97: Empowering Patients Through A Sense of Community | Dr Suzannah Bozzone

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  00:00

So we split them into Monday and Wednesdays and we do a four week series, a plant based kickstart where I do Wednesdays and we'll do the the the evidence we'll go We'll go through the basics of the science, whatever the topic might be and discussion. And then on Mondays, Chrissie leads a cooking demonstration, they get a bunch of recipes, they get the hell to she tells them like, how do I physically do this? And we offer it that it's one subscription per household because we want people to succeed. if everybody's involved in this, not only are we giving them the information, hopefully we're making it fun, which I think is really key. And we're creating community around that rather than creating a barrier and saying you do something totally different than what your husband is doing. 

Maya Acosta  00:44

Welcome to the Plant Based DFW Podcast weekly show with Dr. Riz and Maya. Our podcast focuses on lifestyle medicine, which is the use of evidence based lifestyle therapeutic approaches, such as a whole food plant based diet, regular physical exercise, adequate sleep and stress management to treat and even reverse the lifestyle related chronic diseases that are all too prevalent. Every week, we will feature physicians, dietitians, health coaches and everyday people who will share those stories and speak on one of these lifestyle medicine modalities. Let's meet today's podcast guest. For years Dr. Suzannah Bozzone was prescribing medicine which she herself would not have taken. She grew frustrated by this seemingly incurable state of our most prevalent deadly and costly chronic diseases. Then she found lifestyle medicine, which is not only strongly evidence based but resonated with her desire to treat herself her family and her patients more in accordance with nature's guidance, and most importantly, addressing diseases from their root causes, rather than covering up symptoms. Best of all, this method empowers patients rather than dictating dependence on our pharmaceutically driven medical system. Dr. Bozzone completed training as a yoga instructor in 2009 and in 2017, she became a diplomat of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. In this episode, Dr. Bozzone shares with us her path towards discovery in lifestyle medicine. We learn about her community based programs which are focused on diet, exercise, sleep, emotional health and stress management to achieve optimal health. She is the co founder of True Health Journey. Dr. Bozzone has so much wonderful energy and I really enjoyed having a conversation with her. The next plant based nutrition kickstart 101 program begins as this episode is being released. So around March 3, you might want to sign up for this. This is a virtual eight session series. And Dr. Bozzone will tell us about that kickstart program and what it entails. So it includes the foundations of balanced plant based nutrition recipes. The science and comparison to other common die believes the How to and plenty of fun discussion with herself and her business partner, certified health coach and registered nurse, Christine Smith. Finally, Dr. Bozzone will give us a couple of tips on how to start a healthier lifestyle. So make sure that you check the show notes for all the links so that you can register for this program. Thanks again for listening. 

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  03:18

Yes, thank you so much. I'm so glad to be here. 

