The Hidden Impact of Parental Stress: Functional Medicine Strategies to Boost Energy, Hormones & Resilience

Welcome to the Where Parents Talk podcast. We help grow better parents through science, evidence and the lived experience of other parents.

Learn how to better navigate the mental and physical health of your tween teen or young adult through proven expert advice. Here's your host, Lianne Castelino.

Welcome to Where Parents Talk. My name is Lianne Castelino. Our guest today is a functional medicine practitioner and an entrepreneur.

Dr. Alicia Newsome is also a best selling author, a speaker and a teacher. She helps patients and clients better understand their hormones, digestion and metabolism.

Dr. Newsom is also a mother of three and she joins us today from Phoenix, Arizona. Arizona, thank you so much for taking the time.

Thank you so much for having me here today.

Really interesting lens that you bring on the subject of parenting. And I guess to start the conversation, could you define for us what functional medicine actually is?

Yes. So functional medicine is where we're looking at the root cause of what's going on in your body. So let's say you get a headache.

You could take some Tylenol or Advil and your headache will go away, but you did not have a headache because you had a Tylenol deficiency. It's not because your body's like, I'm lacking Tylenol. There's something else going on inside of your body.

So what we do in functional medicine is we look at the root cause, like what's really going on with your body and we look at it from a holistic perspective.

So when we bring that lens to the topic of parenting, first of all, you work with high performing leaders to restore their energy and their emotional steadiness, things that parents can certainly relate to. What do those things actually look like when you work with these individuals?

As far as the work that I do, so a lot of the work that I do is advanced lab testing. So just if you went to the doctor and they're running just some basic lab work, and a lot of times people be like, they looked at everything.

You know, a lot of times it's, it's not everything. And so we run a lot of advanced lab work. I'm a big advocate of tests.

Don't guess we've got so much advanced technology out there to really find out and understand what's going on in the body.

So we run testing and then we put together very specific protocols for people and that could include what's going on with them for nutrition, exercise, targeted supplementation. So you're not just taking anything or something you read on Facebook or the Internet. You're like, oh, Maybe I should take that now.

You know, what you need to take. And then also that emotional regulation piece.

Because stress really impacts our bodies in so many ways, and especially for us as moms, you know, we're dealing a lot of times with our kids, work, spouses, you know, and carrying so much in our lives. You know, they.

They call it like the emotional invisible weight that we carry of all the coordination that goes on in our minds on making sure that permission slips are signed or kids are getting off to college, or, you know, this bill needs to be paid or we need to fix this for dinner. We carry so much of that in our mind, but then also in our bodies as well, too. And that ultimately impacts our hormones.

So I really take a very much a holistic approach to finding out, like, why you might be crashing midday and need coffee, or you may sleep all night, but then you still drag throughout the day or trouble losing weight or digestion issues. Like, all these different things that really impact how we show up as mothers, how we show up in the workforce when we don't have our energy.

So let's unpack that, because certainly stress as it relates to parenting manifests in mothers differently than fathers. So let's talk about. Where does stress tend to show up first for many parents before they can even recognize it, to themselves.

So a lot of times stress can show up when you're having decision fatigue, where you're, you know, you. You've got to decide what we're going to eat for dinner. But then you're like, whoever, whatever you guys want to eat.

Like, I don't even want to think about it. I don't want to make another decision today. It could show up where you're forgetting, you know, like, why you walked into the room.

You know, it could show up as maybe now you're a little shorter with your kids, you know, or your husband. You're. You're snappy, they say something and you're just like, okay, I don't want to be that way, you know, or I'm moody, those types of things.

And then also fatigue is a really, really big, important area as well, too.

So then if you're meeting a mother or a father who comes to you and says, these are my symptoms, the ones that you just outlined, what is your next step with that Individ?

So my next step is really, I do very thorough consultations. I have tons of questionnaires and worksheets for people to fill out. They do take about a bit of time, 30 to 45 minutes.

But it's totally worth it because I'm really looking at everything that's going on inside of the body. And then we discuss it together because a lot of times you may fill out paperwork, but then you're like, wait, I wish I would have told her this.

So typically a consultation with someone's 90 minutes with me, so we're really discussing what's going on in your life. And then typically for most people, because they haven't had any type of advanced lab work, we move into doing testing.

So what kind of trends then are you noticing in that space in terms of, you know, where we are in the world? A uniquely challenging time if you're a parent for a host of reasons, regardless of how old your children are and your work.

