Toxins in Our Environment feat. Adriana Shuman

[00:00:00] Adriana Shuman: There is a stress that's good that exercises these m and m, you know, the m and m team or stressors that are out of balance because your detoxification system is not working properly either due to genetics or it's overwhelmed from the environmental toxins and it just can't get rid of it. And now you start to feel it.

[00:00:20] And those are all the symptoms.

[00:00:23] Jenn Trepeck: Welcome to Salad with a side of fries. I'm your host, Jen Tpic, talking wellness and weight loss for real life. We're here to clear up the myths, misinformation, bad science and marketing to teach you how to eat and how to cheat. Are you ready? I'm having salad with a side of fries.

[00:00:42] Hey friend. Welcome back to Salad with a side of fries. I'm Jen Repi, your host and health coach here with you every week for wellness without the weirdness. And there's so much talk this year about microplastics and ditching all the plastic utensils and cutting boards and things in the kitchen, not to [00:01:00] mention water bottles and so much more.

[00:01:02] And sure. Plastics seem to be getting all of the Internet's attention and. They're not the only toxins in our environment that deserve our attention. So to teach us more and to help us clean up our immediate environments, I have a wonderful guest. She's a highly respected, certified nutritionist and functional medicine, health and wellness strategist with a degree in pharmacy.

[00:01:27] With over 15 years of experience in guiding people to health, she specializes in creating root cause focus strategies using her proprietary force. Step methodology to help clients regain energy, improve gut and mitochondrial health, lower blood glucose levels, and achieve vibrant health. She holds a degree from the pharmaceutical university in Bratislava, Slovakia.

[00:01:49] During her study, she realized the limitations of conventional medicine as she witnessed the health struggles of both her family and her patients. In 2001, she immigrated to the US [00:02:00] driven by a passion for holistic health and a mission to uncover the true foundations of wellness. And align her life with her purpose where she founded your Wellness Made Simple.

[00:02:10] Featured in Dr. Elena Aaron's documentary Sensitive. She shares her experience as a highly sensitive person, which informs her compassionate approach to wellness coaching. She's also the author of the bestselling book, the Light Living Your Truth. Her experience has been shared in podcasts, live events, and workshops.

[00:02:28] Now she's joining us on salad with a side of fries. Please help me welcome Adriana Schumann. Yay. Thank you

[00:02:35] Adriana Shuman: for such a warm, beautiful welcome. I'm so excited to be here, Jen.

[00:02:39] Jenn Trepeck: Likewise. And we heard a bit of your story, but I have a couple follow up questions, so we'll start with that. Okay. And then go from there.

[00:02:47] Really quick though, one more piece of housekeeping. So friends, are you in the Happy, healthy Hub? Because being a member of the Hub is the next best thing to working with me. As your health coach, you get a recipe [00:03:00] every week delivered to your inbox. You get curated articles, additional discounts from me and our partners.

[00:03:05] You get interview episodes like this one in. Full video, including behind the scenes content, a community with the ability to post and comment on other people's posts, plus access to 24 7 a a, or ask me anything to target your specific questions or challenges. You can upvote other people's questions, see past q and as and so much more.

[00:03:26] So all of this is yours, by the way, for just $12 a month or. You can pay the whole year up front and you get two months free. So this week your recipe is for fall vegetable soup. This is 10 minutes of prep, 30 minutes of cook time. It has sweet potatoes and butternut squash, so it's a little hardier than your average vegetable soup.

[00:03:48] I think it's a delicious snack or part of a meal. Surprisingly simple to make, and I think it technically qualifies as a detox soup of sorts. So I think you're gonna love that [00:04:00] one. And from Adriana, our featured guest, happy Healthy Hub members are getting her house wellness guide. So this is an easy to follow guide to identify and remove toxins from your home room by room.

[00:04:14] So for this recipe, for the room by room guide from Adriana plus this episode in Full video, access to the Community Chat and the 24 7, ask Me Anything, go to a salad with the side of fries.com/membership. From there, you click subscribe Now. Follow the prompts to enter your payment info, create your login to Access the Hub and all of your benefits.

[00:04:36] Remember, you're going to a salad with the side of fries.com/membership, or you can click the link below in the episode notes 'cause that's easy. This truly shows your support for your health and this show, so we can keep doing this together week after week. Okay. So Adriana, you studied pharmacology and then after seeing your family and patients struggle, you shifted towards [00:05:00] nutrition and functional wellness.

[00:05:02] So you also told me that you wanted to break the cycle. So I'm curious, what is that cycle and what were you seeing with your patients and family mm-hmm. That led you to this root cause approach? Yeah.

[00:05:15] Adriana Shuman: Yeah, good question. The cycle is making unwellness normal. And especially growing up in Europe, I was growing up in Slovakia during communism.

