Rooted in Wellness with Mona Sharma

The grocery aisle is full of foods that appear to make healthy eating easier. A package says “high protein,” “natural,” “organic,” or “sugar-free,” and the decision can feel as though it has already been made for us. But none of those claims tells us everything about what is inside. In this episode of Rooted in Wellness, I sit down with Julia Putzeys to look beyond the front of the package. We talk about why the ingredient list matters, how ultra-processed foods can be marketed as wellness products, and how to make better choices without becoming fearful or replacing everything in the pantry overnight. Julia is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, former software product manager, and the founder of Trash Panda, an independent food-scanner app that helps shoppers understand ingredients and compare packaged foods. She created the app after realizing how many products she had considered healthy were relying on marketing claims that did not match what she found on the back. What We Discuss: (5:36) Why the nutrition facts panel can distract us from the ingredient list. (6:50) How the high-protein trend can make ultra-processed foods appear healthier. (8:15) The flavored yogurts, dressings, bars, and powders that often receive a health halo. (9:04) What research associations between ultra-processed foods and chronic health conditions may reveal. (12:24) Why ultra-processed foods make up more than half of the average American diet and over 60 percent of children’s diets. (14:42) How dyes, added sugars, and other additives may affect children’s energy, focus, and behavior. (20:32) What “natural,” “fortified,” “sugar-free,” and “organic” do not tell us about a product. (31:08) The discovery that led Julia to create the Trash Panda app. (41:51) How foods can be engineered to keep us eating and why that matters for self-control. (45:42) Practical guardrails for buying mostly whole foods while leaving room for convenience. (51:20) The nuance around seed oils, omega-6 intake, and ultra-processed food. (1:06:03) The packaged snack categories Julia checks most carefully for her children. (1:12:57) How cost, access, and food deserts complicate the conversation about healthy choices. Thank You to Our Sponsors: Timeline: Timeline’s clinically proven formula is now available at a new, lower price. Mitopure now starts at $79, when you go to timeline.com/MONA Learn more about Mona Sharma: Download Your FREE Guide, 12 Wellness Tips to Unlock Your Best Health Now: Ready to reclaim your vitality? Download Mona’s 12 Wellness Tips and take actionable steps to transform your health, energy, and mindset. Get started at monasharma.com/12tips Visit Mona’s website: monasharma.com Follow Mona on Instagram: @monasharma Learn more about Julia Putzeys and Trash Panda: Website: trashpandaapp.com Instagram: @trashpanda_app LinkedIn: Julia Putzeys Download the App: Trash Panda

Most of us know when our period is coming because we have learned how to prepare for it. But how much do we know about what happened in the weeks before it arrived? Would we recognize whether we ovulated, understand why the same symptoms return at the same point each month, or know when pain has crossed from common to something that needs attention? We are taught to handle each symptom as it appears. We take something for the cramps, cover the breakout, push through the exhaustion, and wait for the mood shift to pass. The cycle itself is rarely treated as one connected story. Yet if it is considered a fifth vital sign, how much information have we learned to ignore? In this episode of Rooted in Wellness, I sit down with Kaya Purohit and Yasmin Nouri to question what many of us have been told about our periods. Can food meaningfully change how a cycle feels? What can be missed when symptoms are quieted before they are understood? How can stress, undernourishment, and blood sugar changes show up in the cycle? And what do women need to know as their hormones begin shifting through perimenopause and beyond? Kaya and Yasmin are the co-founders of Beeya Wellness. Kaya holds a master’s degree in nutrition and leads product development and education at Beeya. Yasmin spent a decade in finance before her experience with painful periods and more than a decade on birth control led her back to a practice she had dismissed for two years because it sounded too simple to make a difference. What happened when she finally tried seed cycling changed the direction of both of their lives. This conversation may change the questions you ask before calling a symptom normal. What We Discuss: (11:41) Why period pain should not automatically be accepted as part of being a woman. (14:24) Why seed cycling may be a more accessible first step than hormone testing for some women. (19:23) How the menstrual cycle can act as a fifth vital sign and a monthly report card. (23:20) What irregular cycles, heavy bleeding, severe cramps, and acne may be signaling beyond reproductive health. (28:04) How seed cycling works across the follicular and luteal phases. (30:40) What changed after Yasmin tried the practice she had ignored for two years. (36:18) Why women also use seed cycling through perimenopause and other hormonal transitions. (42:55) What women should understand before starting or stopping hormonal birth control. (48:09) How chronic stress, undernourishment, and blood sugar instability can disrupt the cycle. (57:44) The everyday products that may increase exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals. (1:01:59) How to begin seed cycling and why consistency matters more than perfection. (1:07:26) Why magnesium became the second product in the Beeya line. (1:12:05) The free habit that can help women understand their hormonal patterns. Learn more about Mona Sharma: Download Your FREE Guide, 12 Wellness Tips to Unlock Your Best Health Now: Ready to reclaim your vitality? Download Mona’s 12 Wellness Tips and take actionable steps to transform your health, energy, and mindset. Get started at monasharma.com/12tips Visit Mona’s website: monasharma.com Follow Mona on Instagram: @monasharma Learn more about Kaya Purohit, Yasmin Nouri, and Beeya Wellness: Website: beeyawellness.com Instagram: @beeyawellness

