Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast.
Have you ever walked into the kitchen and opened up the fridge and thought to yourself what exactly should I be eating to lose weight and gain muscle?
I mean, what is the best breakfast?
What do you eat when you're not hungry?
What should I be eating for dinner tonight?
I mean, what are you even supposed to eat today to make the healthiest choice for your body?
I don't know about you, but I'm often very confused.
If you're like me and you've wished someone with a medical degree who has also studied the science of nutrition, could just bottom line what is healthy eating.
And then tell us exactly what to do.
Well, you're in luck because our guest today has done that.
She has the answer.
She has the research.
She's going to tell you exactly what to do and can prove why this will work.
Dr Amy Shaw is a double board certified medical doctor who trained at Harvard Medical School and has degrees in nutrition and immunology.
She is one of the leading medical experts in understanding the role that nutrition plays in your health longevity, hormone regulation, energy everything.
She's been in clinical practice seeing patients for over 22 years and has come up with a protocol that is evidence-based and easy to remember.
So if you're ever wondering what you need to eat today in order to be healthy, all you have to do from now on is remember 30-33.
30-33 is Dr. Shah's nutrition protocol that she has researched extensively.
This is what she prescribes to her patients.
And many of them, check this out, start feeling and looking better in just three days.
And Dr. Shaw says the same thing can happen to you.
So you can shut the cabinet and close the fridge, sit down and listen.
You're about to learn why 30-33 is the simple, science-backed nutrition reset your body has been begging for.
Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast.
I am so excited you're here.
It is such an honor to be together and to spend this time with you.
And if you're a new listener or you're here because somebody shared this with you, I just want to take a moment and personally welcome you to the Mel Robbins Podcast family.
I am so excited for our conversation.
I'm excited for you to meet our expert, Dr. Amy Shaw.
Dr. Shaw has a degree in nutrition from Cornell University.
She completed her residency in internal medicine at Harvard University's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and completed her fellowship in immunology at Columbia University Medical Center.
Dr Shaw has been in clinical practice for 22 years as a double board certified medical doctor with a specific focus on nutrition hormones, gut health and energy.
She is the bestselling author of three books, including her newest, Hormone Havoc.
She's also the creator of a science-backed nutrition protocol that is so simple.
It is designed for people like you and me, because you want to be healthy but you're super busy.
Dr Shaw's 30-33 protocol is going to boil it down to just three simple things that are probably in your fridge right now, sitting in your cabinets waiting for you to find them.
And by the time we're done with this conversation, you're not only going to be inspired by her 30-33 protocol.
You will understand the research and evidence that explains exactly why this way to eat works to improve your mood, your energy.
It'll help you lose weight and make you stronger.
So please help me welcome Dr. Amy Shaw to the Mel Robbins Podcast.
Dr. Amy Shaw, welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast.
Thank you for having me, Mel.
I always learn so much from you, and here's where I want to start.
What will I experience in my life that will change for the better or could be different if I take everything that you're about to teach us today and I apply it to my life?
What's going to change, Dr. Shaw?
Well, Mel, I'm going to give you the framework to feel better in your body, to feel more energized.
And it is the simplest thing, that's distilling down thousands of research papers, thousands of women that have come to me.
And I am going to give that to you today.
Wow.
So what is this framework?
And where has it been my whole life?
Yeah.
That's a great question.
The framework is 30-33, okay?
30 grams of protein in your first meal, 30 grams of fiber throughout the day and three probiotic foods every day.
And each of these is based in deep scientific research.
And this is something that should have been given to us when we were in health class, in whatever sixth seventh, eighth grade.
It should have been maybe given to us at our doctor's offices, which it wasn't.
It should have given to me in medical school, wasn't.
And it is not till today that we are sharing this with the world.
Dr. Shaw.
I have interviewed you before but you seem even more passionate than normal about the research and about the recommendation to women, specifically that we be getting 30 grams of protein first thing in the morning, 30 grams of fiber throughout the day and three probiotic foods I think you said throughout the day.
Why are you so excited and passionate about this new protocol?
The reason why is I think that women have been ignored for far too long.
Did you know that every single medication procedure diagnosis that doctors make is based on research that is mostly done on white men?
And it wasn't until there was a female that actually came in as the NIH director in 1991, and she was like.
None of these big research articles include women or minorities.
And so she created the Revitalization Act in 1993 to actually mandate that they be included, because there is this theory that women are complicated.
We have hormones, pregnancies.
And so they were thinking that it was a favor not to have women in there.
But what ended up happening is that very, very big mistakes were happening.
For example, heart attacks were never studied in women.
And so when women would have a heart attack, it would be missed 50% of the time.
And this is still true because women present differently.
They don't have the like crushing chest pain to the left arm.
It's like anxiety, like nausea.
And you say, oh, you're fine.
Go home.
And 50% higher mortality.
That's crazy.
Isn't that crazy?
I mean, I think women have always, always felt like we are not listened to.
Like I know that there are people listening and watching today who are feeling hey, nobody's listening to me.
I have all of these things going on for me.
And that's why we're here, because I want to fill this gap by giving people the tools, the blueprint.
So Dr. Shaw-
You have now looked at the research.
You have crunched the data and you have distilled it down into a brand new formula that you are recommending that women follow.
What is this formula and why are you so excited about it?
It's called the 30-33 formula.
30 grams of protein in your first meal, 30 grams of fiber throughout the day and three probiotic foods every day.
And why are you making this recommendation?
Because women have gotten diets, weight loss plans.
They have never gotten a framework to make them stronger and to make them happier and to make them more energized.
I love it because I feel like a lot of people are like, oh, just eat healthy.
And I'm like, well, what does that actually mean?
And so I'm excited to dig into it.
But I want to read to you from your bestselling book, Hormone Havoc.
This is in the introduction.
Wait till you hear this as I read this.
After you've made the simple, science-backed nutritional changes I am recommending in the 30-33 protocol, you can expect the following
Improve mood and less anxiety, better sleep, healthy digestion, higher libido, sharper thinking, diminished hot flashes and night sweats, a fitter figure, including around your waist, greater energy, less fatigue, and more.
Your body is changing, cycling through completely normal phases of life that all women journey through.
You cannot control how your hormones change, but you can control how you experience it.
With the protocols and tools that you're about to teach us today, Dr Shaw, you have the power to reframe perimenopause, menopause and your health in general as an opportunity, not a curse.
And Dr. Shah, you're saying with just this protocol, 3033? you can achieve those benefits?
Yes.
And it's grounded in research.
It's a simple framework that anybody can do and is going to change your life.
I want this.
So let's dig into it.
And you mentioned that the first core element of the 30-33 protocol is getting 30 grams of protein first thing in the morning.
Why is that the first part of this?
It's the first step towards better health, better mindset, better energy.
And if you can start to master that, then you can move on to the 30 grams of fiber.
And then lastly, go to the three probiotic foods every day.
So step one is the protein in the morning.
Okay, so here's what I want to do.
I want to take each one of these, of the 30 33, and I want to start with the 30 grams of protein and we're going to go through each one and I want you to really unpack why.
Yes.
What is 30 grams of protein?
What counts as protein?
And, more importantly, the research that explains protein.
How getting 30 grams of protein first thing in the morning as part of this 30-33 plan, what the research says about how it makes you healthier, how it makes you happier, what it does in your gut, how it works with the female body.
I cannot wait to dig into this.
Dr. Shaw, what is protein?
Protein, Mel, is a bunch of amino acids.
Now what's an amino acid?
And I'll tell you, these are the building blocks.
You probably heard about building blocks of muscle.
You might've even heard building blocks of your gut lining, but did you know?