[00:05:28] Our country became free when I was 15 years old. But by then I have already experienced myself a lot of sickness. Being on antibiotics, constantly watching my family struggle with sickness and unwellness watching a lot of family members dying from cancer, and all of this was just completely normal. But there was something inside of me was telling me this is not normal.

[00:05:54] I'm very intuitive person, and there was my guiding light, call it whatever, [00:06:00] just guiding me that this is not normal. So I grew up, you know, we're talking about toxins today. I grew up in an apartment where I found out later. With mold, the food that we were eating, even though my mom was cooking, uh, homemade food from scratch.

[00:06:15] And this is why I tell people, just because it's homemade, it doesn't mean it's good for you because you don't really know what's in the food until you really understand like what ingredients you're supposed to be using. You just really don't know what's in the food. And it can be from heavy metals, mold, and all kinds of, you know, other stuff heavy on sugar and heavy on, you know, just flowers and processed stuff.

[00:06:36] I. Later realized and not really in my fast forward in my pharmacy school because I really learned about the science there, the biochemistry, the pharmacology, but it still didn't explain why I was constantly sick and everybody around it was sick, and it was so, so normal. It. Really came to hit me when I came to the US when I was 26, after I [00:07:00] left my country and I started to heal myself emotionally first.

[00:07:04] 'cause there was a lot of emotional trauma that I experienced in my home. That was really the first thing that I had to address, and that's how I started with my clients too. They're always surprised they come to me with all these symptoms and all these labels. Like we always start with the inner environment, which is the emotional stuff.

[00:07:22] The trauma, the worries. Distress and all that stuff. So anyways, that's where really started. That was me breaking the cycle first, healing the trauma, and then starting to learn about my body and environment in a completely different way. The, it's called the functional medicine or holistic, or basically, I just call it the truth about your body and your environment to really understand what your body needs in order to thrive and live a healthy, vibrant life, no matter what age.

[00:07:51] Jenn Trepeck: Yeah. And I appreciate what you're sharing about the idea that our objective is to thrive. Yeah. You know, not just live or survive, [00:08:00] but really thrive. And you know, I think sometimes that does take a different approach. Yeah, it does. Than typical, you know, just. Don't get sick or stay not sick. So our focus today is on our environment.

[00:08:17] Mm-hmm. And you talk about it all the time. We talk about it all the time, that, you know, food, movement, sleep, stress, these are really such key components of wellness. So will you explain for everybody the connection between our environment and those things that we typically think about all the time for our wellness?

[00:08:39] Mm-hmm.

[00:08:40] Adriana Shuman: Well, the connection is really what I try to explain to people or teach people is about, there's things inside your body. You can see, I call it the Eminem dream team. It's microbiome and mitochondria, and really just making it into this fun little game of not looking at it [00:09:00] very scientifically, but just looking at it from the perspective that there is something going on in your body that even though you can't see it, there is a reason.

[00:09:09] That you have to do certain things every day in order for these things to work and give you the life that you can, you know, thrive. And not just, like you said, we're just so used to just living right, and you get up and you're tired and it's just, that's just what it is. It's normal. You're tired the whole day and you drink coffee and you do this, you do that, and it's just like you're just surviving.

[00:09:29] It's like that's not supposed to be that way. So. This system of mitochondria that a lot of people know creates energy. There is so much more that the mitochondria actually creates. It's about 24 7 detoxification, and it's not just about the mitochondria. It's everything that's inside the cell. It's the cell membrane, then it's the microbiome, the trillions of microbes, viruses, and all kinds of bacteria that we are dependent on.[00:10:00]

[00:10:00] And these. Things create chemical reactions 24 7. They make hormones. So if you have problems with mood, you gotta look at your microbiome. You gotta look at how your mitochondria is functioning. They detoxify estrogen. For women who have problem with estrogen, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, you gotta look at the microbiome.

[00:10:21] Every single chemical reaction happens through these, what I call the m and m dream team, and they're affected by our environment. Everything that goes into your body or on your body. So when we're talking about toxins, anything from what you're breeding in, what you're drinking, what's in your food, and what's in your cosmetics that you're putting in your body, and also your thoughts.

[00:10:48] Every single day, all the things that you're thinking about that stress, your cells are listening and your stress is affecting how these. Cells, how the mitochondria and how the [00:11:00] microbiome is functioning, just like stress from exercise, stress from heat or cold plunges. Now they're, you know, super popular.

[00:11:07] All of that affects the mitochondria microbiome. That's why some people are doing these, what are called the healthy stressors when they're in the right amount. You don't want to overdo these things either, right? But these are all stressors. But that there is a stress that's good that exercises these m and m.

[00:11:24] The m and m team or stressors that are out of balance because your detoxification system is not working properly either due to genetics or it's overwhelmed from the environmental toxins and it just can't get rid of it. And now you start to feel it. And those are all the symptoms.

[00:11:42] Jenn Trepeck: Yeah. And it's the connection between what we know to be doing and the existing frustration when we feel like, you know, they're not working, I think Right.