Most of us do not struggle because we have nothing important to do. We struggle because everything feels important at once. Texts, emails, work, family, and our own health all compete for attention, leaving us busy all day without ever feeling completely focused. In this episode of Rooted in Wellness, I sit down with David Nurse to explore whether flow state, the feeling athletes describe as being in the zone, can be trained. We talk about what constant interruption is doing to our attention, why trying harder can interfere with performance, and how the rest of us can use lessons from elite athletes during work, parenting, and high-pressure moments. David is a leading flow state expert, high-performance strategist, Wall Street Journal bestselling author (Do It: The Life-Changing Power of Taking Action) and former Brooklyn Nets coach. He has trained around 200 NBA players, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and is now studying how people can access flow more often and stay there longer. What We Discuss: (9:13) Three simple morning practices for feeling grounded before the day begins. (14:29) Why answering texts and emails in real time can leave an entire day feeling unfulfilling. (20:58) What an ongoing FlowCode brain study is revealing about training flow state. (34:08) What flow state feels like outside sports. (42:49) How visualization prepares the brain for success and unexpected setbacks. (47:48) How notifications, constant information, and poor timing interfere with focus. (55:06) How to use a “time pizza” to see where the day is actually going. (1:01:24) Why clarity, composure, and consistency can matter more than talent. (1:05:41) Why two championship-winning coaches felt lowest after reaching the top. (1:10:17) Practical ways to begin building more flow into an ordinary day. (1:17:32) The problem More/Less protein gummies were created to solve. Thank You to our Sponsors: Timeline: Timeline’s clinically proven formula is now available at a new, lower price. Mitopure now starts at $79, when you go to timeline.com/MONA Learn more about Mona Sharma: Download Your FREE Guide, 12 Wellness Tips to Unlock Your Best Health Now: Ready to reclaim your vitality? Download Mona’s 12 Wellness Tips and take actionable steps to transform your health, energy, and mindset. Get started at monasharma.com/12tips Visit Mona’s website: monasharma.com Follow Mona on Instagram: @monasharma Learn more about David Nurse & More/Less Protein: Website: Instagram: @davidnursenba More/Less Protein: morelessprotein.com