It's a building blocks of neurotransmitters in your brain, like dopamine and serotonin.
So what I'm saying to you is by eating protein, you are giving your body the building blocks to make more muscle, to make hair, skin and nails, but also to make more gut lining and to make neurotransmitters like dopamine, which is our motivation, our energy and our focus.
Okay.
I want to make sure that I'm tracking, because I thought that you're supposed to eat protein in order to just help you with muscle mass which, of course, is important, especially for women, especially when you're 35 and up and you're hitting perimenopause.
Understand that.
But you just added on a long list of other things that protein does, from your neurotransmitters to dopamine and serotonin, to your gut lining.
How is protein involved in those things?
The reason why there's 30 grams of protein and 30 grams of fiber is that combination of protein and fiber, and we'll get into exactly what that looks like.
Okay.
The combination of protein and fiber is the perfect food for your gut bacteria.
Our gut microbiome has trillions with a T organisms that are helping us make decisions, like talking to our hormones immune system, and they're starving to death.
We're not getting enough protein.
We're not getting enough fiber.
And so putting them together is the perfect way to feed your gut bacteria.
You want it to be a lush Amazon jungle.
You don't want it to be a barren wasteland, which is what it looks like for a lot of us.
And that protein is giving signals back to the brain that you're full.
And so we know that women especially, who have protein in the morning, they have more of the signals to the brain that you're full.
And it lowers that craving, especially that three o'clock, that post-lunch craving or that nighttime craving that happens.
Having protein in the morning helps you control that.
So not only is it helping your muscles which, like you said, very important, especially as we face that decline in perimenopause.
Just quickly, Dr. Shaw, why is... eating protein for muscles as a woman super important?
Yeah, that's such a great question because most of us including myself, I was on that get smaller, get thinner, and we're on this bandwagon of trying to look as small as possible.
And what I want to tell women is You don't wanna be smaller, you wanna be stronger.
And the reason why, for muscles, this matters is that our signaling for muscle growth goes down as we age.
So from the age of 35- Wait, is that why everything's getting flabby?
Yes, it doesn't mean that you're screwed.
It just means you need a stronger stimulus.
That stimulus that you used to have for muscle growth has blunted because our estrogen is going down.
What is the health benefit of me having muscles?
Listen, if you don't have muscle and your bones are brittle when you fall which you will inevitably we all fall at some point in our lives.
We just get up right.
But if you are in your 80s or 90s and you fall, you don't have the muscles to hold you up.
And you don't have the bones to withstand the impact of that fall.
That is a life-ending fall for you.
So muscles are important for longevity.
Muscles are important for you to feel strong in your body.
And muscles also signal longevity.
Other things to other parts of your body, and protein and the building blocks you called it amino acids in a protein are essential for your body to be able to build and maintain muscle.
When you exercise and you eat protein, the muscle becomes a sink for your glucose.
It's like a sponge that's taking up all the glucose in your system.
What does that mean?
So what happens is when we eat a huge meal, we get a big blood sugar spike.
Okay.
And the goal for all of us is to make sure the spike isn't too big and that it comes down very quickly.
Even if the spike is big, as long as it comes down quickly, your muscles suck that in.
The muscles actually, they don't even need insulin.
They have their own transporters called the GLUT4 transporter.
Okay.
So one of the best things I find about eating protein and exercising is that you're actually improving your metabolism.
So your blood sugar will be lower.
You'll have less abdominal fat.
You'll be more energized, less crashes.
I mean those are like the benefits we don't talk about enough with protein.
Is that connection with protein and exercise in the muscle?
Wait.
So just as I'm sitting here, And I've got some biceps and some quads, okay?
And I've eaten my protein, which I did this morning because I knew you were coming.
If I were to eat something that spikes my insulin.
The mere fact that I have built my muscles up and I've fed them protein, which is critical to maintaining the muscle, means the muscles themselves almost act like a sponge to suck it out of my body.
Yes.
And that's almost like exercising without exercising.
That's right.
That's why muscle mass is so important.
And think about it.
If you pair that with a quick you know I'm going to stand up and do a couple of squats or I'm you are actually creating a scenario in your body where those muscles are contracting and they know okay, I got to pull some of that into my muscle.
And they're going to do such a great job that, all of a sudden, your blood sugar balances right away instead of being on a crash.
Could you explain the surprising things that happen in your brain or your body when you eat protein, especially first thing in the morning?
As a woman,
The surprising benefits is that it's actually the building blocks of dopamine and serotonin.
Dopamine is so needed for us, especially when we're in that midlife and beyond, because our levels are lower right,
So that motivation, that feeling of energized, do you know when you feel like so excited to do something?
That is dopamine.
And it's like the one that keeps you going on the project because you want it to be done.
It's the one that gets you up out of bed.
It's the one that makes you drive across town.
Dopamine is so positive.
It can be negative too because it's part of addiction.
But in the mornings we want to have our dopamine and our serotonin.
Our happy hormone serotonin, is.
We want it to be higher.
Yeah.
You've heard of GLP-1, neuropeptide Y.
We want to have those high so that we can feel full and not have cravings for the rest of the day.
So that's a natural way to boost those hormones in our body that make us feel full.
And so not only are we more focused and we're more motivated, but we're also less likely to kind of be distracted because we're craving something.
And so there's very good studies that show people who eat protein in the early part of the day will get benefits all day long because of the neurotransmitters, because of the craving and the satiation factor of eating.
What is the recommended range?
And obviously everybody's slightly different, but what is the general range for how much protein you should be getting?
That's a great question.
And that varies depending on what your goals are.
My goal is to be healthy and wealthy and happy and to take advantage of all this research.
Okay, so for someone like you, I would recommend 0.8 grams per pound.
Okay, 0.8.
So between 0.7 and all the way up to one gram per pound is like the range for the high protein diet.
And I said that for you because I know that you're working on building more muscle.
Yes.
So I know that you're working to maximize and it's so sad, but that's a lot higher than the RDA.
Okay.
So what the recommended amount is is much lower.
But what your medical opinion is is that if you're between, if you're around 08 grams.
So that's like.
So I just need to make the math easy.
So if I were to, so if you're working with I don't know, 150 pounds and you are going one gram, That's 150 grams.
I'm just trying to like make this simple for myself.
And if you were to do 0.8, it is- 120.
120.
That's a lot of protein.
It's a lot of protein.
You know, there's only so many egg bites and smoothies and bars and chicken and steak and fish and meal prepping that one can do.
Well, that's why we're going to talk about it.
We'll make some easy, easy kind of breakfast ideas.
Okay.
And I'll tell you some quick, easy things that you can add to your diet that is going to really amp up the protein.
Okay.
There was one other thing that you said that I wanted to make sure that you explained which was you said.
If you are of an age Mm-hmm.
You're smiling at me.
I'm 57.
If you're of an age... where it's harder for you to maintain muscle mass.
Can you give me the age where you should start paying attention to this?
Mid-30s.
Mid-30s?
I know.
Is that just for women?
Yes.
Men's loss is more gradual.
Okay.
Women kind of face a little more accelerated muscle loss.
You're so... polite in your language.
So we fall off a cliff at like in our thirties because of our hormone changes.
Yes.
So that makes sense.
Which means we are not going to build and maintain muscle the way the guys are, because we are fundamentally different.
As Dr Stacey Sims always says, women are not small men.
Yep.
Um, And so the protein first thing in the morning is critical, because you need more protein so your body can break it down into amino acids that help you build and maintain muscle.
You got it.
Oh my God, I just got it.
I just got it.
Did you get it as you were listening or watching?
I just got why this matters.
That's why it matters.
It's so much more than protein for muscles.
This is about your health as you get older.