[00:11:54] And so you also talk about, you know, you give like the oak tree analogy, right? Yeah. And [00:12:00] the, you know, the environment like the soil. Will you explain that?

[00:12:04] Adriana Shuman: It's, that's a very simple explanation of how environment affects us. It's just like oak tree needs healthy soil. It needs sun and water. In order to grow from these tiny little seed, you get this beautiful, strong oak tree and you can think about your health that way.

[00:12:20] What is your environment like? You know, is it healthy? Is it strong? You know, what are all the things that are in your environment? That's the soil for the seed in order to grow into a tree. Then you have food that I connected to my LiveWell methodology, which is the next part is food. And then you have sleep, and then you have movement.

[00:12:40] So we need all these four systems in order for our body to thrive and live a healthy life, just like the oak tree needs. The environment, which is the soil, the water, and the sun. So for us, it's just these four and we like to separate things. You know, some people are really focused on just food. Just tell me what to eat.

[00:12:58] But they forget about the [00:13:00] sleep and the morning routine and the evening routine, the circadian rhythm, and you know, all that kind of stuff. They completely. This miss exercise, they just go for walks. I just was writing a newsletter actually for today that goes out every Thursday. There's so many clients.

[00:13:15] I do yoga, I do Pilates. I'm fine. I'm like, no. There is so much more to movement than yoga and Pilates are great, and I do them all the time. But there is just so much more, and you kind of have to do all of that. That's just how we're made humans. You know, you gotta look at the inner environment, you gotta look at the environmental toxins.

[00:13:33] You have to look at the food, what you eat, how you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat all of those. And then the sleep. And it's not just the amount of sleep because a lot of people are like, oh, I get eight hours of sleep. Why am I so tired? Because it's the quality of your sleep. Are you measuring your sleep?

[00:13:51] I am really, really heavy on data. I love data because unless you can actually see, just like you know, the science, like coming from a scientific background, you really don't know. You're just guessing. [00:14:00] And that is a no-no on my list we don't guess. We test and the movement. So all of those four really create help and you get, really get in.

[00:14:08] All of those four. Not all at once, but once at

[00:14:11] Jenn Trepeck: a time. Exactly. And I love the analogy of thinking about, you know, the soil of our health tree, if you will. Yeah. As that environment. And you started to talk about, you know, you mentioned heavy metals. Mm-hmm. And there's glyphosate and we hear about all the plastics.

[00:14:31] And I think before we go any further, it's worth addressing. This. I don't think I'm alone in this feeling, but I believe there are so many voices in the world and on the internet talking about toxins, and a lot of it ends up feeling like fearmongering. How do we know who or

[00:14:52] Adriana Shuman: what to trust? I know. I know.

[00:14:56] That is so, so hard. [00:15:00] Well, I always tell people the number one thing, and this is what I do with all my clients and myself, do testing. Because without testing your own body, doing specific lab work, you are listening to all these stuff and everybody's got different ideas and everybody's either focused on plastics or they're focused on heavy metals, or they're focused on mold, whatever.

[00:15:24] You know, they're focused on, on their thing, what they are really good at, which is great, but then also don't explain to you. How it's affecting you based on your genetics, and also don't support you in, okay, well first you have to actually find out what's going on inside your body and if you have these toxins, like when you do the labs, and I do four very specific labs for every client.

[00:15:51] And always started with genetic testing as well, unless somebody already has it, because we have to understand, number one, how your detoxification system is [00:16:00] working, because I can be exposed to heavy metals or glyphosate, whatever. My husband can be exposed to the same thing. But when we do lab tests, he's completely fine because his glutathione production is working fine.

[00:16:14] His liver is working great. His whole detoxification. His microbiome is super balanced. I might be super toxic and feel like shit, and that is because first I have to understand how your genes are working and support those first. So that's number one. So listening to influencers, social media, and you know, Dr.

[00:16:35] Google and all that, it's not really not gonna do anything because. The other step to it is, okay, I'm gonna get all these supplements, I'm gonna do all these things. Well, the supplements might be contaminated if you dunno where to buy them. Now you're listening to somebody and they're advertising, they're getting paid by somebody to sell the supplements.

[00:16:52] And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, that's fine, but make sure you actually need them. You know, the dosage. You know, [00:17:00] if they're contaminated or not. I'm constantly emailing companies and asking them for certification of, uh, their analysis. Third party testing. Yeah, analysis. I don't buy anything without having that paper.

[00:17:12] And if they tell me they don't share it, well then I don't buy from them. So, you know, there is a lot, and I don't wanna overwhelm people more, but just always start with your. Genetics. Know which pathways you actually have to support and then do lab testing. Know your heavy metal load, know your glyphosate, your plastics.

[00:17:32] You can test everything now. So do that. Look at it now. You know the truth, you understand your body, right, and you know what he actually have to now remove, but. Also identifying out where all these toxins coming from, because now even if you start detoxifying, if you're constantly, you know, exposed to these toxins, it's not gonna do you any good.