Maya Acosta  03:20

Let's get started with your story. Tell us a little bit about yourself how you got started and about your background in lifestyle medicine. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. So So currently, I'm in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the heart of the South, which is actually where I was raised, but not born. So I was born in New York. My father was a marine undercover narcotic. And I mean, you know, dead at a cop. And so my mother was a professional dancer, and they moved down to to her state her home state of Tennessee, when I was about three so I was raised here, but really got my start in lifestyle medicine when I was practicing in California, so so backing up a little bit more. And I did have an overall very healthy upbringing, though certainly not plant based very far from but but very active. I was on a swimming scholarship to college. So always really active in sports, and vegetables were always present. So I'm thankful for that. I mean, my dad had his put wheat germ on our cereal, which was strange, but But still, you know, so we had thank, thankfully, some really strong influence from from our parents growing up. But um, but after college at Davidson, I went to medical school in Memphis, and again, the heart of the south and just Unfortunately, some incredibly lifestyle driven diseases, very prevalent. And then and then worked in a Spanish speaking clinic because I deferred my residency because I was like, I don't I don't want to, you know, give my intern year to something. I'm not totally convinced what it is I want to do so I but I knew I want wanted to speak Spanish. And I knew I wanted to get really strong in that. And so so I worked in Nashville, Tennessee, at a clinic called Medical Center that familia and we just really got, you know, had enough Spanish to where they hired me. But just was amazing I did everything in primary care from from draining abscesses to full ob ultrasounds and telling moms are they having a boy or girl, I mean, it was just amazing. And it was fully immersion in Nashville and, and had this great opportunity to have that experience. And was so enthralled by that, that I went to Denver for my family medicine residency. And in Denver, it was University of Colorado Denver and and I worked in the track that was predominantly was attached to the refugee clinic. And so what I learned there was not just, we are, of course, very immersed in the guidelines, and in following the guidelines and evidence based evidence base that's very, very high up there. But when you're working with refugees, you have to meet them where they are, you know, you're working with people that are coming from Africa had never seen snow and they're they find themselves in winter in Denver, Colorado, you know, and and so, it's just very different. They don't know what a pharmacy is, they don't know, you know, you're teaching learning yourself, how do you get the bus to the pharmacy, I don't know, you know, and so you really have to comprehend that no matter how strong you are, and the guidelines, that if you don't meet a patient where they are, you're never going to help them, you know, even if they need an antibiotic for their infection, they're never going to find it unless you understand where they're coming from. And so that's kind of been just this recurrent theme that that constantly I get so excited about the information. You know, I started working in Sonoma, California, from Denver, and Denver is a very fit place overall. And it but but then went to Sonoma, California, also much more health conscious than Memphis, then then Tennessee had been but but really was being asked, you know, all of these questions about lifestyle that I felt like I should know, you know, I By that time, I was a certified yoga instructor. So everyone just assumed I was vegetarian, though. They knew and I didn't yet. And, and they would ask me things about lifestyle. And I was telling them things that were I don't know, I just had heard. And I thought, why don't I know the answers to this? Like, this seems pretty basic stuff. What should they be eating to address their diabetes? And what should they be eating to address their chronic disease? And, and I truly didn't know. So to bring that all to culminate in 2014, I went to my first lifestyle medicine conference in San Diego and was like, You know, you just find your tribe. And you find and you and they were just saying, I heard Dean Ornish and I heard Esselstyn and I heard Greger and I was just like, you know, first, I was like, is this really true? How was it? I've never heard this. You know, it's just amazing. But I was just completely blown away and finally found the answers and the evidence based answers, which is just outstanding that that I had been wanting to know, for so long had been asked had been getting it and yet, I kind of felt gypped because I'd never heard it. And it was so established for so many years prior to, to that conference. And so that's kind of how I began my journey where, where though, I felt like I was living a healthy lifestyle. Only when I when I met lifestyle medicine, and I saw other jaws dropping with mine to find that this was the driver of all the diseases that I was not seeing get better. And all the medications that I wouldn't take myself yet. I didn't know how to answer how to not take them, you know, so so it's been kind of a really exciting time. 

Maya Acosta  08:56

You were already practicing yoga and eating well, so did you have to do much training? 

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  09:01

Well, yeah, you know, but I have to say so. So I took the first year that they offered the board exam was 2017. And and I, you know, though, I paid for it myself, you know, my I was in Tennessee By that time, and that where I was working at that time, you know, they didn't offer support for that, but I was just like, this is this is I need this, you know, and so I loved studying for it. It was the most fun exam I've ever had to study for because he has this was all the questions this was all the papers I wanted to read. This was like it gave me the reason to, to dive into the evidence that I had been longing for for so long. And so certainly, you know, I wasn't doing everything right by far i was i was exercising and if I don't exercise, I'm obviously very high energy. So one thing that I really have to do you know, there's, there's some things that you kind of get committed to so thankfully, that was one of them already. But I have to say not until recently was I sleeping in that's obviously incredibly important and, and my nutrition complete really changed. I mean, the vegetables and whole foods were present the change what when I got off of dairy when I got off of meat, and and it was really dramatic. So that was a very big transition. But thankfully not coming from highly processed foods, but still a very significant transition for me. And in terms of nutrition. Since that, really since that 2014 first conference, when I first heard the data. 

Maya Acosta  10:34

We're going to touch on some of the programs that you have also, you are doing in person programs. Can you tell us a little bit about what that was like and how you've gone also virtual just like everyone else? 