It's about your neurotransmitters.
It's about your gut lining.
It's about your hair, skin, and nails.
It's about so much more.
And it's about feeling good in your body.
So could you be losing... I'm sorry, I'm going completely off track.
But now I'm like could you be losing hair because you don't have enough protein in your diet, because you're missing?
Yes,
Oh.
Here's what I got for the first time.
For some reason, I had always thought about amino acids, for some reason, as something that your body is just kind of absorbing.
That's necessary.
And when you explained it so simply, you probably didn't even catch yourself saying it.
And I want to highlight this because I really want you to leave this conversation not just understanding 30-33 and this framework for women based on all of the research and science that we now have, and based on hormones and based on everything else.
I really want you to understand that when you eat a protein source, your body breaks it down into these amino acids, and the amino acids do all of this important work in your gut, in your brain and in your muscles, and that's why you're eating it.
That's right.
And one of the things I tell women especially is that we naturally lose muscle mass 1 to 3 per decade.
Okay.
But when we go into this phase that we call perimenopause- Which is in your 30s.
30s all the way through your 50s, you have accelerated muscle loss.
Okay, so it's no longer 1% to 3%.
You're just naturally losing.
Yeah, so it's 1% to 3% per decade.
And then when you get into perimenopause, it's 1% to 3% at the end of a menopause.
It's per year.
Per year?
Yeah.
This goes back to the original point.
Women's bodies are different.
Our hormones are different.
The way we cycle are different.
The amino acids that we need for our muscles to be maintained and to build and for our brains and serotonin and gut different.
And if we have accelerated loss of our muscle mass just naturally because of hormone changes in our early 30s, it's important to know that.
It's important.
Now I understand why you have a formula.
Exactly.
I love this.
Okay.
So I want you to show us what counts for When it comes to 30 grams of protein first thing in the morning and how to get it.
And I also want you to surprise us, because there's probably a lot of things that I'm throwing in my mouth that I think are great sources of protein that might not be.
You ready?
Ready.
Okay, great.
So we're going to bring in some different foods.
Our executive producer, Tracy, is going to go grab it right now.
I want to take a quick pause so we can hear a word from our amazing sponsors.
And I also want to give you a chance to share this with everyone you know who needs to hear all about this research and this simple protocol.
Text it to your sister, send it to your best friend, your daughter, your coworker, whoever needs it.
This whole thing about healthy eating, just simplified and bottom line.
This is simple, doable.
They're going to get their energy back.
And speaking of back, don't go anywhere, because we will be right back with more specific recommendations and the research from Dr Shaw when we return.
Welcome back.
It's your friend Mel Robbins.
Today, you and I are here with Dr. Amy Shaw.
She's a double board certified medical doctor, bestselling author, and she is here giving you and me her 3033 nutrition protocol and telling you and me exactly what we need to eat this year to get our energy back, to boost your mood, to live longer.
So let's just jump right back in.
Okay, so we have all this amazing food on the table, and now I'm starting to salivate as I'm looking at all this stuff.
And why don't you walk us through every single one of the food items that you have in front of us and just describe what it is, how much protein there is and what you want us to know about it?
Love that.
All right.
Let's start with an egg.
Okay.
Do you like eggs?
I love eggs, but there's only so many eggs I can eat.
You know what I'm saying?
And I feel like this is my go-to for fast protein.
It is the go-to for fast protein.
What I love about eggs is that they have six grams of protein per egg, but that's it.
That's it.
Oh, I thought I was getting more.
So two eggs is not enough.
It's only 12?
Yes.
Most women are having two eggs for breakfast.
That's what I had for breakfast.
That's too little.
You need to have an egg scramble, okay?
You can put one or two yolks, because the yolk has a little bit of choline and fat-soluble vitamins in it.
But then you can put in the whites.
So then you can get like five eggs.
So three egg whites, two eggs.
Yes.
Exactly.
And or you could do all eggs, but having all eggs amps up the cholesterol a little bit.
So I like to add just like two egg yolks or one for taste and then the rest egg whites.
And the great thing about eggs, they're so versatile.
Mm-hmm.
You can throw it in to a stew.
You can throw it in on a side.
You can eat it on the side of something else.
Whenever I'm in a crunch, that is a go-to, really easy food that you can make at home.
And then we're going to go to one of my favorites. is cottage cheese.
Now here, so you love cottage cheese.
I know.
I do.
Shout out to my mother.
She always had cottage cheese on the table growing up.
It is cottage cheese, first of all, a good source of protein.
It is a great source of protein.
You can get in about a cup with a little bit more than a cup, you can get 30 grams of protein.
Wait, a cup of cottage cheese has 30 grams of protein?
So a half cup has like 14.
So a little more than a cup, you're getting all of the breakfast protein in one cottage cheese.
I like the probiotic type of cottage cheese because you get to hit that probiotic goal as well.
And so what you want to do is, if you add a little bit of fruit to this, this becomes a really delicious kind of parfait.
You can add a little honey, or you can add some dates to this and it becomes a really easy, quick five minute breakfast.
So a cup of cottage cheese with some fruit on top.
Yes.
That's about 30 grams of protein.
And as I'm eating it, My body is breaking it down into those amino acids and I'm doing a good thing for my gut, my brain and my muscles.
And your hair, skin, and nails.
And my hair, skin, and nails.
Wow.
One easiest way to get protein honestly is chicken breasts, because you can get 26 grams at one serving.
And how big is one serving?
Like a deck of cards.
Wait, hold on.
A deck of cards.
Yes.
Is 30 grams of protein?
Yes.
Roughly?
Yes.
Oh, I love that.
Isn't that awesome?
That's a great visual.
It is such an easy way to get protein in your diet.
This.
Maybe you don't want to have it for breakfast, but maybe you're having it for lunch or dinner because you really want to get.
30 grams in each meal.
And if you're like you, which we calculated out to be 120 grams, you're going to have to get even more maybe.
So this is maybe a snack.
Wow, well, when I first met you, I was two-thirds deficient in what I needed to get.
What else do you have?
Do I see, are there lentils over there?
Yes, okay, surprising one for high protein is lentils.
You get 18 grams of protein from lentils, one serving.
Isn't that insane?
Hold that up.
So Dr Shaw is holding a bowl that is full of just the basic green lentils that you can buy anywhere.
Yeah.
18 grams of protein.
From one cup?
Yeah.
Isn't that crazy?
That's really crazy.
I actually love that because lentils, I think, are inexpensive.
They're easy.
Even if you're not a chef, I'm not the biggest chef, but It's easy to cook them.
You just have to soak and boil them.
They're like an easy and they're just inexpensive, especially for those people who think eating healthy or eating protein is going to be super expensive.
This is a great option.
Wow.
Dr. Shaw, I'm so glad you're giving us a bunch of different options.
I do want to ask a quick question though.
Is there a reason why you didn't bring up bacon?
It's not.
The problem with bacon is that it is an ultra-processed food in most cases.
You can get bacon that's not ultra-processed.
Meaning you buy it from a local farmer.
Yeah.
I wanted to focus on things that could be easy switches that people could make very easily and get their high protein in.
And that's why I focused on these.
More whole foods.
Yeah.
Because the ultra-processed has chemicals and other stuff in it that sort of counteracts what you're going for.
That's right.
The more ultra-processed a food is, the more likely it is to cause inflammation in your body and long-term health issues, which is why you want to have as little ultra-processed foods in your life as possible.
Now I'm so glad I asked that question because my typical breakfast, especially if I'm traveling, because I find it to be not only surprisingly hard to get 120 grams of protein in, but I find it particularly hard when it's a work week or it's a super busy day and I'm racing out the door.
Yeah.