[00:17:56] So it's a complex thing, but this is, I think, [00:18:00] where I would steer everybody, like, stop listening to this. Your testing, look at your body and go from there, because all the information out there is great. Like most of it is, you know, true, great information, but it's not specific to you. It's just a general information and, and about the fearmongering, I'd say if we don't understand something, then there is fear.

[00:18:26] If you understand something. You know, if you have just a fundamental understanding of, of these toxins and how they work in your body and what you can do about it, then there is no more fear. You just have a plan and you know how to live your life, then nothing is gonna scare you. And that's kind of in general, I teach that to my daughter.

[00:18:44] You know, just, there's no reason for fear. You have to have a plan, but first you have to understand.

[00:18:50] Jenn Trepeck: I love that approach and that lens that we can think about everything coming at us. And then just to reiterate so that everybody has it really succinctly on the testing, so you're saying genetic testing [00:19:00] one?

[00:19:00] Yeah. And then four labs that you like to do with? Mm-hmm. Your clients are which? Four?

[00:19:07] Adriana Shuman: Yeah, I can share them. So it's organic acid test and all of these tests are really, you have to do it through functional medicine, doctor. Yeah. With organic acid test, a lot of doctors will do it, but they dunno how to read it.

[00:19:19] It's a very complex, complicated test. They will give you the best picture of your mitochondrial function, and if your mitochondria is not working properly, it doesn't matter what you do. You're not going to live a healthy, good life, you're gonna be diagnosed. One of those four diseases, whatever, like you have to make sure your mitochondrial is functioning properly.

[00:19:41] It also tests for toxins, neurotoxins, so make sure that you know, whoever you order it from, they know how to read it. I've been studying organic acid tests. For like six years and I'm constantly learning something. It's absolutely incredible. Next one is stool test and make sure the stool test, [00:20:00] also test your organ health, your pancreas, your bioproduction and everything else, not just the microbiome.

[00:20:06] It's all important. Then I do mycotoxins test always, because that's one of those things, again, it's not very many, many people are talking about, you hear about plastics, you hear about glyphosate, but mycotoxins are directly connected to cancers. All kinds of different cancers. So I'm very, very stuck on this and I've been finding out more and more.

[00:20:29] People having the gap in thinking, and it's not their fault because we just don't talk about it enough when they think about mold, is they're only thinking about mold in houses. But there is mold in corn, in rice, in nuts and seeds and you know, in food and most of it, we're getting it from there. Peanuts, I know peanuts are huge.

[00:20:50] Coffee in America, peanut butter and I Coffee. Yes, and there's so many companies now that certify their product. Third party tested [00:21:00] mold-free. So I do those three and then I do a deep dive blood work. So all of these three, by the way, you can do at home. And the fourth one, the blood work, you have to get it done at a lab, and that is metabolic and hormonal.

[00:21:16] Test and I do it through Boston Heart. 'cause that gives me a really good deep dive picture of what's going on. So those are my four and they're absolutely a must. Otherwise you're just guessing and you're really, you're just chasing something. You dunno what and you're, if you're doing something and you're not.

[00:21:34] Feeling the difference. You're not feeling better and there is not a long term, you know, difference, not just feeling better for a couple of days. Then you gotta start thinking about like, Hey, I really need to do this personalized for myself.

[00:21:49] Jenn Trepeck: Yeah.

[00:21:49] Adriana Shuman: You know?

[00:21:50] Jenn Trepeck: Agreed. Alright, so with this foundation I wanna shift into talking about more of the specific toxins, places that we find them, and steps [00:22:00] that we can take to address the toxins in our environment.

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[00:24:05] How not just food, but sleep and stress impact my personal biochemistry. It's a tool to help you lose weight, boost energy, reduce cravings, and even reduce inflammation. I can't wait for you to see your data. Remember, you get 33% off when you go to Nutri sense.io/marketing/gent. Okay, Adriana, back to you. So.

[00:24:30] It seems to me, you know, based on our conversation, everybody's starting place is going to be a little bit different. How do we even start with evaluating maybe the toxins in our environment and where before even testing or if we live in a place where we can't get some of the functional tests, you know, where do you recommend we begin?

[00:24:52] Adriana Shuman: And you begin in your home, that's where you have control. So you always begin when you're home. And I understand not everybody can do these lab testing because they're [00:25:00] expensive, but if you can do it or if you can, you know, save your money or whatever, just get it done once. Just do it because it, it truly can save your life.

[00:25:08] And I tell everyone, you know, the cost of medication for diseases, I mean, people, it, it's just horrific for me to watch. I've had clients with Parkinson's, with cancer, and the money that they've had to spend on the bills on the hospital, bills on the medication. It's not just about the money for sure, but the loss of time and it just wrecks your, you know, emotional system.

