nutrition recommendations with clients unique cultural or personal food preferences?
Susan Drake (21:45.167)
You know, it’s just working with them individually and helping make recommendations based on, a lot of times it is based on their likes because if you have somebody that really hates broccoli, no matter how many times I tell them to eat broccoli, they’re not gonna do it. So it is important to take a look at them individually and help them find the things that they like to do. And if there’s one thing that I would encourage
especially if you have young kids is to get them to like those fruits and vegetables at a very early age. Get away from all the processed junk and just eat whole real food. If it comes from the directly from the ground, it’s probably going to be good for you as opposed to eating all of that processed garbage. So eating starting to eat fruits and vegetables at a
young age makes it a whole lot easier than trying to like something when you get older.
Doug Dvorak (22:52.616)
Excellent. So you’ve talked a little bit about the role of supplements, but what role do supplements play in addressing root causes and how do you decide when they’re necessary?
Susan Drake (23:02.658)
You know again, I don’t think we get enough of the nutrients we need in our daily foods that we eat. And so the supplements can really help with supporting what our bodies need. If you do the micronutrient testing, you can see what you need. Vitamin D is a good example. have a lot of people that say, well, I just take vitamin D in the wintertime, but I don’t take it in the summer.
we’re just not still not getting out in the sun and having enough vitamin D our body to make enough vitamin D that you can still be deficient in the summertime. So that’s a good example there is just looking at what are some of the typical deficiencies people have. Magnesium is another one. People are chronically deficient in magnesium and vitamin D. And so I usually go ahead and just put people on those even if I
haven’t tested.
Doug Dvorak (23:59.24)
Susan, have you noticed any recent trends in nutrition or lab testing that specifically excite you?
Susan Drake (24:06.99)
Well, I knew food sensitivity testing, that test that just came out. I do work for the company, so I am a little biased on it. But I’ve worked in food sensitivity testing for many, many years, and I was instrumental in this test on helping pick the antigens and the pathways that we’re testing. The cost of the test is very economical, so pretty excited about getting this particular food test launched.
Doug Dvorak (24:35.112)
Excellent. Susan, what are some of the challenges people face when transitioning to a diet focused on resolving root causes?
Susan Drake (24:43.483)
probably their schedules is probably one of the number one things. Everybody’s living at such a fast paced life that it’s hard with traveling and kids and the family around you and even social events to try to follow something that may help them. It’s tough to change habits.
And economically too. It’s a lot more expensive to eat non-GMO. It’s more expensive to eat
organic and if you’re going to have pasta I usually recommend people to have it imported in from Italy because from what I hear that wheat is so much better from over there than what it is here and so many people say if I eat in Italy I don’t have a problem when I eat in the U.S. so I do and it is going to be more expensive if you’re buying pasta that’s been imported in.
Doug Dvorak (25:44.776)
Yeah, you had mentioned GMO, I had watched Robert Kennedy Jr. on Joe Rogan and Rogan’s really into nutrition, health, exercise, and one of his statements relative to health and diet, you can’t outrun a poor diet. But he, really interesting on what Bobby Kennedy Jr. said about when he was suing Monsanto for pesticide.
and environmental pollution and specifically in the area of Roundup and how Roundup that weed control and then they knew that Roundup may have been sunsetted in a short period of time and sales would go down. So they developed a GMO corn seed and how if you poured Roundup on that, I mean, it’s just, it’s very bizarre, not nutritional, not.
environmentally safe, not organic, but we spoke briefly about this, all the environmental pollutants and how it’s infiltrated our food chain and it’s really quite scary. So that leads me to the next question. How can people avoid becoming overwhelmed by all the information, misinformation available about nutrition and health?
Susan Drake (27:03.8)
I know. I mean, that’s really a good question. There is so much information out there and it’s sometimes hard to weed through it where you might want, you you might find just a nutritionist or registered dietitian nutritionist, whatever works for you that can help you weed through the information.
Susan Drake (27:28.684)
The websites that I really follow for my information are mercola.com.
I find that information is very cutting edge, very holistic, functional information. I follow the Children’s Health Defense, which is RFK Junior’s website. I also follow the Highwire, which is Del Bigtree. I think he’s a really good journalist that sifts through the information. But it is, there is a lot of information out there and it’s hard to really know
where to go and that’s why I do try to just go down to drill down to the basics and say eat non-gmo eat organic both of those whenever possible eat whole real food whenever possible stay away from the processed stuff and that just I say just but that simplified will help you go a long way
Doug Dvorak (28:34.312)
That’s a pretty simple recipe. It was overwhelming for me. That’s why I hired you. But I think a bolt onto that great advice, eat more fruits and vegetables, eat organic. If it comes out of the ground without pesticides, it’s probably good. And the bolt onto that, manage stress, have a good community of friends that adds to longevity and emotional, mental, spiritual health, exercise a little bit, manage stress, and eat great food in manageable quantities.