I'm really noticing, especially with parents, that we're pushing through, you know, that where we have different things going on, like, you know, needing coffee to get through the day or being tired or moody, but really pushing beyond that. Imagine if you were driving down your, down the car or down the street in a car and your check engine light goes off on your car. What would you do?

You would say, okay, now I got to take my car to the mechanic. Imagine when you get to the mechanic, you're telling the mechanic, well, my check engine light came on last week.

I'm hearing a little rattling going on in the car. And the mechanic sitting there nodding his head, he's saying, okay, ma', am, okay, okay. Writing down, taking notes.

And then imagine if he reached into his pocket and he pulled out a sticker and he said, well, that's all you have to do is take this sticker and put it right over that check engine light. That would be crazy, right? We'd expect him, open up the hood, run some diagnostic tests, find out why this check engine light's going off in my car.

Right? Lot of times we treat our vehicles much better than we treat our own bodies.

That headache that comes on in the middle of the day or, you know, that trouble going to sleep at night, or that stubborn weight that won't move, that's. Those are all check engine lights going off in our body.

They're really a gift that lets us know there's issues going on inside of our body that we need to pay attention to. And if we don't, just like with that car, it will continue to break down. If we continue to drive it and don't deal with what's on, going, going on.

And what I find is with a lot of parents and high achieving women, we just push through we put ourselves last. We take care of the kids, we take care of the home. We do what we need to do at work. But then constantly, I see women putting themselves last.

What then becomes the net effect of ignoring that over time when, as your children grow, the sources of stress tend to change and differ, and they're more nuanced and they're new, a lot of them. What. What does that look like?

Well, the first thing that came to my mind when you were asking that question, I wasn't sure where you're going with it, but the first thing that came to my mind was we're teaching our children to do the same thing.

You know, this becomes a generational health or lack of health that's being passed down generation to generation, where we're teaching our children to put themselves aside, especially our young little. I tend to be biased with the girls, you know, especially as women. A lot of times we're taught to just, you know, ignore what's going on.

So for myself as a mother, you know, I have three kids, two girls and one little boy. My daughters are teenagers right now.

So I'm always talking to them about, like, making sure that they're having good protein for breakfast, you know, they're not having dessert for breakfast, you know, like pancakes and muffins and all of that, those types of things, because that's going to spike their blood sugar and then have them crash later on to in the day. It's going to create health issues for them.

But teaching our children, you know, how they need to eat, how they maybe need to have boundaries in their lives, say no when they want to say no, say yes when they want to say yes. Ask for help when they need help, all of those things.

And if we are not starting with ourselves and doing those things for ourselves, then we just pass that right on down to our kids.

You know, the other piece that I think is so interesting about your line of work is that we live in a time where convenience is a buzzword, and it's a way of life for a lot of people. So if we're feeling things, we want to be given some kind of medication. That's not what you're talking about.

So does that become a hard sell, functional medicine to some of the people that you see in your practice?

You know, I think by the time people come to me, they're like, open and willing. They're really, like.

I really see how, you know, not having my health in a good place is impacting the energy that I have available for my kids at the end of the day, or what I'm trying a new project or hobby or passion or business, something that I'm wanting to work on. I don't have the energy to do it.

Or there may be people that are now at a point where they realize, okay, I've got grandbabies now, you know, but I want to be able to get down on the floor and play with them, or I want to be able to go up and down the stairs without, you know, someone needing to help me or, you know, when I get older, you know, being able to go to the bathroom on my own.

So I feel like a lot of times when people do come to me, they're already very open to wanting to get advanced lab testing, wanting to make lifestyle modifications. And really they just. A lot of times people don't know where to start.

And then also they want to know that they're moving through, you know, a program, something that's designed for them and having the support that they need.

On that note, what would you say are any commonalities that you see as. As it relates to stress among parents and what's causing it? When we talk about root factors.

So when it comes to stressors, a lot of times we think about mental emotional stress. There's things going on with the kids. There's things going on with work or finances or different relationships in our life.

And that is all very valid. And it's happening for most people. And what we want to do is we want to increase your zone of stress resiliency.

So think about if you were whitewater rafting and you're going down the river and your raft is just hitting the edges of the bank, right? That's life happening, right?

And what we want to do is we want to widen that river so as you're going down, you're not just bumping into the sides, right? So that would be increasing your zone of stress or resiliency, your. But your body's ability to handle stress.

Because I can't, as a functional medicine doctor, get rid of what's going on in all of your relationships or with finances or, you know, what's going on with your kids. But I can help increase your zone of stress resiliency.