[00:25:35] So whatever you can do, do the testing and if you are not gonna do it right now, but there's one thing you can do right now. Look at your kitchen, starting your home, and this is where. The PDF that I am sharing with your audience is gonna be extremely helpful because it covers your entire house. And I made it super simple where you just go just the basic stuff.

[00:25:58] Kitchen is where you spend, [00:26:00] you know where you're making your food, you're eating, you're drinking. And then the next room I would go into the bedroom, oh wait, hold on.

[00:26:07] Jenn Trepeck: Now I wanna go back

[00:26:07] Adriana Shuman: to

[00:26:07] Jenn Trepeck: the kitchen for a second. Yes. So let's talk about the kitchen. So let's things I think of in the kitchen. Mm-hmm. And then we can take these one by one, but I just wanna say 'em out loud.

[00:26:16] So things I'm thinking of in the kitchen is, you know, pots and pans?

[00:26:21] Adriana Shuman: Mm-hmm.

[00:26:22] Jenn Trepeck: The coffee maker and coffee. Yeah, right. Yeah. Good ones. Yeah. Yeah. What are you using? Okay, let's talk about, so talk about those so we can decipher fact from marketing.

[00:26:35] Adriana Shuman: Oh gosh, yes. Let's talk about the truth. So I wanna start with the coffee.

[00:26:40] 'cause everybody's drinking coffee in this country. I mean, not just in this country, everywhere. I travel all over the Europe, it's everywhere. Coffee is notorious for having heavy metals and contamination of mycotoxin. So now there are so many companies that make coffee. They're third party tested, so get coffee that [00:27:00] is third party tested.

[00:27:01] I don't drink coffee anymore. I used to, I'm caffeine free now, or sometimes I just have matcha tea. So that's the first thing. And also, what are you making your coffee in? Just get the glasss. Press, right? That's what it's called. The glass press. Just make sure there's no plastics. You don't want plastics, heat, and acidity together, because that is what releases the microplastics and anaplastic into the coffee.

[00:27:27] So now you're getting this amazing, you know, coffee, that's third, third party tested is no toxins, and you're making it in these machines. They're full of plastic, aluminum, you know, and then there is the drip coffee, right? You can also be made of glass. I believe, again, I'm not a coffee drinker, so I'm just kind of like, okay, what is out there?

[00:27:46] What can people use? And so that answers the question about coffee. And then when you're making the coffee, making sure you're using water that's filtered, reverse osmosis is the best. And now again, there's so many companies that are [00:28:00] making a reverse. Osmosis. Water is so freaking simple. You can have it on the counter, you can have it under the sink, you can have the whole house.

[00:28:07] So many options and pots and pans. Honestly, the best thing is what I have found. I love my titanium pen. Absolutely love it. It's light, it's non-stick. And what's making it non-stick is just properly knowing how to cook cotton and making it really hot, and then turning the heat down. Uh, stainless steel iron.

[00:28:33] Pots and pens. Just making sure you don't use those every day. 'cause iron can't be toxic if you have too much in your body. Ceramics is fine. Just again, make sure it's pure ceramics. It's not coated with something else. You know, it's really hard because it's kind of like with the whole, there is no BPA plastic, well, there is other bisphenols in the plastic, so it's kind of like.

[00:28:56] That's what I feel like happened with pots and pants. It's not [00:29:00] Teflon, but it's this to make it nonstick. Well, okay, well can you show me testing what's in it and how is it affecting my body? Like we just don't have enough information. I understand that manufacturers are trying, you know, many of them are trying to do their best and also meet.

[00:29:17] People's wants on what they're used to. They want things non-stick, but I just don't trust it because I have tried some of the pens, they don't last very long. They start scratching and what's in that, you know? Right. What's in the material that is now coming off and it's getting into my food. It's some kind of a synthetic chemical and I just don't want it in my body.

[00:29:41] So that is my answer. It, it really is not that complicated. The great thing about these like stainless steel. Titanium, they last forever. You don't ever have to replace them. And once you learn how to, you know, cook on them, you're just really gonna be like, oh my gosh, why haven't I been using this my [00:30:00] whole life?

[00:30:00] It's really not that difficult.

[00:30:02] Jenn Trepeck: Excellent. And then before we leave the kitchen, we've sort of mentioned it in passing, but heavy metals and foods.

[00:30:08] Adriana Shuman: Yeah.

[00:30:09] Jenn Trepeck: What are some of the things that we can do to look at our food quality and really understand? What we're getting.

[00:30:19] Adriana Shuman: Oh gosh. James. I know. I'm sorry.

[00:30:21] Jenn Trepeck: Question.

[00:30:22] Adriana Shuman: No, it's funny because, I mean, it's not funny. It's actually sad because I have just. Over the last two days this week, I have emailed six different companies selling nuts and seeds, asking them for their third party lab testing for heavy metals and mycotoxins. I do both. I put them all together. You know, I always buy organic food, period.