And so I would be ordering at a restaurant in the morning or getting takeout and adding bacon in.
And now I'm realizing, while I'm trying to fill the protein gap, I'm actually working against myself, because I'm eating something that's ultra processed, even though I'm not considering it.
Yes.
What are some other ways that you want us to think about filling that gap, especially on those mornings that it's busy or you're traveling?
Well, that's where... That's why I set up some quick options.
So here's the thing.
Not everyone is going to have time to make a full breakfast.
And often we are trying to figure out smoothie, but it's Jamba Juice.
And you're like, how do I even get enough protein without getting 800 calories in my... And so...
You want to pick options that are good to go.
Like this Pure Genius has 23 grams of protein in one shot.
And so you can get something like this on the go that actually helps you reach your protein goals.
Now, in full disclosure...
I am one of the co-founders of Pure Genius, and you are on the founding scientific advisory board.
As a medical doctor, why is it that you got involved in this?
And what is it that you want people to know about it?
Well, I got involved first of all because, just like you, I'm struggling every single day to get enough protein.
And so what this kind of does is gives us an option to have protein.
And I love that it's in a small container.
And I loved that I got to be involved, to help create something that is something you can be proud of putting in your body and not being like, oh God, I feel so sick and I really shouldn't have done that.
Which is what I usually feel like when I'm at an airport or trying to figure out what to eat for protein in the morning when I'm traveling.
So this was such a great solution and I got to work so closely with the team and you and we got to see how it's being made.
And so we know what's happening inside of it.
That made me really proud.
Well, it made me proud too, because the thing that surprised me the most when I really started to pay attention to this is how hard it is to get the amount of protein that you need and the fact that there are so many hidden calories.
Yes.
When I saw how much my smoothie...
I mean, no wonder it tasted delicious.
It was basically the same amount of calories as a freaking milkshake with ice cream.
I know.
I mean, I'm going to share with you kind of the biggest mistake that we're making with protein.
Okay.
And that is thinking that things like peanut butter.
Oh God, don't go for my peanut butter, Dr. Shaw.
Okay.
I love peanut butter.
It's a super healthy fat.
Okay.
But you would have to have eight tablespoons of peanut butter to get enough of protein to be considered 30 grams.
Eight tablespoons?
Yeah.
So your morning peanut butter, you're using maybe one or two on your toast?
Well, I like my peanut butter, so I'm probably racking up the calories there with peanut butter.
And that's the issue also with nuts.
Okay.
So nuts, I love nuts.
I eat nuts all the time, right?
Okay.
So you're holding a thing of almonds.
But the problem with nuts is that you would have to eat 800 calories- worth of nuts to get 30 grams of protein.
Okay.
Hold on.
Let me just present why that's a problem.
Because it just hit me.
800 calories and you've only done 30 grams.
Yep.
You still have, for me, I still have another 90 grams of protein to go.
Yes.
And so if you're eating 800 calories in nuts...
Think about how many total calories of the day you'll get if you're including these kind of lower protein foods.
Whoa.
So there are high calorie and low calorie proteins.
Is there a hack for how we can evaluate protein?
Okay.
I have a hack for you.
Tell me.
Look at the label here.
Okay.
Yep.
Look at the label and look at the protein grams.
Okay.
Protein grams, 23 grams.
Okay.
Add a zero to it.
Add a zero.
So 230.
230.
Is that more than the calories?
Yeah, because the pure genius has only 100 calories.
So that's a high protein food.
You're kidding.
So a really easy hack and it's not perfect.
But you pick up something and you're like, is this high protein food or not?
And you're like, all right, let me just add a zero to the protein and look at the calories.
So like in this case, it would be 230, way more than the calories.
This is a very high protein food.
That's incredible.
Isn't that a great hack?
My son, 18-year-old son, was like I use this all the time now because we get bombarded with things that say that they're high protein, good for you.
And he's like, when I use this trick, I feel like half the stuff doesn't even match.
Now I know the answer to the follow-up question I was going to ask you that protein is having a moment.
Yes.
It's in everything.
It's in bread.
It's in popcorn and chips and desserts and cereals.
And now we know, if you go and you add a zero and something says you know five grams of protein, you're like okay, now it's a 50.
Is it more than 50 calories?
Probably.
It's probably 200 or 300 calories.
And now, you know, that's a low protein source, not a high protein source.
And you know there are exceptions.
A few exceptions here and there, but for packaged food this worked so well.
Wow.
What are the foods that people really make a mistake with?
Because they think you're eating a high protein food, but you're actually eating a very low protein food when it comes to calorie versus protein.
Well, I'm picking up these avocados, not because I love avocados.
Okay.
Avocados are beautiful sources of healthy fats.
They're a high source of fiber, but they are a low source of protein.
You need like nine or 10 avocados to get 30 grams of protein.
Yeah.
Nine or 10.
I mean, I love avocados, but I don't want to have 10 of them to get my protein.
I'll be honest with you.
I didn't even know there was any protein in Okay.
Well, speaking of things with low protein, I'm sorry, Mel.
I'm sorry, but- You're holding red wine.
Yes.
We're talking breakfast.
Who is drinking red wine at breakfast?
That's a different medical problem, I think, if you're having red wine for breakfast.
Okay, pretend this is a mimosa, which you would have for breakfast.
People have that for breakfast all the time.
I mean, I'm not telling you to do this at home, but you would need 30 bottles of wine to get 30 grams of protein.
It has virtually no protein.
Wow.
Does coffee have protein in it?
No.
No.
Unless you put milk in it.
Yes.
Okay.
So basically people are thinking that maybe it has a little bit of protein, right?
It has virtually no protein.
So this is a not a good source of protein.
Okay.
Another surprising one is oatmeal.
Okay.
So oatmeal- Surprising in what way?
It's not a high protein food.
I always thought a big bowl of oatmeal had a lot of protein in it.
So a big bowl of oatmeal is great in other ways.
It has fiber.
It slows the gastric emptying.
It's great.
But the problem is is that if you're thinking you're going to get your 30 grams of protein from oatmeal, you are wrong.
I had no idea oatmeal was a low protein source.
And then, like an idiot, I'm throwing like tons of peanut butter around on top because I think I'm adding more protein.
So that's why I wanted to bring this because oatmeal inherently is a healthy food, right?
But if you're taking this oatmeal, this cup of oatmeal, and then you're adding peanut butter to it and you're trying to get to your you know, 30 grams of protein, then you're adding some nuts to it.
And then all of a sudden you have this like 800 calorie breakfast.
But it tastes good.
I know.
Yeah.
It tastes like dessert.
That's why I'm eating it.
Which is amazing.
Now I know why it's not working.
Right.
Like definitely if you're looking for a high impact, high protein food, that's not it.
You know, a lot of us I'm just speaking on behalf of myself and women everywhere have been socialized to believe that you should start your day on an empty stomach, that you should exercise without eating, that Fasting, in that regard, is the way to have better health.
But as a medical doctor and somebody with a degree in nutrition science, what do you say about protein first thing in the morning, for women in particular?
Here's the thing about fasting.
We have found that women and men people who skip a lot of meals, especially when they're eating late into the day, they just have worse health outcomes.
And it's been so hard because I love intermittent fasting.
But for me it was like study after study after study, saying that people who intentionally or unintentionally skip meals.
I was more in the unintentional phase.
No, just I'm being honest.
Like I feel like getting your protein in and getting a good breakfast first thing in the morning is really hard.
And when I stop and think about it, I would never send my kids to school without a healthy breakfast, because there's no way they would make it through the school day.
So why on earth am I sending myself into the day without prioritizing getting in a high impact, high protein meal that's gonna fuel me for the rest of the day?