The other thing that people don't think about when it comes to stress are the other stressors, the hidden stressors. So toxins. Toxins are very stressful in the body. Toxins come in two forms, biotoxins.

Those are living things like mold, fungus, parasites, bacteria, viruses. They literally live inside of your body. And pull on your nutrients, they disrupt your gut. They create all types of issues in the body.

And then there's external toxins. Those are things that are found in the environment.

They could be in the food that you're eating, the products that you're cleaning with or putting on your skin. A lot of those mimic estrogen, other hormones in your body. That's stressful on the body. And then there's also a category of deficiencies there.

It could be nutrient deficiencies. So not getting enough protein or good fats.

You need a certain amount of micronutrients, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, all of those things, daily things going on with your gut. They call your gut your second brain.

And that's because you have over 10, 10 times the nerves going from your gut to your brain than you have, leaving from your entire peripheral nervous system. So the gut really controls our mood. It controls a lot that goes on with us within our physiology. And then sleep is very important too.

Just not getting enough sleep. Like we know our kids have to get sleep right when they're, they're growing up.

They have a bedtime, all of these things, but we need to get them into bed. But us as adults, we don't have our parents coming saying, okay, you need to turn off that phone, stop scrolling, you need to lay down, go to sleep.

And sometimes people have hormone issues going on that's stopping them from being able to relax and go to sleep. But all of those things, those toxins, those deficiencies, and then those mental emotional stressors, those are all stressing out the body.

And certainly when you look at the science and the recent science as it relates to brain health, gut health, and all of those things, it makes it even more pronounced, not to mention sleep science.

Dr. Newsom, can you take us through what first drew you to the connection between stress physiology and how we show up at work, at home and elsewhere?

It really came from when my girls were little. They were both still in diapers, and I was seeing patients all day long at work.

And I would push through, do what I needed to do, and then I'd sit in rush hour traffic, go pick up my daughters, feed them, get them ready for bed, and put them in bed. Because it was like, mama's got to go to bed, I need to go to sleep. And I was tired all the time.

I had a bunch of like, backache, neck or neck pain, different things going on in my body, funky digestion. And I ended up meeting a functional medicine doctor and he ran a lot of these advanced lab tests on me.

And then from there, I was able to completely change my health and my life. Now I have energy all day long.

I've started multiple businesses, and my daughters get a mom who at the end of the day isn't completely exhausted, who really gets to be with them, hear about their day, be present with them, you know, go to all their. My kids are in tons of sports, you know, do all of those things.

But I'm not just completely beat up by the end of the day, like, I'm still able to be present in there with them.

Can you share one or two of the key changes that you made as a result of your exposure to that functional medicine practitioner that allowed you to do all the things that you just described?

Yes. So one of the things that I did was cellular detoxification.

So a lot of times when people go through, like, detox, people will do, like, a juice detox, and then they feel crappy while they're doing it. They. They don't feel well. They have headaches or. And a lot of times that's normalized. Like, oh, you're doing a detox, you should feel sick.

No, you should not. You should feel when you're doing detoxes, you.

A proper one will pull toxins out of the fat cells out of different areas of the body, and then it will bind them. So you need good binders when you're doing a detox, bind them, and then you need to have your detoxification pathways open.

So your liver, your gut, your bile, your kidneys, all of that. Some people will do detoxes, and they're not pooping, right. But you've got to be able to get those toxins out, you know, at the same time.

So doing a very good detoxification totally changed my lives in so many ways. And then also the other thing for me was really having steady meals throughout the day. And I know it sounds so basic, but really, like when I.

With my daughters, where I'm like, no dessert for breakfast. You know, like, you need to have good protein, good fats.

I say a savory breakfast is so important because what it does is it stabilizes the blood sugar throughout the day. And one of the things that was happening with me is my blood sugar would, you know, go up and then, like, crash.

And then I'm going for the snacks and the sugar and something else like, okay, I've got to keep going. But having that first meal really sets people, myself up for success at the beginning of the day when it comes to stabilizing their Blood sugar.

So when do you suggest and does it even exist, the ideal time to consider visiting a functional medicine practitioner, let's say before you became a parent or after or when is the ideal time.

Prior to or definitely when that check engine light comes on? You know, if you're experiencing those different symptoms and things that's going on, you.

You want to have someone that's looking at that, you don't want to keep driving that car, and there's issues.