[00:30:46] When it comes to nuts and seeds, they're always proud edge, but it's really hard with heavy metals. There is, there are few companies online that you can find you can subscribe to. There is Consumer [00:31:00] Lab that I use, especially for supplements. They're third party tested. There is Let Save Mama I Thing is another one.

[00:31:07] And I'm sure there are other ones where you don't do your own testing or you don't have to be emailing every like I do, I just email everyone and I ask them for what I need. So out of the six, I'll tell you on the Nuts and Seas, out of the six companies that I emailed. Four of them said, no, they don't do testing, and two of them said they do, but they don't do it on every batch.

[00:31:28] But they shared with me the results. So that was nice. So it's really hard. So just make sure you're buying organic. And I know it doesn't protect you a hundred percent on everything, but it at least lowers the amount of pesticides, synthetic pesticides and herbicides. And it's also better for the plant.

[00:31:45] And we always tell people. We don't wanna be killing the bees and butterflies and all these insights that that's what we're killing when we're supporting companies that are, you know, using these synthetic herbicide pesticides, plus you're killing your gut microbiome. So that's one way I would [00:32:00] start. And then as far as heavy metals, you can only do what I do.

[00:32:05] Email the company and ask them, or find the third party testers who. Hopefully tested the products that you like and are publishing them for you on their website.

[00:32:17] Jenn Trepeck: Yeah. I appreciate that you said, you know, all you can do is all you can do. Yeah. Because I think with everything that we hear, we expect to be able to, you know, in air quotes, get it right.

[00:32:29] Mm-hmm. Or get it to a hundred percent. And so to hear from you as an expert saying. We do the best we can with the information available and you know Yeah. We minimize the exposure. Yeah, exactly. Like

[00:32:45] Adriana Shuman: just, you know, you can only control what you can control. Like obviously this is my work, this is my life, so I can sit here and email these people.

[00:32:54] There are people that are five kids or they, you know, have three jobs or whatever. You don't have time to freaking email people and, and figure [00:33:00] these things out. So I get it. And this is where the other part comes into place. Making sure that even if you're getting some of these environmental toxins in, your body's able to break them down and you know, there's three phases of detoxification.

[00:33:17] So you make sure, able to break it down, turn it into water soluble molecule, and poop it out, put it out, breathe it out, and sweat it out. So. Yes. So your detoxification system is working 24 7 properly, or as good as it possibly can, right? Yeah,

[00:33:35] Jenn Trepeck: exactly. So we have an episode, goodness, I can't remember what year we did it, about your body's own detoxification.

[00:33:41] So that's happening all the time. You can go back to that episode and it's such a great point. It's not about nothing. It's about minimizing or not totally stressing our own detoxification pathways so that the body can handle the volume that's coming at us. Okay, so that was the kitchen, [00:34:00] and then you went to the bedroom.

[00:34:02] Adriana Shuman: Yes. Then you guys have the bedroom checklist as well. So I would start with probably the mattress, 'cause you're laying on it hopefully for seven to eight or to nine hours breeding in whatever is in there. So I am very hardcore on. Natural fabrics, anything from bamboo, organic cotton, wool, hemp, whatever.

[00:34:30] Just make sure it's natural, it's organic. The mattress is organic. I love my Natu. Pedics made in us. I think it's actually made in California where I am, but there's so many more incredible companies and I, and the great thing about with more and more companies making good. Organic safe mattresses without any of the fire retardants and all that crazy stuff that used to have to be, you know, had to be in mattresses, that it is more available to [00:35:00] people that you know might not have the finances like it used to be.

[00:35:04] Like, I remember a pedic started when I started my first business, I think it was 2007. It was crazy expensive. It's just everything is so much better now in 2025. So I would definitely start with mattress and obviously sheets. Pillows, just really focus on the natural fabric so your skin can breathe. So you're breathing in, you know, no fumes and healthy good air, which now it connects to the air quality in your bedroom.

[00:35:32] Right. So I can go on, wait, before, quick

[00:35:35] Jenn Trepeck: question before, 'cause talking about the sheets and fabrics makes me think about laundry. Yes. So like dryer sheets and detergents and things. There's a lot of things that say they're free and clear. Yes. So my question to you is, how do we know what's truly free and clear?

[00:35:57] Adriana Shuman: Hmm. Well, how you know [00:36:00] is when you read the ingredient list and it has no fragrances, when it says fragrance on it, it's a synthetic chemical that is going straight to your brain and messes up everything because there is no barrier really. So fragrances is absolutely no, and I don't care if it's in candles, if it's in.

[00:36:21] Washing stuff or whatever, it's in your hand soap, like get rid of it all over your house everywhere. It is really, really toxic and really messes your hormones or mess up your hormones. Like for example, because of my detoxification pathways genetically, I just wanna make this point. I. I can't even be around fragrances.