There's many, many studies that show that getting your protein early in the day is beneficial not only for muscle growth, but it's also more likely to help you get to your goals.
So people who have protein in the morning, they're more likely to get to their protein goals.
They're more likely to make healthier choices all day long.
They're less likely to have cravings.
And more likely to feel satiated and energized through the day.
And so I thought to myself, well, that makes sense.
Will you start your day like this?
Make it simple for everyone.
Because if you're doing nothing else and you do this, you're going to make a big impact in your life.
All right, here's what I want to do.
I want to have the team come in and pull the food off the table.
So let's get somebody in here to pull this out.
All right.
And I also want to take a quick pause so we can hear a word from our amazing sponsors.
Don't go anywhere, because we will be right back with more specific recommendations and the research from Dr Shaw when we return.
Stay with me.
Welcome back.
It's your friend Mel Robbins.
Today, you and I are here with Dr. Amy Shaw.
She's a double board certified medical doctor, bestselling author, and she is here giving you and me her 3033 nutrition protocol and telling you and me exactly what we need to eat this year to get our energy back, to boost your mood, to live longer.
So let's just jump right back in.
One of the things I'd love to have you talk about, Dr Shah, is as you're looking at your label and you gave us that great hack for is this low protein or is this a high impact high protein food by add the zero.
And if the protein count is higher than the calorie count, we're in the high protein.
There you go. great payoff.
But what should we also be looking for as you're scanning the label that sneaks in there?
Okay.
So the biggest thing is added sugars.
So a lot of things like.
We mentioned smoothies earlier and if you actually look at the amount of sugar that a smoothie has, sometimes it's the same as a Coke.
So like you wouldn't necessarily have a can of Coke first thing in the morning, but you would definitely go for a smoothie and that has just as much sugar.
Now you could argue oh, it has fruit sugar and like all the things.
But at the end of the day, you really do want to watch how many total grams of sugar that you have in a day.
So you definitely want to watch that.
And then, of course, you want to be looking at the calorie count, the fat, especially trans fats.
Those are the most dangerous types of fats.
And so that's another thing if you're like just scanning a label that you would want to look at.
Can you just tell us what should we be looking for in terms of protein?
Since protein is now finding its way into everything, what are we actually looking for?
A lot of the proteins that we get out there are not complete proteins.
What does complete protein mean?
So a complete protein means it has all the amino acids in order to build muscle, okay?
There's a special amino acid called leucine that actually is a great stimulus for muscle growth.
That's not in all protein foods.
And so you want to find a complete protein and you want it to have leucine, if you're really trying to build that muscle.
And what are the forms of protein that don't have leucine in it?
A lot of vegetarian proteins, I'll have to say, are incomplete proteins.
But that's why you eat lentils with rice, for example, because lentils are incomplete, but you pair it with rice.
But some things that are surprising that are not complete proteins is like collagen.
I mean, a lot of people are using collagen and thinking it's a replacement for protein.
And it's great for your hair, skin, and nails, okay?
But it's not a complete protein.
So on its own, without it being fortified, it's not having the benefit to your muscles in terms of the amino acid profile.
That's right.
It is in the pure genius shot.
It is, but it's also.
It has a combination of collagen with BLG, which is a component of whey protein.
And so that actually makes it a complete protein.
You mentioned whey.
Yeah.
Talk to me about whey protein.
So whey protein is so great.
So it's derived from milk.
It's made from cow's milk.
Okay.
And so the thing I like about whey is that not only is it a complete protein, which a lot of proteins are not, it's also less processed, meaning to turn milk into a white powder that you're going to be consuming on a daily basis.
It's not that hard right.
Yeah.
But to turn peas that are green with a taste into a white powder is a lot harder.
And so I've really changed my own personal stance on protein powders and also what I recommend to patients.
Because I used to think, well, if it's a vegan source of protein, it must be better, right?
But what I learned is that you have to process that protein pee or that hemp a lot to get it to be that white powder, flavorless powder.
And oftentimes, pee in particular can be contaminated with heavy metals because of where it's grown.
And so a lot of vegan and vegetarian protein powders.
You really want to watch that.
Make sure they're tested for heavy metals, because that is an issue, and less of an issue with the whey proteins.
You mentioned BLG.
Talk to me about whey protein and the BLG aspect in particular.
BLG is actually the richest source of leucine and you can really get that muscle stimulus that you want in that BLG portion.
And so it seems to be a really great way to add more protein to your diet in a way that stimulates muscle in the right way.
Can you eat too much protein, Dr. Shah?
Yes, absolutely.
And you can also eat very, very poor quality protein just to get to your goals.
So the way I counsel my patients is your goal is to get around 30 grams per meal.
You don't need to go way higher than that.
You don't need to like win the contest of the most amount of protein.
It can be something that you can have in excess and that's happened.
So you really do want to try to get it 30 grams per meal or a snack and that's your ideal amount.
Got it.
So if we do 33 meals a day and you get it in in the snacks, you're done.
It doesn't have to be so complicated.
Let's just simplify this, get enough, and then it becomes easy.
It doesn't have to be like a full-time job.
Can you talk just a little bit about what should the person listening expect to feel?
If you get 30 grams of protein in for breakfast after a week of doing it, That's a great question.
Our body changes very quickly.
People don't understand that within three days you can start getting noticeable changes in your gut health, for example in your energy levels.
You're going to start to have more building blocks, amino acids in your system.
And so you're going to feel more energized.
You're going to feel... So a week is enough to start noticing those little changes.
So I always...
Tell people, try for a week.
And the plan in the book is honestly a seven-day plan because it's so simple.
Even if you're really hypercritical and you're like this is not going to work for me, you can do anything for seven days and see how you feel.
Make a decision based on that.
Well, if I'm going to feel more energized after just focusing on 30 grams of protein every morning, I'm doing it.
There is a significant difference between the days where I wake up and couldn't get the protein in and the days where I prioritize doing this and how I feel fueled.
I have more energy.
I can focus better.
I do better work.
I can control my emotions a little bit better.
I'm more present.
And if you really think about it, it makes sense because it's fuel.
Yeah.
It is fuel for your body.
And I actually echo that completely.
The days where I just scramble out of bed and I'm going to the thing, to thing, to thing and I'm not eating until late in the day.
I just feel like my emotions, my mood, my energy levels, the way I show up in the world is so different.
Yeah.
So the next part of your 30-33 research-backed protocol is fiber.
Specifically eating 30 grams of it per day.
So let's talk about why is fiber so important and what does it do in the body?
Great question.
All right, Mel, how many Americans do you think are getting 30 grams of fiber?
Like what percentage?
I don't know.
Like less than 5%.
Less than 5%?
Yeah.
So 95% of us are not getting enough fiber?
Yes.
What does fiber do?
Okay.
So let me explain this.
So a lot of people think of fiber as like the thing that helps you go poop, which it is.
It is one of the things that help you go poop.
But what it does is that we have organisms that live in our gut, and their main source of food is fiber.
And by not eating enough fiber, we're starving that entire ecosystem.
And it's so bad Mel, that among generation to generation we have lost so much of our gut bacteria that we have like 50 of what our ancestors had because of our modern diet.
Those bacteria, they regulate how much hormones we have in our systems.
So when you don't have enough bacteria that are healthy and functioning, you get all kinds of hormonal imbalances.
You get all kinds of GI issues because our gut is constantly talking to our brain.
And so feeding that gut bacteria becomes extremely important.
And here's what happens.
When you eat fiber, it actually doesn't get digested fully until it gets to the colon.
And the gut bacteria there, they will eat that fiber.
And most of the other food that we ate has already been absorbed.