For many people, taking care of their health has started to feel like a second job. There is always another number to track, habit to add, or routine to perfect. More discipline seems like the answer, but constantly trying to optimize the body can make it harder to hear what the body has been saying all along. In this episode of Rooted in Wellness, I sat down with Justin Roethlingshoefer to talk about the line between caring for the body and controlling it. Our conversation gets into how discipline can become tied to self-worth, how tracking can slowly replace self-trust, and why even healthy habits struggle to last when the rhythm of life cannot support them. Justin has lived this contradiction himself. He spent years studying human performance and working with elite athletes, yet at 32, he was dealing with precancerous colon polyps and a bleeding ulcer while still appearing incredibly healthy. Being told he might not live past 35 forced him to reconsider what health actually meant. Today, Justin is a Human Health and Performance Expert, data-driven health strategist, USA Today bestselling author of The Power of Ownership, and author of Holy Health. What We Discuss: (17:12) Why losing 100 pounds left one client wondering why he did not feel happier. (21:48) How living by default affects the body, relationships, and daily choices. (26:27) When healthy habits become part of someone’s identity. (34:06) How HRV can provide useful feedback without controlling the day. (59:09) How Justin looked healthy while his health was falling apart. (1:15:24) Why good habits rarely last inside a life that cannot support them. (1:27:22) The 3-2-1 nighttime rule for making room for real rest. Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Learn more about Mona Sharma: Download Your FREE Guide - 12 Wellness Tips to Unlock Your Best Health Now: Ready to reclaim your vitality? Download Mona’s 12 Wellness Tips and take actionable steps to transform your health, energy, and mindset. Get started now at monasharma.com/12tips Visit Mona's website: monasharma.com – Unlock powerful tools and wisdom rooted in wellness to elevate your health, energy, and clarity. Mona blends ancient healing practices with modern science to help you achieve lasting transformation. Follow Mona on Instagram: Stay connected with Mona for daily inspiration, holistic health tips, and personal growth. Join the conversation on Instagram at @monasharma Learn more about Justin Roethlingshoefer: Website: justinroethlingshoefer.com Instagram: @justinroeth Justin’s new book, Holy Health, brings science and faith into the same conversation, offering a new way to approach health as an act of stewardship rather than another pursuit of perfection. Learn more at holyhealthbook.com

A normal cholesterol result can feel like permission to stop worrying about your heart. You exercise, try to eat well, get your yearly blood work, and leave believing everything is fine. That is what makes heart disease so frightening. It can continue developing for years while the tests you have been taught to trust give you no reason to look any further. In this episode of Rooted in Wellness, I sat down with Dr. Abid Husain to find out what can be missed when we rely on cholesterol and an EKG alone. We talk about the testing that can catch heart disease earlier, why women can have real heart problems even when traditional scans look clear, and how hormones, stress, blood sugar, sleep, and movement can change the picture. Most importantly, Dr. Husain shares what to ask for if you want a more complete view of your heart health before symptoms appear. Dr. Husain is a triple board-certified cardiologist and integrative medicine physician who has worked across inpatient and outpatient cardiology. After years of treating heart failure and atherosclerosis, he stepped away from conventional practice and spent the next decade expanding his training in functional and cellular medicine. Today, he brings these disciplines together in his practice and teaches a systems-based approach to atherosclerosis through his Next Generation Medicine course. What We Discuss: 05:55 Why cholesterol is the last number Dr. Husain wants to hear when assessing heart risk. 09:02 What can be going wrong years before the heart produces a single warning sign. 19:39 The overlooked blood markers that can reveal what a basic cholesterol panel misses. 33:25 How declining estradiol may quietly change a woman’s cardiac risk in midlife. 41:11 The real cardiovascular problem women were told was “just anxiety” because their scans looked clear. 48:37 What statins do beyond lowering cholesterol and why higher doses may come with a tradeoff. 1:01:04 Why the artery known as the “widowmaker” can turn someone’s first symptom into a cardiac emergency. Learn more about Mona Sharma: Download Your FREE Guide - 12 Wellness Tips to Unlock Your Best Health Now: Ready to reclaim your vitality? Download Mona’s 12 Wellness Tips and take actionable steps to transform your health, energy, and mindset. Get started now at monasharma.com/12tips Visit Mona's website: monasharma.com – Unlock powerful tools and wisdom rooted in wellness to elevate your health, energy, and clarity. Mona blends ancient healing practices with modern science to help you achieve lasting transformation. Follow Mona on Instagram: Stay connected with Mona for daily inspiration, holistic health tips, and personal growth. Join the conversation on Instagram at @monasharma Learn more about Dr. Abid Husain: Website: interlinkedmd.com Instagram: @dr_abidhusain YouTube: @DoctorAbidHusain Go deeper with Dr. Husain’s Next Generation Medicine course, a systems-based guide to understanding atherosclerosis: nextgenerationmedicine.co