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  10:45

Yes, absolutely. So something that I think is incredibly important, especially, I think it's important wherever you are, in, especially in America, but particularly in the southeast, you know, because just like Dan Buettner says, with the Blue Zones, we need to make community we need to make the way we live healthy as a default, you know, and that's really why it succeeds to a large degree in the Blue Zone, just because that's the norm. And unfortunately, you know, for patients living in America, it is not the norm to live healthy to exercise regularly to eat plants. I mean, you know, when you look at less than 12%, of what we eat, is plant based, really closer to 6% is whole healing plants, you know, we've got a big battle to fight and we're fighting it without community and without support. And, and so that's why I think it's very important to know that, you know, though, we know that a whole food plant based diet is the most optimal diet, knowledge is not enough, because what I was finding when I was working with patients individually in the, in the in the sick care system, that is well intended, I believe, so she's truly still. But unfortunately, I was working with patients and in the nice, like, you know, when I was so excited, and for me, all I had to hear was the data and it was like, boom, I've done it, right. But I didn't have these barriers. And so when you work with patients that are living in the southeast, that are that are married to smokers that are you know, whatever, they that are incredibly stressed out whatever it might be, and you tell them eat a plant based diet, you know, you know, you know, for very few people, and I saw very few people, that was enough, just give them the information. But the unfortunate truth is we've, you know, what I was doing, and what I was seeing was, I was saying, Okay, let's try to do this. And they were I was creating stress for them, you know, it was creating obstacles, well, my husband likes to eat meat. And and this is what you know, and so it was creating more stress. And so it was my best intentions. Initially, I was just like, you know, we've got to go about this differently. So we started making group visits initially when I was still in the typical medical system, because and those were just amazing creating, you know, where instead of saying things over and over 20 times a day, you say it once and then people have a discussion around it. And it means much more from you know, other patients learning from each other than it does from me telling them to do something and so so I was working with and still work with my amazing health coach and nurse and and diabetic educator and all things wonderful Christie Smith and and we were doing it and they're like, why are we sacrificing a perfect opportunity to meet a broken system, you know, and so we decided we would just come out of the system and do it, how we felt it needed to be done, where I can work with patients as much as long as they need to be worked with so that we can see results. And we can create programs that I don't have to check or insurance boxes to to get reimbursed for, but rather to create community around it. So that what we do now and initially we were doing live live courses once a week. And we do it for two hours. And so in that time I would give a presentation we do a Q & A Chrissy would do a cooking demo and we feed them a full three course plant based meal. And so and that was just lovely. It was it was really great. And we did some around lifestyle medicine, the pillars where we talk about stress and purpose and movement and we do get some resistance bands out and just give them a you know kitchen sink workout kind of situation. We talked about sleep we talked about nutrition. And then we did a plant based kickstart series which is really getting diving deep into a plant based diet. What do they need to know how does it compare to keto or paleo or these other things that we hear so that we can address the confusion that unfortunately pervades. And and then when COVID hit? It was actually it was really fascinating. I had that I started teaching through a yoga studio who have a very dear friend of mine runs here in town. And I was teaching yoga anatomy for injury prevention through her teacher training and lifestyle medicine for that. And so then she said, Why don't we partner and do your kickstart through the yoga studio? And so, okay, so this sounds good. So So we started doing these through zoom. And it's because you can't really zoom for two hours. I mean, I could because I can obviously talk to the hind legs off a donkey but but most people they're done after about an hour so we split them into Monday and Wednesdays and we do a four week series, a plant based kickstart where I do Wednesdays and I'll we'll do the the the evidence we'll go, we'll go through the basics of the science, whatever the topic might be and discussion. And then on Mondays, Chrissy leads a cooking demonstration, they get a bunch of recipes, they get the hell to she tells them like this is the best chopper, you know, do that just like that, how do I physically do this, and we offer it that it's one subscription per household, because we want people to succeed. And if I say, okay, you have to pay, you know, as the wife, but the husband can't pay or whatever, then I'm creating obstacles. And so so if everybody's involved in this, not only are we giving them the information, hopefully we're making it fun, which I think is really key. And we're creating community around that, rather than creating a barrier and saying you do something totally different than what your husband is doing, you know, then it just, it just doesn't work as well. So that's what we're doing now. And it and it actually I think works really well. And we can and they can keep the videos and they can watch them if they can't log in live. So they get the video access and all the resources for three months. 

Maya Acosta  16:34

That's awesome. And so that kind of allowed you to kind of expand and other people can sign up not just the local, local community or patients.