And when you even think about your car, like, we go get oil changes, we don't have to wait till our check engine light comes on to say, ma', am, you are completely out of oil in this car.

Right.

A car would completely shut down if you did that. You know, tire alignment, all of those different types of things.

So it's good to just get checked out, find out where you are now and then, especially if you have any that check engine lights coming on.

It's a really great relatable analogy because, you know, most of us have cars, certainly if we have kids, and we're constantly either looking at running out of gas or filling it up and, you know, what's going on to make that car run. Let's go through, you know, maybe a couple of examples of what many households experience with relating to stress.

So when a parent snaps at a child, for example, you know, after a long day at work, what is actually happening in their body and their nervous system in that moment?

Typically, one of the things that could be going on is that they're overstimulated. So a lot of times, and I, I talk a lot about rest and being worthy of rest.

And a lot of times we think about rest as just getting a good night's sleep. But our bodies need rest physically.

But a lot of times we may need emotional rest where there's things that we haven't process that we need to grieve, or there's anger or, you know, things that were emotions that need to be processed. Right. And then there's also where we need sensory rest as well, too. So if you're. You're working somewhere and you're.

You've got lights on, you know, bright lights everywhere, or you're sitting behind a computer screen all day, or it's noisy, or you've just been with the kids all day, right. That constant input is very hard on our nervous system. We really weren't created to just have that constant input.

So a lot of times it could be that we are simply, like, overstimulated.

Like we need to take some time and allow like, and I know that's hard as you know, but to really be able to like disconnect so that we can reconnect to our bodies and allow our nervous systems to calm down.

Building on that point, can you take us through the difference between acute stress and chronic stress and some of the examples that go with each?

Well, acute stress is something that should just happen quickly and momentarily. You know that there's some type of noise or something that we hear outside that or a dog or something comes. Yeah, let's say it was a dog example.

Most people are under chronic stress so you know like a dog comes up. We're not a dog person. We're fearful. It's a big dog and it's like coming after us and we get ourselves to safety. Right. That's acute stress.

Once we're away from the dog, we're safe now or we're before we were in what's called a sympathetic nervous system which is fight or flight. So we are either going to fight that dog or we're going to run away. Right. I like to use a bear example. We don't want to hurt animals, right.

But we're going to fight that bear or we're going to run away once we get to safety. And that's what our sympathetic nervous system is used for. It's the, to keep us safe.

And our body will then go back into what's called a parasympathetic nervous system. So rest, digest. It's also where our hormones are made for our menstrual cycles, baby making, all of those different types of things.

But when we stay in this chronic state of stress, so there's no bear, there's no dog. Now we're talking about, you know, toxins, deficiencies, issues at work, something going on with kids. Like it's non stop all the time.

We are in this place of chronic stress. So our body is in this constant state of fight or flight all the time.

You know and that could even be like the snapping on, on the kids or the husband.

You know, like we just automatically move to fight mode, you know, like that, that could be going on where our body is in this sympathetic state and chronic is just where, where it's long term and we weren't, we were not created to be in any type of stress long term.

We were only created for it to be for that moment, whatever's going on and then get us to safety and then we move back into our parasympathetic nervous system. Rest and digest.

Many mothers and fathers think that they're hiding their stress and that their kids aren't seeing it.

But the kids, you know, so many of them have a sixth sense and can pick up on all kinds of things that we do think that they're not paying attention to what's actually happening there. When we talk about, we think we're hiding, but the kids can feel it. How does a parent's stress transmit to their child?

Well, one, the kids see everything. The kids. The kids know everything. They know when mom is stressed, they know when daddy stressed. They know when mom and daddy aren't getting along.

You know, they. They see everything. And what it can do in some situations is it can pass on a lack of a sense of safety to those kids as well, too.

Like, if they're always seeing, you know, mom is tense, just energetically, they may be. They may take that on as well, especially if they're children who are very empathetic. I won't say all kids are like this. Some.

One of my daughters, she's like, she. Everything rolls off her back, right?

But one of my other daughters, she can very much sense, like, any shift in energy in the household, like what's going on with mom, what's going on with dad. And that's. Those are for children that are scanning for safety too, you know, and there's multiple reasons why they developmentally may be that way.

And there's also research that goes back to when they're in the womb as well.

If mom was under a lot of stress as well, too, that can impact that child, that child's cortisol levels, all types of things once they're born as well, too. But those children that are empathetic especially, it. It can create this sense of. Or lack of safety for them as well, too.