And so the only food left for them, that whole entire ecosystem, is when you're eating fiber.
And when you prepare protein and fiber, that's when they get super happy.
They produce these things called short chain fatty acids.
These are the magical anti-aging, anti-inflammatory compounds that go all over our body, including our brain, and lower inflammation.
Wow.
Well, I want to bring out some fiber foods.
So let's bring in a bunch of examples of what fiber is.
And then you're going to explain to us what we should be eating in order to get 30 grams of fiber a day.
Let's do it.
Okay.
So if you're watching on YouTube, you can see that there is kind of an odd assortment of things in front of Dr Shah.
I'm gonna just tell you, as you're listening, I see a carrot, a kiwi hummus pistachios, a pear and some things in bowls that you're gonna explain, Dr Shah.
So walk us through, what does 30 grams of fiber in a day look like?
All right.
I have some really easy things that you can add to your diet that have a lot of fiber.
And some of them might be surprising.
For example, here's a pear, okay?
So the best thing about a pear is that it has like six to seven grams of fiber, which is like double an apple.
Isn't that crazy?
I'm sorry.
I'm just sort of shocked.
Do I have to... Do I eat the peel?
Do I do the inside?
You eat the whole thing like you would eat an apple.
Okay.
But it just is a powerhouse of fiber.
Wow.
And so pears, and the next thing I'm going to show you berries is like the secret hacks to getting more fiber.
So I love blueberries, and blueberries are amazing because they have tons of polyphenols, but raspberries are the real fiber powerhouse.
Raspberries.
Raspberries.
They have eight grams per serving.
Raspberries are one of the highest fiber foods you can have.
And so easy to add these to like a yogurt or cottage cheese.
Berries are such an easy way to add more fiber to your diet.
So if I were to throw frozen blueberries or frozen raspberries into a smoothie, do you still get the fiber benefit?
Yes.
Okay.
As long as you're not juicing it.
No.
Yeah.
Just blending.
Yeah.
Okay.
Or throwing them on top of the Greek yogurt or throwing a handful in your mouth.
That's right.
Wow.
That's almost a third of your daily dose.
Once you start doing this, you're like okay, I understand why 95 of people don't eat enough fiber, but it's not so hard to actually eat.
And mind-blowing stat, okay?
For every 10 grams of additional fiber you add to your diet, you are improving your longevity by 10.
Every 10 grams?
Yes.
Of fiber you add to your diet, you're improving your longevity by 10%?
That's right.
Why?
Okay, so fiber is that important, not just for constipation, it's for everything in life.
So we know diseases, inflammatory diseases, we know brain health.
And so most average Americans are getting 12 grams of fiber.
And so you add 10 grams to that and you are changing their life.
Wow.
Okay, what else you got?
My favorite hack, this.
Chia seeds.
Chia seeds.
So chia seeds are my favorite because one tablespoon is going to give you five grams of fiber.
And so you add a tablespoon, two tablespoons to your yogurt, and there you go.
You got your 10 grams.
You got a 10% increase in your longevity just from a little seed.
And I love chia seeds because you can add it to water.
You can add it to yogurt.
They're very versatile in the way that you can eat them.
And there's this amazing... This recipe is just insane.
A raspberry chia jam.
So you'd want to cook... the berries, right?
Let them kind of simmer, get into that jam-like consistency.
Add a little squeeze of lemon, a little bit of honey, and then you add your chia seeds and it gels up just like a jam, like a store-bought jam.
So you make jam by taking a couple tablespoons of chia seeds and some raspberries and blend it up with honey.
Yes.
And then you add it to everything and you basically have almost your half or almost all of your serving of fiber for the day.
That's right.
It's amazing.
Okay, another hack, kiwi fruit.
Okay.
Kiwi fruit, if you eat it with the skin like an apple, just bite into it.
Ew, are you supposed to do that?
You are supposed to do that.
Mel, the skin increases the fiber content by 50%.
Oh.
The crazy thing about kiwifruit is that there's really great studies looking at constipation and even looking at sleep and looking at mood, that these are all the things that it can help you with.
And so if you eat it with the skin on, you can bite it in like an apple.
You are adding fiber, but you're also getting all the phytonutrients that kiwi has.
It's like a superfood.
So how much fiber is in an average kiwi?
A kiwi fruit with the skin is about four grams of fiber.
Okay.
And adding the skin is the magic.
Okay.
Okay.
So you're going to have that kiwi fruit.
And then other powerhouses, black beans.
Okay.
Do you like black beans?
I love black beans.
Black beans are a powerhouse that has eight grams.
Eight grams?
In one serving.
A half a cup of black beans has eight grams of fiber.
Wow.
Wow.
Isn't that impressive?
I'm starting to realize I could do 30-33 math.
So I could have my egg yolk and egg white omelet.
I could throw in some black beans that are leftover from Taco Tuesday.
That's right.
And now all of a sudden I'm combining the 30 grams of protein and making my 30 grams of fiber.
I could take my cottage cheese or my Greek yogurt, or I could drink one of these pure genius shots and get my protein in.
And then I could take a handful of blueberries, raspberries, and some chia seed and boom.
There you go.
I got my fiber and my protein first thing in the morning.
The other thing I love about fiber is that it's actually really delicious.
So hummus is something you might... Hummus is a fiber?
Yes.
How is it a fiber?
Isn't that crazy?
It's because it's made of chickpeas and that's a high fiber food.
And so...
Something easy that someone- Six grams of fiber.
Yes, in hummus.
And so you could take this out of your fridge.
You might have.
You take a carrot got four grams here.
Got some hummus.
You got six grams there.
Got 10 grams right there.
Wow.
And I see pistachios.
Do you like pistachios?
Pistachios are a high fiber food.
13 grams in a serving.
I know.
It's like a high impact, high fiber food.
And that's just for a quarter cup of pistachios?
Isn't that crazy?
13 grams?
Like, if you look at it, you take these berries and you take the pistachios, or you take and you make a yogurt parfait with the berries, the chia seeds and the nuts and you got yourself 30 grams in one serving.
So you could be better. than 95% of people.
And not because it's going to just make you poop, which is an amazing side effect, but because it is going to make you smarter.
It's going to balance your hormones.
It's going to improve your immune system.
This is going to help you live longer, lower inflammation.
I mean, fiber is a key for our gut-brain connection.
And so when you eat enough fiber, you are improving your overall life.
All right, talk to me about bread.
Is bread fiber?
Is there a hack for bread and fiber?
Okay, so bread is a trick question, because the white bread, the typical bread that you're getting in sandwich shops, that is not a high fiber food.
But the thing is bread can be a high fiber food.
If you get an Ezekiel bread or sprouted grain bread, they're- You mean the stuff with seeds in it?
Exactly.
Okay.
And or sprouted grains.
What about sourdough?
Sourdough is a really great bread as well, because it's fermented and there's some benefits of that fermentation for your gut.
But it's not exactly the same fiber as the seeded breads.
Exactly.
Exactly.
A sourdough that's with sprouted wheat is actually a really great option.
And then I have a hack.
Tell me the hack.
Store your bread in the freezer.
Whether it's sourdough, whether it's Ezekiel, whether it's regular bread, there is a process.
A biological phenomenon that happens when you freeze bread.
That makes it healthier for you and your gut.
What?
What happens is some of the starch in the bread turns into resistant starch.
And resistant starch acts like fiber in our body.
Our gut bacteria, the ones that eat the fiber, they also love resistant starch.
And when they eat that resistant starch okay, when they're eating that frozen and then thawed bread, it has less of a glycemic impact on your blood sugar.
And it's actually less caloric.
And you get the benefits of the gut healthy benefits of it.
Okay, hold on a second.