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  16:42

Exactly. So so I have actually had another different in in Denver, a nurse practitioner who's has been a great friend of mine for a long time she's doing the class now because she's like, I want to learn this stuff. And we don't get it. You know, we don't get a medical system. I have another friend I went to medical school where there's a pediatric nephrologist. And she's taking the class. And so it's just been, it is actually really opened up. So much more of the community that I think is is really needed right now that we can unite around something positive and inspirational, in a time where rather than around things that we hate when we come together around positive change. And and that's I think, exactly what we need to do around lifestyle medicine so that it can stick so that we can make it the default one day. 

Maya Acosta  17:27

This is the kind of content that I also would like to bring more of to our listeners, you're trained in something that I also have never heard of which is forest, yours yoga. Can you tell us what that's about? 

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  17:38

Yes, absolutely. So, so you don't have to do it in the forest. Okay, I know the first you I guess you could I don't know that I ever have what it's named after Ana Forrest, who is the creator of it. And it's a it's a vinyasa style practice. So it's, it's, it is quite a challenging flow. But the reason why it really spoke to me was for a couple of reasons, you know, I think there's a lot of ways to enter the yoga door. You know, I think I think they're beautiful all of them. And, and there's a lot of different styles. And it's important to keep searching until you find the one for you. And so it was the one for me not to say it's the one for everyone. But but for the reasons of it was my it was completely my sanity in residency. I mean, it was what I look forward to after I would finish clinic or after, you know, I would get out of there, I would do as many classes as I as as I could possibly squeeze into my schedule. And but I started to notice that this particular style, which I didn't even know was Forrest Yoga, because they didn't call it they call it a vinyasa in the studio, when I was in sports medicine clinic, and I was seeing all these rotator cuff injuries and I was noticing that we were doing this particular exercises that created space in the shoulder joint. And, and would actually combat this head forward posture and the you know, we're always on the computer leaning forward and all those things and it was really kind of this this space and context. And also, though it is a very difficult, or there's a lot of challenging poses you could do. She always keeps your neck relaxed. And I have so much neck tension just at my baseline. And so when when I would go to a class and in triangle, and somebody told me like to go like this and like crank my neck up and I was like, that's just it just doesn't feel good. Like I have enough going on right here. I just didn't really it didn't resonate, and it was very strong with core and with spine. Just the alignment and creating space in the joints I found really appealed to me in terms of, you know, I need some intensity. So it's very much that but it doesn't rush through creating injuries. And you really breathe to match your struggle. So So for me, what I I mean there's so many factors and so many different styles of yoga, but what I feel is something that we need strongly is to get connected to our body and not afraid of it. And to and to kindly without criticism begin to notice things that we do. And sometimes if we're just, you know, spinning through a flow and or like a duck down that did it, you know, and we're just like, you know, it's like a dance, we don't really get the moment to connect and breathe to that. And notice that you know, what, if I'm in this warrior, too, for long enough, things begin to shake, you know, I begin to create tension that maybe I don't need. And if I can begin to breathe to match my struggle, in whatever pose it is, I have a perfect opportunity to match breath to my struggle in whatever I'm doing, but not be afraid of it. You know, because we in so so often, I see patients who they fear things, they fear sensations in their body, and they're told the feedback is you have acid reflux, I give you prior lisec. Don't feel it, but numb it. And when you feel it, there's that's a problem. And so and then, and I would you know, in the same context, you say, Oh, you have acid reflux? No, no, no, it's fine. As long as I think my friend was that pain, you know, to me, too. I think a lot of people, when I work with patients, I find that so much of sensation is fear.

Maya Acosta  21:21

 So I like that you're touching on that subject. And I want, I want to know, if we can just explore it a little bit more, when you start to feel anxiety, it's the physiological aspect of what's going on is what scares people. Is that what you're talking about, like, when you're saying that patients are afraid to feel what's going on in their body? 

