How Organic Olivia HEALED her Chronic Illness: Ancient Medicine, Blood Sugar Balancing, and Self-Discovery

Olivia's personal health journey illustrates a transformative shift from exclusive reliance on Western medicine to embracing holistic and traditional herbalism. Her pursuit of wellness offers insights into the impact of cultural heritage, the limitations of mainstream healthcare, and the empowerment found in alternative practices.

Olivia's background with Western medicine and her family's health challenges

Olivia grew up in an environment where Western medicine was the norm. Her parents, Westernized and Americanized descendants of Italian and Macedonian lineage—one of whom was a medicine woman—favored scientifically proven treatments over traditional knowledge. Olivia observed her parents prioritize work and productivity dictated by the dominant individualistic and capitalistic culture. Yet, this focus often came at the expense of their health, leading to a myriad of issues including mental health struggles, obesity, and reliance on medications like the ones her mother used.

Olivia herself faced health issues, including severe IBS and cystic acne, which she attributes to a pharmaceutical paradigm ingrained in her upbringing. Her frequent use of antibiotics, sometimes hidden in her food due to her inability to swallow pills, caused significant imbalances in her wellness.

Olivia's turning point and discovery of traditional herbalism and Chinese medicine

A pivotal moment occurred when Olivia reached her health rock bottom while attending a chem lab class. Desperate for relief, she impulsively visited an acupuncturist and herbalist, who diagnosed her condition through tongue observation. The accuracy of the diagnosis astounded Olivia and sparked a voracious appetite to learn everything about herbalism and Chinese medicine.

Olivia's education and journey to becoming a clinical herbalist

Olivia immersed h ...

Olivia Amitrano provides insight into the complex psychological factors that play critical roles in one's journey to health and wellness. The discussions emphasize the impact of self-worth, self-compassion, and the support of relationships on one’s ability to pursue and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The importance of developing self-worth and a supportive community

Olivia Amitrano underscores that although many people have access to information about weight loss and wellness, the missing link is often self-worth. She maintains that self-worth empowers individuals to use this information and take the necessary actions because they believe they deserve to follow through on these steps for better health.

Olivia emphasizes the significant impact a coach can have, mentioning her own experience with a functional nutritionist named Lulu, who provided her with consistent guidance through weekly Zoom calls. This coaching relationship proved crucial to her weight loss and fitness journey.

The shift from self-criticism to self-compassion

Olivia speaks candidly about her personal migration from a place of self-hatred to one of motherly love and compassion towards herself. She reflects on her upbringing with a mother who struggled with body image and diet culture, constantly seeking quick fixes rather than being comfortable at the gym. This background lacked self-compassion and created an environment of shame and restriction, which Olivia later had to unlearn.

She recounts her own lack of self-confidence, which initially hindered her from engaging in more challenging exercises like weightlifting. Eventually, she managed a substantial mindset shift by changing her internal conversation, embracing the challenge, and finding beauty in the ability to do difficult things.

Her personal experience with weight gain became an opportunity to apply self-compassion and to reinforce her spiritual beliefs, focusing on self-acceptance independent of physical appearance.

The connection between relationships and personal growth

Olivia elaborates on the pivotal nature of relationships in moving from inaction to action. She attests that a solid support system, which can include practitioners, coaches, friends, or communities, is essential. These supporters act as affirming agents of one’s capabilities, helping individuals manifest their aspirat ...

Olivia navigates the intersection of Western and traditional herbal medicine by exploring their strengths, limitations, and how engaging with both can lead to better health outcomes.

Olivia's perspective on the strengths and limitations of both Western and holistic approaches

Acknowledging the value of each approach

Olivia respects Western medicine's data-driven methods and acknowledges its successes, particularly in acute care. She recognizes that pharmaceuticals and surgeries can offer extreme but necessary interventions. Conversely, she sees traditional medicine's strength in supporting people with chronic conditions—those in the "gray in between" area. She believes that the Western approach is effective for immediate treatments that push the body to fix something quickly, but traditional medicine shines when supporting ongoing wellness.