Susan Drake (28:53.006)
Mm-hmm.
Susan Drake (29:03.158)
Right, and back to the GMO corn, wanted to mention the last I heard was that Mexico is not going to accept any more GMO products. And so they’re staying away from the GMO corn. So whenever I can, I can find, say corn tortillas, I try to find them when they’re made from Mexico.
Doug Dvorak (29:27.6)
Interesting. Susan, are there any red flags people should look out for when exploring functional lab testing or nutritional solutions?
Susan Drake (29:38.841)
You know, I think the main thing is just finding something that’s reputable and finding somebody that you trust their information, you trust their credentials, and you’re on the same page as they are. There’s a lot of people out there, there’s a lot of supplements that are, they’re kind of gimmicky and I mean, trying to sift through what’s quality supplement and what’s not, that’s an impossible task right there at times.
because there’s just so much marketing out there. If you’re late night TV, you’re gonna see all kinds of commercials for this, that, and the next. And so just really do your research and make sure that it’s a professional line of products. And if you see and you’re searching around and you see doctors, functional medicine doctors who are very well known and you see a certain product that’s listed on their website, it’s probably a good product.
Doug Dvorak (30:38.472)
Susan, can you share with our listeners the importance of hydration and enough water? You you hear eight glasses a day. How important is hydration, water, and how much should you drink? As I have some now.
Susan Drake (30:51.733)
Okay.
Susan Drake (31:10.808)
Well, hydration is necessary for every cell in the body. And it’s again like your car. If your car’s not lubed up, then it’s not gonna function appropriately. So the same with hydration. You really need to make sure and…
just drinking to your body’s needs. don’t think there’s really anything that I found that says specifically how much water you need and that eight glasses a day is kind of a myth because your activity levels and the…
what you’re doing every day and what’s the temperature outside is always going to impact that and really the main thing I tell people is just watch the color of your urine. If it’s not clear, you’re not drinking enough. So just keep watching for that urine to be clear.
Doug Dvorak (32:02.92)
So clear urine is indicative of drinking enough water. And is water the go-to? Obviously it’s not pop, but…
Susan Drake (32:06.84)
Mm-hmm.
Susan Drake (32:10.902)
Yeah, it’s water, definitely water.
Doug Dvorak (32:14.994)
So we are located, you and I, at Tamarack Resort in Donnelly, Idaho, south central Idaho, where they do not put fluoride in the water. Any observations on the treatment of fluoride in the water? Are there any studies or things that you can share with our listeners about fluorinated water?
Susan Drake (32:34.367)
There’s a lot of information coming out right now on the detriments of fluoride in our water. There are some filters out there that will take the fluoride out of your water that I highly recommend.
getting it out. There’s information that it impacts the pineal gland and the pineal gland is up here and it can decrease the IQ in children taking the fluoride. So it’s really important especially for growing kids that they get the fluoride out of the water and it could impact their IQs.
Doug Dvorak (32:56.806)
What is the pineal gland?
Doug Dvorak (33:16.356)
Interesting. So there’s some filters that can take out the fluoride out of water. You know, when I was listening to Bobby Kennedy Jr., he said during the pandemic, COVID pandemic, that the U.S. had 4 % of the world’s population, but we had about 17 % of COVID cases, which is leading me to what you said on SAD. I’d never heard that, the Standard American Diet.
Susan Drake (33:19.374)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Doug Dvorak (33:41.992)
I mean, if I’m in a primary, secondary or tertiary market driving down Main Street, it is littered with fast food and that standard American diet. When I travel, I’ve been to over 145 countries. I have never seen the epidemic or pandemic of weight issues in other countries. Sure, I see some overweight people, but nothing like I see in the U.S. Can you unpack that issue of…
fast food, sad, standard American diet and how it is really detrimental to us as a nation and culture. And what really stymies me when I watch TV with my wife on occasion and it’s late at night, why am I seeing every, every fast food chain for breakfast, lunch, dinner at 10 o’clock? The power of suggestion, it must be working, but circling back, standard American diet,
Susan Drake (34:34.766)
Mm-hmm.
Doug Dvorak (34:39.62)
obesity, morbid obesity, unpack that for our listeners.
Susan Drake (34:44.163)
You know, there’s so much stress. I think stress really impacts our metabolism and how well we’re eating and just the quality of food. I don’t even know what’s in fast food anymore. It’s not, it’s, I don’t think it’s what it was even when I was a kid. And I just.