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  21:40

Yeah, to a large degree. I mean, I think it's different for every patient, but I think sensation like, like, I'll just give like an example, that comes to mind where, say, you went to an orthopedic, and he said, Man, your bone on bone, I'm going to see you back here for knee replacement, you know, so but All right, we'll see you later, you know, and then you walk out the door, but we have this diagnosis, or degenerative disc disease, or whatever it is. And, and what we did, by giving that diagnosis is, though well intended, again, you know, not to say it was inappropriate, but every time I feel my knee, whether it's good or bad, whether it whatever I sense in that knee, tells me, oh, disability, I'm going to have to have my knee replaced, I'm not gonna be able to walk this is, you know, so so though I'm, I'm not denying that there is sensation there, I think that so much of what we pin around that sensation, there's an emotional context that we don't address, you know, and so in the same way with like, panic attacks, and we have to kind of get connected to the grounding to our breath to the feet on the floor, and just bring it out of that fear cycle that then propagates the panic. And so there's something true, you know, that really, there's something to be afraid of, and not to, you know, not to ignore, or say, Oh, you know, this is totally, you're making this up, there's something there. But that we can kind of be kindly curious in our body and take a moment of breath to just analyze what is happening with a little bit of grounding, and say it see if we can maybe redirect or shift that through breath towards a different pathway. Would you also say that a lot of the things that we're sort of not wanting to feel are sort of because we place judgment on that, and we lack a little bit of self compassion? Absolutely. I was working with a patient today, actually, who's struggled with weight loss, weight struggles for years and years and years. And, and it's, I think, it's, it's so difficult, because what she had made some very incredible changes. This was our first visit, but she's done some absolutely amazing things. But I think what, you know, again, we have to meet the patients where they are, and we've had a lifelong struggle with weight. And that goes along with negative self talk, that goes along with punishing and guilt, every time I eat something every time I think I want it, I crave it, then I get into it, then I then I struggle with guilt, then there's this whole cycle around, you know, me being a bad person for this whole interaction. And so, you know, it's, it's what we kind of talked about, and what I think we have to recognize is that everybody's coming from a different place. You know, and when in if I, as a doctor, assume that I know, you know, well, you just got to stop eating sugar, you know, or whatever the situation is, I'm being so arrogant, like and I you know, I just because I don't know what you're coming for. I don't know what trauma has in your past. I don't know what brought you to that moment. And I also by saying something like that, though, of course I want to give the information I don't, I don't want to create more negative self talk, because it's gonna be like of course. That's it. I'm so I'm so stupid. I know, you know, and it just feeds that back. So yes, I think that, that when we approach this, we need to do it in a sense of community, but also compassion and celebrating wins. And, and you know, it's just just that I mean, we named my, our, our space, it's me and my healthcare. Two of us it is it's true health journey, and we and we named it journey because it's about the journey, you know, it's not about the destination, it's about, it's about getting to know the struggles that we have, and using them to become the finest version of ourselves. But if we don't take time with them, like in the yoga posture, or whatever it is, and breathe into them, and recognize that, you know, I am struggling with this, how many other 1000s of people that are listening to this podcast are struggling with anxiety and panic. And that that to know what the journey of getting okay with that, and to know that it's okay to sense this and that you are not alone and sensing that. And then to kind of figure out, how can I just shift it from rather looking at it right here, that makes me panic, just looking at it from over here, that makes me find something interesting about it, or something funny about it, or say, you know, something ironic, you know, just shift it so that we can perceive it a little bit different, but doing it with compassion is so important. Yes. I like what you said about It's okay, what are your observations with what people were experiencing last year? Yeah, I think that's a great question. It's, it's, it's fascinating, because I've seen very clearly two groups of people. And and, and one is that, you know, people thriving, my sister's like, this is amazing, I'm so productive. I, you know, and this is, you know, and it's just been great. And I have actually found it. so incredibly freeing, though I am very, so like, I'm a very, not an introvert. At the same time, what's been freeing about it is limiting the unnecessary commitments that that you find you're doing and you like, you know, your books. Yeah, like, I had to take my kids to Taekwondo. And tonight, and then I'm at the grocery store, and then and then your whole day is, is done. And now it's, it's freed me from a lot of this unnecessary things that were distracting me from my purpose. And from the most important thing, so I think for for, and I've heard this from many patients, too, that it's been, you know, it's been great if they can continue doing the most important things to them. And it's been great to kind of focus in on those most important things, and get rid of some of the extraneous things, it's just great. I like, you know, Costco delivers to my door, I get like, like, endless frozen blueberries. Just amazing. So, so that, I think, is one group of people that have actually and, and, and I think that's a significant group. And it's not to minimize that there's been obviously a lot of heartache. And there's been a lot of jobs lost and loved ones lost and a horror from this pandemic. But there's actually been something I did a webinar the other day for, I do employee wellness webinars. And, and it was on resilience during the time of the pandemic. And and so in the end, the idea was really, to say, you know, this is an opportunity, it's that same the obstacle is the way if you've ever read that book, where if we see this as an opportunity, if we see change, change, not as a, I just wanted to go back to how it was, but rather as an in inspiration, to not go back to how it was, but to actually refine and figure out what now we can change because no time ever in our known history, you know, that I have been alive or any way have we had such an incredible opportunity to change what needs to be changed, you know, and I and I hope the medical system can do something with this, you know, it's like, hit rock bottom. So I was like, now let's talk about a health care not a sick care system, like this is an opportunity. So So give you that that's kind of one group that I think has actually really thrived for it. And and then there's another group and I and I think, you know, especially people that already struggle with anxiety, with mental health problems, and of course, people just over one run by stress and now having to homeschool and to, you know, the lost their jobs, perhaps and all of these things. And that's been really a major struggle in addition to the sleep there is actually COVID COVID Omnia Now have you heard of that? No, actually, I haven't not been able to sleep, maybe from stress. It's just the change that's occurring with sleep as a result of the pandemic some of it you know, the infection itself causes inflammation can impair your sleep, but but I don't think that's the main thing. I think what's interesting and what we're seeing in the trends with sleep, is that people are going to bed later. And they're waking up later. I see not everyone, but especially younger people and those, those night owl types that have historically been punished, because jobs still run on on morning market hours, you know, that, that especially those people, but as as a result, I think it's also been a significant effect on sleep because of anxiety. Of course, and, and in, and what I've seen a lot in my patients is that, because of all the screen time that we have, you know, knowing that that's a major player in our sleep in our ability to sleep, you know, blue light is the single strongest and Peter of our melatonin, which is like the the, the referee that kicks off the sleep game, you know, and and there's an estimated 90 minute delay in melatonin surge from the shut off of blue light, and then you think, but all my work, all of my everything, all my interactions, all of my talking to people is all on this blue light. And, and to compound that, or I'm scrolling, and I'm looking at the COVID numbers and the death rates, and I'm like, and then I try to go to bed, you know, and not only have I just, you know, screwed up with the blue light and my brain thinking I'm supposed to be awake, because I have the strongest light in existence shining on me, and I don't know what to do. But I've also kind of panicking because I'm afraid everyone's gonna die, you know, because this is what we're reading about it. And then know that, that if we have insufficient sleep, there's a physical change in the brain that is unable to shut off our anxiety. So this is like triple if not more compounding impact on sleep, which is unfortunately, I think it's a it's that is a really strong in Peter of optimal health of our ability to engage of our mental health of our hormonal balance of our weight gain, you know, all of the things he i think is, is so, so I think sleep needs to be brought up and talked about much more than it is, in general and giving people support around how to shift their sleeping habits, that you know, knowing that it can make a such massive difference in the way we perceive our life. 