[00:36:39] They make me sick, and I didn't know why my whole life until I learned about my genetics. So if anybody listening is like, oh my gosh, yeah, I don't feel good when I smell perfume or something. Well check your detox pathways, your genetic mutations. So for dryer, I use wall, uh, wool, uh, balls. Yeah, they're [00:37:00] very accessible and again, you spend on 'em.

[00:37:02] Once you're done, maybe you have to replace them after a couple of years and you don't have to keep buying them over and over again. You can put a little bit of lavender or whatever, uh, essential oil on it if you want some smell, but it's really not necessary. And detergent, soaps, same thing. Just always read ingredients, just like you read ingredients on your food.

[00:37:21] You read ingredient list on every other product. If it says no fragrance, then it's fine. Great. And dye is similar to, yeah, the

[00:37:30] Jenn Trepeck: fragrance and that kind of stuff. Gotcha. I didn't even

[00:37:31] Adriana Shuman: think about, see, I don't, I have not

[00:37:33] Jenn Trepeck: used these products

[00:37:34] Adriana Shuman: for I know. Here, so I'm like, oh my gosh. I can't even tell you what might be in it like this.

[00:37:39] This is so bad. Yeah. I actually buy all my stuff and I think the store is called Ethos. I don't know if they're just in California, but you know, these stores where you can go and refill things. Mm-hmm. And they have like sustainable, uh, products and it's, again, it's so much cheaper actually, [00:38:00] and you're supporting, you know, people that are doing good thing and also your body.

[00:38:04] So yeah, don't buy your detergents and all that stuff. I, I would probably say don't buy them in these main stream stores like, you know. Long sort of whatever. I don't know.

[00:38:14] Jenn Trepeck: Yeah, and I also think of it, I'm curious if you approach it this way or recommend this with your clients, but I often say, you know, start with something and then when you're gonna replace it, I don't necessarily tell everybody, you know, throw everything out of your house, start over from scratch, you know, as we are replenishing, choose the healthier option.

[00:38:35] Adriana Shuman: We are always one step at of time. That's a really good point, Jen, because. If we get overwhelmed, and I know you were talking about a lot of things right now, when we get overwhelmed, we end up doing absolutely nothing. So whatever we're talking about right now, like yeah, choose one thing and just do that.

[00:38:50] And then the next And the next, yeah, exactly.

[00:38:53] Jenn Trepeck: So to your point, let's not overwhelm. Maybe this is a good place to send everybody to explore the kitchen [00:39:00] and the bedroom and their laundry and start there and eliminating. Fragrances as much as you know all the other offenders. Anything else? A final thought to wrap this up?

[00:39:12] Well,

[00:39:13] Adriana Shuman: the final thought I have is everything we spoke about and if you really want a clear roadmap to health. People can get my live Well book on Amazon or anywhere it's available and edible as well. So it's live well empowering habits for vibrant health and unstoppable energy. That's a good place to start for people.

[00:39:34] And yeah, just I would start with with testing again, always, and just choose one thing we talked about and start there. Just be aware. Just look at your space at home and just be aware. I'm sure everybody can kinda look at their space and just stop and think. It's like, oh, I noticed one thing. Like, and if you know it, you know, or if you have questions about it, just find out about that one thing, if it's safe or not, or replace you with something else.

[00:39:59] [00:40:00] So, yeah.

[00:40:01] Jenn Trepeck: Excellent. Alright, well it is time for a rapid fire off topic questions that I ask every expert. You ready?

[00:40:08] Adriana Shuman: Okay. I am

[00:40:08] Jenn Trepeck: ready. All right. What's the best thing you've done for your health this week? What's the naughtiest thing you've done related to your health this week? Not that anything's really naughty.

[00:40:17] You know, the salad and fries of your week.

[00:40:20] Adriana Shuman: Okay. I am going to say it is my. Emotional health. I went out for breakfast and went to Farmer's Market with my husband, which I normally don't because in the morning I work, so my brain is firing the best. But I decided to get out of my routine and do something good for my soul and my relationship with my hubby.

[00:40:48] So that was good. Love that. And naughty. Oh my gosh. I have a thing. I have, I love crunchy, salty things, so I'm not a sugar [00:41:00] person. I was actually addicted to sugar when I was younger, but now it kind of switched to a salty, crunchy crackers. So yeah, I have a problem. And on Monday I was watching TV that I usually don't, and I tell myself I'm not gonna eat anything while I watch TV because it's completely mindless.

[00:41:19] I'm, and I just. Crunch, crunch. Crunch like crazy until I eat the whole box of my seed crackers.

[00:41:27] Jenn Trepeck: Is it it Top seeds? Yes. I love those crackers. I swear. Oh my god. That's my addiction. I know they have just the right amount of salt. Yes. You cut me the crunch. All of it. They're so good. Yes. Yeah. My husband has to hide them from me, so it's that bad.