So if I throw my bread in the freezer, you're telling me that because something biologically big words happens to the bread When I take it out and toast it or thaw it or whatever, it's going to have less of a glycemic spike.
It is going to act as a better fiber because it's turned something starch resistance, whatever.
Yes, it's better for your blood sugar.
And it's better for your gut.
Wow.
People ask me, what about gluten-free bread?
What about all kinds, sourdough?
If you keep it in the freezer, it ends up just being a healthier version of that bread.
So if you're going to, I'm not telling you to have bread morning, noon and night, but when you are having that bread to have it in that way.
It is such a better for you food.
Okay.
This may sound like a dumb question, but I have to ask it.
What about greens?
Like having a salad or spinach or something like that counts towards fiber?
Leafy greens are an amazing source of fiber.
I feel like leafy greens have so many benefits for us.
Our gut bacteria love leafy greens because that fiber kind of gets to them and they can chew on that and really thrive.
They create these amazing short chain fatty acids.
Those are like magical compounds.
So let's just say I'm making a typical salad.
Right?
Yes.
And just got some leafy greens and some other stuff on it.
Like how much fiber is in like your average lunch salad?
So, okay.
Well, that was also a trick question, like the bread question, because the typical salad is using iceberg lettuce.
Okay.
And that is not a high fiber food.
You want to be using kale or spinach or these higher kind of density greens.
You're coming for my wedge salad.
I'm not having it, Dr. Shaq.
I'm just kidding.
We gotta make the wedge with kale and spinach and like denser.
So think farmer's market greens.
Right.
Not your iceberg lettuce, you know, just with ranch dressing.
Okay.
We're not looking for that.
How much fiber is in, let's just say I'm making a salad and I've got a cup of spinach.
One cup of spinach is actually quite low.
It's like 0.7 grams.
What?
You need like four to five cups of spinach.
Okay.
But you know how spinach is.
Four to five cups of spinach is only like four grams and I got to get to 30.
But you know how spinach is, right?
It shrinks.
It becomes like a little bowl.
So if you have cooked spinach, you're good.
You need to have cooked greens.
I thought that the raw was better, Dr. Shaw, but I can cheat this.
Cook down one big bag and boom, now I got my serving.
And honestly, putting olive oil in your veggies is a great way to get some of those fat-soluble nutrients.
And so people will say like, do I not add dressing?
Do I add dressing?
You can, as long as it's just very simple, olive oil and vinegar, you're good to go.
Okay.
I feel very bummed about how little fiber is actually in the Spanish salads I'm typically having for lunch.
But this was super helpful because I can now make different choices.
I think berries, chia seeds, they're gonna- What about the- I'm not trying to- You're not gonna eat it like an apple?
I'm going to try it.
I'm going to slice it and then eat it with the skin.
And you can get the sun gold that don't have the fuzzy skin.
I'm going to just have to go for it and just try it.
So we're going to remove this because I want to get to the third part of your 30-33, which is probiotic foods.
Let's do it.
So the last part of your protocol for women, 30-33, is three probiotic foods.
What is a probiotic food and why do they matter?
Probiotic foods is something that existed in every culture around the world.
Okay, before we had refrigerators and microwaves, that was how we preserved things.
There's this theory that people, even when we were hunter-gatherers, we would pick up kind of rotting fruit and food and eat that because that was fermenting.
And our body.
We knew even back then that we needed that bacteria, that good bacteria, to go to our gut, because it did so many starving
So we ate it and rolled the dice and then we adapted, but still.
And the gut bacteria, I mean, they do so much for us.
They are the super moms of our bodies.
I mean, they're coordinating all of the signals.
So what does the probiotic thing do?
So probiotics is bacteria.
It's like adding more bacteria to that ecosystem that so badly needs it.
And so I am like, you know, 95% of people don't get enough fiber.
Can you imagine the percentage of people in America that are not getting enough probiotic foods?
It's probably like zero, right?
Like most people- So it's like fertilizer for that Amazon forest in your gut.
Okay.
So the way I think about it actually is like fiber is fertilizer for the sproutlings that are already there.
Okay.
Probiotics are like seeds, right where you're gonna add more seeds to your garden because now it's fertilized and now it's gonna grow more.
And so probiotics are actual foods that have bacteria in it that can reach our colon and seed there.
The problem with probiotics is that and this is the problem with the whole probiotic industry it is really hard to get our body not to destroy bacteria when you eat it.
So when you eat bacteria, your body just wants to get rid of it, because it's like, oh my gosh, she's eating something that has bacteria in it.
Let me kill it.
But when we eat it within a kimchi or a probiotic cottage cheese or a yogurt, your body knows to let that through.
And so the power- Because they recognize it as a food group?
Yes, it recognizes it as part of, kind of in the net of the food.
And the thing about probiotics that I love is like it lowers inflammation but it also improves mood.
And so you are eating something that is improving your gut health, but it's actually also improving your mood.
There's this whole world out there called psychobiotics, where they think that by improving your gut health through probiotics you can actually improve mental health conditions, including depression anxiety, ADHD.
I do believe that.
I believe that our gut is the conduit to better mental health.
And we know through our fecal transplant research that that's the case.
But it's really hard because...
Our American diet is devoid of fiber, protein, and probiotics, especially probiotics.
I mean, how many people do you know personally, and yourself included, that eat enough probiotic foods every day?
Probably nobody.
Even I struggle with it, especially when I travel.
So we have good data that to lower inflammation, to improve brain health, to improve gut health, we've got to get these probiotic foods in.
Why are probiotic foods so important for getting your energy back?
Our gut is directly connected to our brain.
When your gut feels good, when it's being nourished, when your gut bacteria are dancing, they produce chemicals that go to your brain to tell it to be happy and calm and focused and energized.
And we know that the gut changes within three days.
What do you mean?
There was a landmark study where they were looking at how much they could change the gut with just dietary changes.
So they changed the diet completely.
So it was a huge.
It's like taking a processed McDonald's drive-thru shake diet and turning it into a high fiber, high probiotic food, high protein diet.
Okay.
And they found they thought it was going to take two weeks or even two months, and they were going to monitor them every day.
Every day.
They monitored them.
They found by day three their gut looked completely different than it did at the start.
Wow, that's how fast you can- That's how fast you can change it.
And have you ever noticed if you go on a three-day weekend where you eat really poorly and you sleep really poorly- Like every weekend?
Yes, you feel kind of- You feel it.
You feel it.
And so the opposite is true.
If you take this, what we've talked about today, you share this with a friend, you share this with your daughter, with your husband, and you start eating this in your daily meals, you're going to see a difference within three days.
Wow.
All right.
Well, let's bring in some probiotic foods.
Let's do it.
So in front of you, Dr Shah.
You can see this on YouTube, but if you're listening right now, she has a.
What is that?
Greek yogurt.
Greek yogurt.
Yep.
And we have kefir.
What the hell is kefir?
It's a little more sour than yogurt.
A lot of people, this is my trick, okay?
And I learned this trick from one of the lead researchers in gut health.
What he does is, you know how Greek yogurt is really thick?
And almost like sometimes you don't like the texture.
The texture is kind of like very dry almost.
So you mix a little bit of kefir into your Greek yogurt and you can mix that and get the right texture.
And this is an amazing source of probiotics.
And then we have our beautiful kimchi, which is obviously, it's an acquired taste, but you can do sauerkraut.
You can even do something as simple as raw apple cider vinegar.
That is a probiotic food.
And so you can add these things into your day.
It's not so hard.
Even people who are lactose intolerant, by the way, here's a trick.
If you're lactose intolerant and you want to have more dairy, one of the best ways you can do that is take a probiotic food like a kefir, and you take one spoon every single day.