Maya Acosta  32:22

So it sounds like we really need to establish routines and keep them going. And for people that just kind of perhaps are retired and not working kind of finding a sense of purpose. Do you think the blue light glasses are actually effective? 

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  32:37

I think they're better than nothing. I you know, I think it also plays a role in what exactly we're doing right before bed in terms of brain stimulation, etc. but but blue blockers i think i think are valid, but sometimes I think they're a band aid and we need to kind of, you know, get it all feasible and we need to really work on a wind down our we need to we need to shut the screens off because what we're typically doing on the screens is either is not necessarily part of that self care that we need to see you know, and maybe it can be 15 minutes 30 minutes, you know, in a gradual growth away from the blue light blockers but actually significantly just without screens and see if you can make that bigger but in the meantime, you know after dinner I think it's it's a good thing we want to cultivate the most natural hues you know, is it bright daylight in the daytime get outside if you can, and then shut start orange red light or shutting down the lights cutting them in half, a few hours before bed as much as we can. But 

Maya Acosta  33:46

Recently Dr. Michael Greger came out with a video on the science behind forest bathing. So when Dr. Greger addressed that I said, Well, this is you know, we just got to encourage people that there's science behind spending time in nature and just detaching from all of this and I think maybe, you know people are have more time than ever to do that. 