That's a really interesting correlation, because I don't know how many parents would automatically make that connection between their own stress and their child's feeling of safety or not really. Interesting. So you also believe that energy, not time, is the real currency for parents. Why do you believe that? What does that mean?

Energy is the real currency? I mean, when it comes to time with our kids, you know, and that's what a lot of times people will feel like we're lacking.

Like we don't have enough time, you know, for our to do list and all the things that we have to do and all the places that we have to be and everyone that we have to be for everyone. Right. And a lot of times it's like, well, we want to spend Time with our kids, more time, be more present.

But a lot of times it is the energy that we're bringing to that situation. Like, is mom happy? You know, like, we don't want our kids. I remember when I was in that.

When I was exhausted all the time, I was also leaving a very volatile marriage at that time. And I remember one day my daughter, this was maybe like a year or so later, and she said, mom, you're happy.

And I was like, I stepped back, like, not physically, but kind of like head went back, like, wow, what is she seeing? You know, like where it's.

It's something new for her to say, mom, you're happy, you know, and so I think it, it does matter, the energy that we're bringing and then also like our physical energy that we have to truly be present with them when our kids are coming home and they're talking to us about our, their day, like, we want to be able to nod and be present and celebrate them all, all of those different types of things. So it's, it's very much, you know, they, they say they. You don't remember how. What people said, but you remember how they made you feel.

You know, I think that's very important, especially when it comes to kids and, you know, rather than just being there all the time, like, well, my mom was there all the time, but then she, you know, she was always on her phone or she was always stressed or, you know, all of those different types of things versus. There may be smaller amounts of time that we're with our kids, but then really, like, being present is really important.

What would you say then is one small realistic shift that a mother or father could make today to better protect their energy?

Acknowledging the feelings and emotions that like, are coming up inside of you.

When we talk about that snapping, you know, on the kid or the spouse, a lot of times it's because we've been pushing all day long, you know, pushing through our day, getting the things that we need to get done and not really acknowledging what may have come up during the day. There's may have been times where we felt disappointed, we may have felt frustrated, we may have felt sad.

And really pausing and allowing ourselves to be with those emotions can allow them not to build up.

There was, I forget the name of the book, but it talks about, it's either 60 or 90 seconds, that if we just allow ourselves to be with that emotion, even if it's a quote unquote negative emotion, that it will dissipate. A lot of times our emotions are just there. And people call them energy in motion. You know, they're really just there to be acknowledged.

It's also information about what's going on inside of us.

So on that point, is there any kind of daily practice that a parent can consider to build their own sort of resilience before, proactively, before stressful moments hit?

One thing that's really important is having good transition routines. So when I transition from work to home, I have just a little routine and I switch it up.

But it's good to at least have one or two things in your toolbox of something that's going to bring you into that parasympathetic state.

Something where you're able to take your work and the stress that goes along with work and leave it behind before you transition into being with your kids. So that could be something as easy as writing down tomorrow's to do list on a piece of paper.

So it's out of your brain and it's onto this piece of paper, right? And for some people, you can flip that over and you could say, thank you, God, right? Like, it's all taken care of.

I don't have to think about this for the rest of the day. It could be something as simple as, you know, having some essential oils that you put in your hands and you smell.

You know, there's a whole all types of science with olfactory system and what it does to the brain and how calming the things can be. Also, it can just. It can become your routine that triggers your brain and your physiology, your body, to go into a relaxed state as well.

Just like with our kids, where my son, he's three, he knows that when he says, all right, time to get in the bathtub, he's going to go get in the bathtub. He's going to get.

He's going to play a little bit and then he's going to get washed up, and then we're going to put his clothes on, we're going to read a book to him, and he's going to lay down because he has this consistent routine. He knows. All right, this is bedtime now, right?

Of course he has his little rebellious streaks, but he knows physiologically his body knows to wind down here. So when we can have these different types of transition routines that can trigger our minds and our bodies to relax can be very helpful.

Turning on a song that you love, you know, just allowing yourself to sing or dance can be a good transition. Coloring is a great transition too.

Just take five minutes and just don't allow Yourself to touch your phone or anything like that and just allow your, you know, I enjoy coloring. They got a lot of nice adult coloring books nowadays because of what. How much they are so helpful. So that, that can be extremely helpful.

Simple routines that help you transition into. Now I'm in parenting mode.

What would you say to the parent? And there will be many who listen to and watch this interview who will say, I don't have time to take care of myself.

What could you say to them to help them reframe the concept in their own mind so that they can be proactive about their own health?