Olivia's philosophy of being in "right relationship" with oneself, others, and the natural world

Emphasizing balance, humility, and curiosity

Olivia emphasizes the importance of balance and acknowledges the duality in all things. She argues for a holistic approach to health that includes being in harmony with oneself, others, and nature. She advocates for avoiding the utilitarian view of others and substances and instead appreciating them genuinely. Olivia believes in health as a right relationship with everything and stresses that wellness means accepting oneself and others, with all their contradictions, creating a balanced approach to life.

Olivia's experience integrating Western and holistic principles in her own health journey

Combining data with traditional wisdom

Describing her own health journey, Olivia shares how her conditions worsened in a culture of convenience in diet, a reflection of a capitalist approach to food that favors quick fixes. With her Sisters Kit for PCOS, she addresses various systemic issues like [restricted term] resistance and chronic inflammation. Yet, when she exhibited serious symptoms like swollen lymph nodes and elevated liver enzymes, she grappled with the shortcomings of Western medicine, which offered no diagnostic tools for emerging autoimmune issues.

Olivia points out that Western medicine speaks with certainty, while traditional practice accepts uncertainty and values intangible aspects like spiritual beliefs. Her approach t ...

Olivia Amitrano stresses the importance of addressing various aspects of health such as metabolism, muscle mass, dietary heritage, and the cautious use of medications like Ozempic in the context of a comprehensive approach to wellness.

Olivia's emphasis on protein and muscle mass

Olivia discusses metabolic dysfunction and links it to [restricted term] sensitivity. She argues that being metabolically unhealthy typically results from overeating and a lack of sufficient muscle mass to properly metabolize those calories.

Olivia explains the importance of maintaining adequate protein intake and muscle mass for metabolic health, blood sugar regulation, and overall wellbeing

Olivia emphasizes the necessity of losing body fat and building muscle to reverse [restricted term] resistance and become metabolically healthy. She explains that for women, particularly, maintaining muscle mass is essential as it affects their capacity to metabolize carbs and retain a high metabolic rate. Olivia mentions that a low-carb diet is not sustainable for women because carbs are important for thyroid function and lowering cortisol post-exercise. Building muscle can help to make cells more sensitive to [restricted term], and she advocates for eating within one’s carb threshold.

She notes that even individuals with a normal BMI who are [restricted term] resistant could be "skinny fat," carrying a low percentage of muscle relative to body fat. She describes how adipose tissue can create pro-inflammatory molecules, whereas muscle tissue produces anti-inflammatory molecules that help with [restricted term] signaling. Olivia posits that having the right body tissue composition is crucial for general health, not just weight loss.

Olivia explains how mitochondrial dysfunction can lead to carbohydrate metabolism issues and may be influenced by nutrient deficiencies or oxidative stress from sources such as stress and pollution. Her personal progression from walking to full weight training, which she had to build up to gradually due to an injury, illustrates the importance of managing physical health through suitable activities.

Olivia stresses the necessity of a high protein intake, especially when consuming fewer calories, to preserve muscle mass and overall health. She asserts the need for at least 30 grams of protein per dose to trigger muscle protein synthesis and maintain muscle mass. She leverages scientific data on protein consumption to ensure she does not experience muscle loss as her mother did with repeated dieting.

Olivia's perspective on ancestral diets and individual differences

Olivia discusses how our ancestral heritage and geographic origin can affect our nutritional needs and food tolerances, such as lactose intolerance in people who lack a gene to digest lactose due to its absence in their ancestral diet. She speaks about the impact of historical events like famines and plagues on the physical characteristics and mineral deficiencies of people from the UK and the importance of adapting diets to align with what historically nourished ancestors. Olivia considers restoring relationships with our lineage and understanding ancestral medicine, rituals, and connections to nature as part of building a right relationship with oneself. She cites examples such as the use of pine needle tea as a vitamin C source by indigenous populations in cold climates.

Olivia's nuanced view on Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications

Regarding GLP-1 medications, Olivia finds Ozempic noteworthy and potentially disruptive to the pharmaceutical industry. She suggests that our environmental conditions may cause lower than desirable baseline levels of endogenous GLP-1, which normally contributes to satiety and met ...