And you start to add those bacteria into your gut.
But if you're lactose intolerant, isn't kefir for milk?
So fermented dairy, because it has the probiotics in it, has less of an impact and is very low lactose right.
So you take a little bit of this, just a spoon, And you train your gut.
And then over time, we've seen in studies that people develop their own lactose fermenting bacteria.
And so then, when you have a slice of pizza, you're not in the bathroom or rolling in bed because you're in pain.
Got it.
So you're getting the fiber from the kefir or you're getting the probiotic benefit plus.
You're also socializing and training yourself.
You're kind of adding more friends to that Amazon jungle, more organisms and that can help you digest.
And a lot of people feel like they're able to eat way more foods once they start to incorporate more probiotics in their life.
So one of the first times that I sat down with you and learned so much from you on this podcast was three years ago.
And you told me that joy and connection change your gut health.
That when you're laughing... you get healthier.
Can you explain, Dr Shaw, how your gut bacteria responds when you are laughing, when you're feeling joy, when you're connecting with people that you love?
Mel, the gut is, as I told you, kind of the master regulator of our bodies.
And it loves connection.
It loves it when you spend time with other people.
In fact, you catch bacteria from the people that you spend time with.
What?
Isn't that crazy?
How?
There are studies where looking at twins that were separated at birth...
Identical twins.
And they looked at their gut microbiome and their gut microbiome looked closer to the people that they connect with, that they spend time with, than even their identical twin.
So the people that you love, that you respect, that you think are doing a great job in different parts of their life.
You need to connect with them because not only are you spending time with them and enjoying yourself, you're actually catching some of that bacteria.
So how does the bacteria respond when you're laughing and when you're feeling joy in those things?
They are dancing.
They dance and they produce these beautiful chemicals that go all over our body, including our brain.
Calm inflammation make you feel happier.
This is the magic.
And people always say like, how could the gut bacteria have so much control over our emotions?
Our gut bacteria control our emotions.
Like when our gut bacteria are happy and they're producing all of these short chain fatty acids.
We feel happier and calmer.
That is amazing.
I love that.
And the kimchi is getting kind of stinky.
So I want to get these probiotic foods out of here because I have a few more questions.
All right.
So, Dr Shaw, you have taught us so much and I want to make sure we kind of bottom line all of the amazing science, the 30-33 protocol.
You write about a seven-day plan to help you get started in hormone havoc.
What do you think is the most important thing you could do in order to implement everything that you just taught us about this 30-33 protocol?
Mel, that's a great question.
The reason I wrote hormone havoc is because I feel like women are sitting there and they're feeling miserable and they don't get the advice.
80 of women don't feel like they're getting enough advice food and lifestyle advice from their doctors.
And we're left with looking on the internet where we feel overwhelmed.
And so what I want you to do is I just want women to try it.
Just try the 30-33 for seven days.
Give it a shot.
I've laid it out for you in the book with exact meals that you could have.
So there's no thinking or calculating involved.
So if I can't get the book because it's not published where I'm listening, because we're in 194 countries,
What specifically would you recommend I do to get started?
Okay.
So the first thing you're going to do is you're going to have 30 grams of protein in your breakfast.
So you're going to have an egg scramble with veggies or with cottage cheese on the side, or with Greek yogurt on the side.
You get your 30 grams right there.
Then you're going to have a salad and you're going to put black beans and you're going to put another source of protein tofu, if you want.
Chicken, if you want.
You're going to get your protein, your fiber, and maybe you use a apple cider vinegar salad dressing.
And then for dinner, you're going to have another source of protein.
Maybe it's a fish.
Maybe it's a chicken if you haven't had it.
Maybe it's black beans.
Maybe it's a soup.
And you're going to have maybe a side of cottage cheese.
Maybe you're going to have some kimchi or sauerkraut in your meal so that you can get that.
And all you have to do is do that for seven days and see how you feel.
When I follow this framework, 30-33, what changes will I see in my body and my mindset?
Mel, you'll feel more energized.
You're going to feel happier because you're going to have more dopamine and serotonin.
You're going to feel more motivated.
You're going to feel stronger.
And remember I told you all my life and all of your life and all of everyone's life you've been told to get smaller.
Get smaller.
Think smaller.
Be smaller.
And what I'm telling you is to get stronger.
Be stronger.
Eat things to make you stronger.
Well, what I love about 30-33 is it's dead simple.
I can remember 30 grams of protein first thing in the morning, 30 grams of fiber throughout the day and three probiotic foods.
I can do that.
I cannot tell you how good that makes me feel, because there is no framework currently in textbooks for doctors, in handbooks, in women's health books.
There's never been an accepted framework for women and we're creating it today.
Dr. Amy Shaw, what are your parting words?
Mel, we get 4,000 weeks in life if we're lucky.
And most of us, including you and I, are done with 2,000 of them.
So the question I want to ask everyone here is what are you going to do that you're going to be proud of, that makes you feel the best version of yourself, that makes you do all the things that you meant to do?
Well, I just want to thank you for giving us a formula and explaining the reasons why this works and the benefits.
And you know, if nothing else, i want to feel more energized, i want to be clearer, i want to be stronger and i gotta eat anyway and so if there are simple changes i can make and 30 33 is a very simple roadmap that i'm certainly going to put to use and try and i will report back, and i want you to report back too.
Um, I believe you when you say that we're going to feel all those things.
So thank you for distilling the science.
Thank you for jumping on a plane.
I really appreciate your ability to simplify all this stuff that is based in research so that we can apply it to our busy lives.
Thank you so much for giving me a platform to talk to so many people and women that need it.
You're welcome.
And thank you.
Thank you for being interested in your health and your wellbeing.
Thank you for being interested in science.
Thank you for watching and listening all the way to the end and sharing this with the people that you care about.
I love that you're that kind of person.
And in case no one else tells you today, I wanted to be sure to tell you, as your friend, that I love you and I believe in you and I believe in your ability to create a better life.
And I love the science.
I believe that if we focus on getting our protein in and getting our fiber in and getting these probiotic foods in, it's a way to tap into the wiring in your body so that you can feel better, which is going to help you live a better life, and you deserve that.
Alrighty, I will see you in the very next episode.
I'll be waiting to welcome you in the moment you hit play.
I'll see you there.
Definitely.
Is there no way?
Is there any way to get?
Okay.
This thing did?
It's normally I think like this so that I have like my water.
You will understand the research and evidence that explains exactly why this protocol works to why this diet, this eating plan, this nutrition protocol, this eating, this way to eat.
This way to eat.
Okay.
That explains exactly why this way to eat.
Okay, great.
Now we're talking.
All right.
Okay.
And if you were to do 0.8, I mean, how do you figure that out?
That's like some hard math.
What's that?
Yeah.
How did you figure that out?
You used a calculator?
Okay, gotcha.
So Tracy just used a calculator.
It is- 120.
120.
You're going to try the kiwi?
Probably not that one, but I'll try one.
Not that one.
Oh, you're waiting on me.
I'm sorry.
Okay.
Well, you know what I love about pistachios?
I love to pop them open.
Yes.
Right?
I love to just pop them open.
It feels so satisfying to just like snap one open and then throw it in.
And so I love it because the shell also slows me down.
Am I even saying it right?
I feel like I'm saying it wrong.
People are going to write, it's not how you say it, Mel.
No, pistachio.
Let them.
Let them.
Oh, and one more thing.
And no, this is not a blooper.
This is the legal language.
You know what the lawyers write and what I need to read to you.
This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes.
I'm just your friend.
I am not a licensed therapist.
And this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist or other qualified professional.
Got it?
Good.
I'll see you in the next episode.