[00:41:41] Alright. If you weren't a nutritionist

[00:41:43] Adriana Shuman: and wellness strategist, what would you do? I don't know. I'm just crazy about health and organiz. I'm really good at organizing. I would probably be just like planning and organizing something for somebody. I

[00:41:58] Jenn Trepeck: dunno. Awesome. All right. [00:42:00] Your favorite book on any topic other than your area of expertise?

[00:42:04] Or you could give us a fiction book.

[00:42:07] Adriana Shuman: Oh my gosh. My brain. Just little like, ah, so many books. I love to learn. I absolutely love to learn. So this is a hard one. I would have to go and I, and I kind of go through a lot of books and I don't always remember the titles or the authors. I have to be very honest.

[00:42:25] So I just kind of go for what's in the book. Recently I dove into the learning about yoga. I've been reading a book about yoga is not. Like yoga for everybody, like the yoga instructor, you have to really understand your physical body and how it moves to not hurt yourself. And when it comes to, like, I don't really read fictional books.

[00:42:50] It's funny that you asked because recently I told my husband, I said, I need some storybook, but I just get so bored. So he got me a book about dog [00:43:00] called Marley. So I am having that one on my desk and I'm gonna read that. Yeah, so

[00:43:07] Jenn Trepeck: very cute. If you could cure one ailment, disease or sickness, what would it be?

[00:43:12] Adriana Shuman: Oh, cancer, sir. A hundred percent.

[00:43:14] Jenn Trepeck: If you were a superhero, what would be your superpower

[00:43:17] Adriana Shuman: That I could make? Health for everyone. Super easy and accessible and doable and simple. Yeah. What's your biggest pet peeve? I don't know if this is pet peeve, but you tell me Jen, if somebody is I guess defensive or somebody doesn't answer your questions.

[00:43:42] Sure. That counts

[00:43:44] Jenn Trepeck: for sure. That counts. The is

[00:43:45] Adriana Shuman: crazy. Yeah.

[00:43:46] Jenn Trepeck: Alright. Last one. In your opinion. What's the next frontier in wellness?

[00:43:51] Adriana Shuman: AI is the first thing that came to my mind, but I also wanna add, you know, hoping, using it correctly to save [00:44:00] lives, you know, making new organs for people and with, you know, terrible diseases and things like that.

[00:44:07] So I, I think that

[00:44:09] Jenn Trepeck: one

[00:44:09] Adriana Shuman: for sure.

[00:44:10] Jenn Trepeck: Well, Adriana Schumann, thank you again for being here. Tell everybody how to connect with you again, where to find your book, learn more about your work, everything.

[00:44:18] Adriana Shuman: Thank you Jen so much this, this was really fun. So my book Live Well, you can find on Amazon or wherever books are sold my business.

[00:44:27] You can find me through my website. Your Wellness Made Simple. You can connect directly through my email. You can find me on Instagram as well, but I'm not very active there. So the best thing is to do, to go on my website.

[00:44:41] Jenn Trepeck: Excellent, and we'll put links to everything in the episode notes for you.

[00:44:45] Adriana Shuman: Awesome.

[00:44:45] Jenn Trepeck: All right, friends, on Friday and this week's bite-sized bonus episode, we're talking about organic bread from Heaven. So this is yet another bread claiming to be the answer to our health related prayer. So is it. We [00:45:00] will find out when we look at it together on Friday and this week's bite-size bonus episode.

[00:45:04] Be sure wherever you're listening, click the plus sign or the follow button and then your app will alert you on Friday. When it goes live, well, as always, everybody, I'm your host, gen Trek. Connect with me on Instagram are all social media. I'm at Gen Tre, J-E-N-N-T-R-E-P-E-C-K. Website is a salad with the side of fries.com.

[00:45:23] Pick your platform, send a message. I'd love hearing from you, your ideas, your questions, your takeaways. This is also the easiest way to learn more about working with me as your health coach. Adriana Schumann, thank you again for being here with us this week. Thank you, Jen. It was

[00:45:39] Adriana Shuman: fun. I appreciate

[00:45:40] Jenn Trepeck: you, your work and having me on.

[00:45:42] Likewise and friends. If you are not already become a member of the Happy Healthy Hub, you'll go to a salad with the side of fries.com/membership. This shows your support for this podcast, this community, and above all it's supports your health. On top of this week's episode, in full video with [00:46:00] Behind the scenes pieces, your 24 7, ask Me Anything.

[00:46:03] And our community board, you'll get this week's recipe for the Fall Vegetable Soup plus Adriana Schumann's House Wellness Guide. So you could go room by room, minimizing and eliminating those toxins in your environment. So until next week, when it comes to removing toxins from our environment, take it one day at a time and one product at a time.

[00:46:26] Well, friends, that's it for today's episode of Salad with a side of Fries. Congratulations for making yourself and your health a priority. Thanks so much for joining us. Be sure to click subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast platform. Share us with a friend and we'll be back next week. Always remember you deserve it and you are worth it.

[00:46:45] Happy, healthy.