You have a thousand problems until you have a health problem. And then you've got one problem. When people get sick, that becomes what their life is focused on.

The next doctor appointment, the next imaging scan, picking up medication, you know, doing all of those different types of things. And I know for myself and a lot of us, we didn't come from those. That healthy family, you know, so we've.

We've watched our parents not take care of themselves.

And you know, the last, you know, 20 years of their life, they're just spending it, you know, in the doctor's offices and all of those different types of things slowly dying. So I totally get it because I have a very full life myself. And we've got lots of problems, right?

There's lots of things that are pulling us in different directions. But when that health, when we ignore that check engine light, it will eventually come for us. You know, that car will break down.

We've talked a lot about in this conversation the parent child relationship as it relates to stress. But how about the parent partner relationship?

So how does one parent's stress physiology affect their partner and ultimately the emotional climate of the home?

Well, yeah, when we, you know, when we are at our ultimate stress levels and we're. We're tired, we're exhausted. A lot of times that can create strain in a marriage, especially if there's not communication.

Communication is so important.

A lot of times we just need to let our spouses in, you know, let them know what's going on in our minds, what's on our to do list, what our fears are, all of those different types of things. Ask for help when we need help versus, you know, a lot of, a lot of us can default into like, I'll just do it myself type of thing.

But really having those conversations.

And then of course, like, if we're just stressed out all the time and worried, you know, it's gonna, you know, that's gonna create that Same tension in a marriage.

You know, it's so interesting to have this conversation, not just because we're talking about parents, but the time we're living in now. The sources of stress have probably never been greater.

If you want to be stressed out, you very easy for you to find sources of stress, you know, turn on the news as an example. And that's, you know, that's one, one way to do it. If so I want to transition a bit on that note to business body and belief.

Take us through what that is and how is it designed to support what you do.

So business body and belief is part of my integrated leadership framework, and it really looks at the leader holistically. So we've got business, and a lot of times, even for parents, we, we have a business. Even if you're not like running a company or anything like that.

We've, we've got, we're. We're running, you know, we're running households. And a lot of times that comes down to confidently delegating.

So with my clients, I work with them on that, on confidently del delegating, getting the things off our plate that someone else could actually do. But that's also important with being able to ask for help as well too. So that's where the belief part comes in as well.

A lot of times women will default to I'm not enough or I've got to do everything on my own, or that sense of safety, you know, like constantly feeling like I'm. I'm not safe or I've got to get everything right. It's got to be perfect. So we do a lot with the belief and what we believe about ourselves.

I touched a bit on it with the emotions and what comes up. Typically there's a story that goes along with those motions too that we need a reframing for. So I help women with that.

And then the body aspect as well, too, is very important with everything that we do in functional medicine. That's what that part would cover with the integrated leadership framework.

I asked you earlier about trends that you're seeing, and I wonder, you know, what has been the impact of the global pandemic? I mean, we're six years out of it, but I think we're still just starting to understand the true ramifications of what it's left behind.

When we talk about stress, parent stress, mother, father, stress, physiology and functional medicine, like, what are you seeing as a result of COVID One of the biggest.

Things that I'm seeing is isolation. That's still very, very prevalent. Blue zones are areas of the world where people live beyond a hundred years old.

And there's different, they've been studied these areas of the world where this happens.

But one of the things that all of these communities share is connection and community where, and it's so important because when we're connected to other people, we, our bodies produce a hormone called oxytocin. Oftentimes we think about that with mothers with breastfeeding and things like that. But that oxytocin helps to combat stress.

They actually can't like exist at the both at the same time. And it is, there's still just this prevalence of being isolated and we are just no longer living in community with people.

We were already kind of didn't live in that way in the first place in North America, but now even more so.

And so what do you say to a client that you see that maybe, you know, you flag that that is a key component of what is maybe causing their stress.

I think it's different for everyone, but really, I think sometimes people need to be seen and understand the impact that that loneliness is having on them.

Dr. Newsom, what would you like listeners and viewers of this interview today to leave with?

I would like to just remind you that you are worthy, that you are more than enough, that you are deserving of rest, and that your kids absolutely deserve a healthy parent. Like, absolutely. That is like the best thing that you could give your kids is a happy, healthy parent.

So taking care of yourself is very, very important.

That's a wonderful optimistic and hopeful message to end on. Dr. Alicia Newsome, Functional medical practitioner, functional medicine practitioner, best selling author and mom.

Really appreciate your time and your perspective today. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

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