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  34:05

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And just see it as an opportunity. You know, and just say you know, because we are you know, some people might say trapped in the house with our family, other people you know, you could say this is a great opportunity to go and get a nature with your family and see what what we could start that would actually be improving our health. That's really cool. Yeah. 

Maya Acosta  34:25

So Dr. Bozzone I want to make sure I don't forget anything because there was so much I wanted to cover with you. But if you can kind of tell our listeners, you know, your website, social media, how they can get ahold of you and also if they want to sign up for any of your online programs. 

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  34:42

Yes, thank you so much. So So our website is mytruehealthjourney.com and you can see our events under there and we have so we're we have so far scheduled to more kickstarts we've got the kickstart one at plant based kickstart 101 which really dives into to the foundation of a plant based diet, how to make it balanced? How does it you know, we talked about the gut biome we talk about, how does it compare to other diet trends, etc, and give all the How to to get started? Or even if you're very much on the journey, and you want the data and the tools on, on when people say, but how could you give up that or, you know, what do you what about protein and all those things, and we really dive into that. And it really applies to anywhere on your journey. And then we do the 201. And we will be running that March 3 through March 29 is the next one that's scheduled, it's all virtual. It's from six to 7pm. Eastern, but videos and all the stuff is available for three months. So you can do it at your own pace. And then we do the 201, which is food is medicine. And we go into specific topics. So so the topics we have, we're actually running one right now and finishing that up. But we're doing heart disease, vascular health, inflammation, and spine and joint pain, mind and mood. So we go into Alzheimer's and in the role of nutrition in mood, and then the last one is weight loss. And so those topics might change depending on if there's demand. And so we encourage people to if they want to sign up to write us, and and it's my true health journey@gmail.com and request, what they want to make sure is included when we do that to a one. So I have plenty of time. And I'll try to incorporate it into the talks if there's enough evidence to do that. So so that's in April 14, through through May 10. And I have you know, Instagram and Facebook is all my true health journey. I work through yoga landing, and I'm doing their yoga anatomy for injury prevention, with their yoga teacher training, and that's yoga landing net. And there's an inversion workshop February 5 through seventh that will have all this as virtual attendance as well. So so that's pretty fun. And it just kind of fun, because I have actually three kids, five, seven, and 10. Yes. Just make sure I got that right, five, seven and 10. And, and so my sister and I, my sister is an incredible artist and and author of children's books. And so we wrote one together that's called Lucy Kate, and the end, the yummy rainbow. And so it has in it. It's just a story of poor Pedro Pig and how he's feeling really bad. And he starts eating more whole plants and starts feeling better. And there's activities in it. It's about for ages six to eight. And you can buy that on Amazon, but it has a game in the back. And it has just activities and coloring sheets, as well as a story that goes through it. And all the pictures are illustrated by my sister. 

Maya Acosta  37:53

So I'm glad that you cover your children's book. Well, I'll include all of your links on the show notes as well. And do you have one tip of how people can just kind of get started on a healthier lifestyle. 

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  38:06

Three things that I would encourage and one when I work with patients, I always really try to connect them to purpose and to know why they want to live longer, and what matters most to them. And to know that health is not the endpoint, though, that's often why they come to me. But it's a pivotal means to get to that why. And it's driven by our lifestyle. So as we connect with purpose number one, and then find what we're ready to do, not what we think we should do, or what we were told to do. But what we are truly ready to do is where we really need to focus in and create community around that readiness. So So that's kind of the three major points that I think in order to succeed because it can be incredibly overwhelming. Oh, God, I've got to now work on time based dating and blah, blah, you know, so all of these things. So just choose a couple of very simple steps. and and, and and create a community around it. Tell a friend or your spouse or whatever, who can support you in those changes. And remember why you're doing it, which is not to get to a certain weight or a blood pressure but to be more engaged in what matters most to you. And that I think is is probably the most important thing to begin a journey to true health. 

Maya Acosta  39:18

Well, thank you doctor Suzannah Bozzone for your time today. 

Dr. Suzannah Bozzone  39:21

Oh, thank you so much. It's been so fun. I really I really appreciate it. Namastr 

Maya Acosta  39:25

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