I don’t know. I don’t know what’s in the food. Everything with the price of food has gone up so much that for, I’m assuming that for these companies, they need to bring down the quality of the food so that it doesn’t become so expensive. I I don’t even, I haven’t been in fast food restaurants and eons, but I’m pretty sure you can’t get a non-GMO and,
organic burger when you go into most of the fast food places and there’s just so much chemicals that are
impacting the hormones in our bodies, even from the wrappers on some of the fast food, they’re getting into our bodies and they’re hormone disruptors. And when our hormones are disrupted, that can lead to the obesity. The fast food can damage the digestive tract. So it’s there’s what is it doing to hormones in our guts, but then the calories too.
The calories in these foods are out of sight.
Doug Dvorak (36:15.888)
Interesting. So when we were meeting on a couple of the consultations reviewing data and nutritional supplements, diet, et cetera, you had talked about chemicals, what they’re spraying. Can you talk about the impact of environmental and all these chemicals they’re spraying? Sort of expound upon that beyond the fast food and those environmental risks that might be affecting our health and our food supply?
Susan Drake (36:45.87)
Well, I think the best way to look at it is you are what you eat and you are what you eat eats. So if our…
Doug Dvorak (36:55.004)
Mmm never heard that one. You are what you eat and you are what you eat eats
Susan Drake (37:01.122)
Yes, so if your cattle are eating grains that are GMO or they’ve been sprayed with glyphosate like you had mentioned, then you’re going to be eating that as well.
And then thinking about the environment as far as what’s being sprayed can then get into the water supply and start contaminating the water supply, contaminating the fish that we eat and the oceans full of plastics and the microplastics are getting into our fish and mercury is getting into our fish. And so again, you are eat you are what you eat eats. So
So just thinking about all those chemicals there, it does become a daunting thing if you think about it too much. And it makes it really hard for a lot of people to stay on track and really be as healthy as we want to be.
Doug Dvorak (38:09.936)
Interesting. So that’s the end of the formal podcast. Now we get into the rapid fire questions. I’m going to ask you a series of questions, one word response or a short word phrase. Are you ready?
Susan Drake (38:16.64)
Okay.
Susan Drake (38:23.444)
I’m ready, let’s do it!
Doug Dvorak (38:25.256)
All right, what’s one food you think everyone should eat more of?
Susan Drake (38:29.218)
vegetables.
Doug Dvorak (38:30.672)
Is there a food trend or fad you wish would disappear forever?
Susan Drake (38:35.338)
Stop telling people they shouldn’t eat eggs.
Doug Dvorak (38:39.176)
Excellent. Coffee, good, bad, or it depends.
Susan Drake (38:43.662)
I think it’s, there’s a lot of good research on it. I’m addicted to it.
Doug Dvorak (38:49.648)
Okay, what’s your favorite go-to healthy snack?
Susan Drake (38:54.027)
nuts.
Doug Dvorak (38:55.694)
One functional lab test you think everyone should try at least once.
Susan Drake (39:00.215)
stool testing.
Doug Dvorak (39:02.055)
If you could banish one piece of health advice or myth for good, what would it be?
Susan Drake (39:13.701)
that goes back to the eggs again. Eat your eggs.
Doug Dvorak (39:16.9)
Eat your eggs, protein. What’s a small habit someone can start today to improve their overall health?
Susan Drake (39:24.674)
go to the grocery store and pick out one new vegetable.
Doug Dvorak (39:29.104)
Excellent. Great job, Susan. My guest has been Susan Drake, registered dietitian and nutritionist. She has some incredible tools here and advice on this podcast on functional lab testing, eating more organic food, managing stress, eating less fast food. Susan, you’ve also written a book. What was that book and how can our listeners get a hold of it?
Susan Drake (39:55.691)
that book was so old. That was called Weight Loss, 12 Weeks to a Healthier You Weight Loss. I think it might still be on Amazon, but I do think it’s a little outdated now. There’s some good basics in there on helping people with…
Doug Dvorak (40:08.882)
but still good, good, good data and good information.
Susan Drake (40:18.126)
implementing new habits. But I think some of the information is probably antiquated at this point. I think I wrote it probably 12 or 13 years ago.
Doug Dvorak (40:32.136)
Excellent. And one last question. If you could go back in the time machine 30 years and give your younger self one piece of advice on overall health, what would it be?
Susan Drake (40:43.126)
Eat more vegetables. I struggle with it too.
Doug Dvorak (40:44.71)
eat more vegetables. Susan Drake.
You and me both, you and me both. So our guest has been Susan Drake, registered dietician and nutritionist. Susan, if our listeners want to get a hold of you, how can they get a hold of you?
Susan Drake (41:00.079)
Probably the best ways to go to my website, mountainmedicalconcepts.org.
Doug Dvorak (41:07.804)
mountainmedicalconcepts.org. Thank you, Susan, and thank you Mission Possible podcast community. It’s been a high honor and privilege to bring interesting topics and interesting guests to make those missions that are impossible possible. Check us out on missionpossible.biz. Good luck, good nutrition, and good health.