When you think about improving your health, you probably consider implementing daily habits like preparing nutritious meals, adding more movement to your routine, and getting quality sleep. But before you can make lasting changes in those areas, you’ll have to cultivate the mindset and the environment that makes those healthy changes not only possible, but natural. On this episode of The Model Health Show, you’re going to hear my interview on Sway in the Morning to promote the launch of The Eat Smarter Cookbook. You’ll hear how changing your mindset can upgrade your health and why changing your environment is the best way to make healthy choices automatic. You’re also going to hear some of my personal story, including the evolution of my career and my own health journey. This interview contains powerful conversations on transforming your mindset, how ultra-processed foods are harming our health, how to approach health in a balanced way, and the important role that connection plays in dictating our health outcomes. I’m honored and excited to share this interview with you. In this episode you’ll discover: How I became interested in health. The power of having an audacious goal. Why empowerment is a key factor in changing your life. The first domino in creating a change. How your environment influences your health outcomes. The major differences in food quality in the US vs. other countries. What ultra-processed foods are. How the healthcare industry and processed food companies profit from sick people. What to consider about filtering water. Why the term BPA free is misleading. The critical role sodium plays in the body. What percentage of the average American’s diet is ultra-processed foods. The role of epigenetics in determining your health outcomes. Why eating with your family can have powerful effects on your health. How to create a culture of health and connection around the dinner table. Items mentioned in this episode include: EatSmarterCookbook.com -- Order your copy today! Foursigmatic.com/model -- Get an exclusive discount on your daily health elixirs! PaleoValley.com/model -- Use code MODEL for 15% off! Sway’s Universe Join TMHS Facebook community - Model Nation  Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to automatically receive your episodes:  Apple Podcasts Stitcher Spotify Soundcloud   Thank You To Our Sponsors!   This episode is brought to you by Four Sigmatic. Even when I'm traveling, I always bring along my four Sigmatic think coffee blend of organic coffee and dual extracted chaga and lion's mane mushrooms. I travel with their little travel packs and at home I'm making the full coffee grounds and the drip, it's a whole vibe that I do each morning for my wife and I. Especially when I'm traveling, I wanna make sure that my cognitive function and my immune system is on point. But it's really about immunomodulation and that's the power of these dual extracted medicinal mushrooms. They're clinically proven. We're talking mountains of peer-reviewed data affirming that they have immunomodulating capacity to help to uplevel or increase the activity of our immune system if needed, or to help bring down our immune system activity to make sure that it's not hyperactive. And in particular, Chaga mushroom has been shown to increase the production of something called superoxide dismutase, a super antioxidant in the human body that's really influential on the health and performance of our immune system. But also for that cognitive performance, lion's mane is pointed out by researchers at the University of Malaya where they discovered that it is able to increase the activity of something called nerve growth factor in our brain. Nerve growth factor is essential in the regulation of growth, maintenance, proliferation, and survival of various brain cells. That is powerful stuff. In a study published in biomedical research test subjects with a variety of health complaints, including anxiety and poor sleep quality, were given lion's mane or a placebo for four weeks. The participants who use lion's mane significantly reduced levels of irritation and anxiety than those in the placebo group. The researchers stated, "Our findings show that lion's mane intake has the possibility to reduce depression and anxiety." There are solutions out there. But again, we don't know, we don't know. It's all about education. It's all about empowerment. Head over there, check them out. It's foursigmatic.com/model. That's foursigmatic.com/model. Check out their incredible think blend. You get 10% off storewide, by the way. And in addition to their coffee blends, they also have a wonderful hot cacao or hot cocoa blend that has reishi mushroom in there. They also have elixirs themselves. So if you're not a big fan of coffee, you can get the lion's mane itself, cordyceps, chaga, and many other wonderful things. So again, head over there, check them out, foursigmatic.com/model for 10% off.   This episode is. Brought to you by PaleoValley. I've got some very bad news for you about vitamin C supplements. Most people have no idea that typical vitamin C supplements are made from corn syrup or corn starch derived from GMO crops. The synthetic ascorbic acid found in most vitamin C supplements is structurally similar to naturally derived whole food sources of vitamin C, but they are not the same thing. Whole food and whole food concentrates of vitamin C have hundreds of other bioactive cofactors that make vitamin C work miraculously in our bodies. While synthetic vitamin C is the very definition of a one-trick pony. In fact by being devoid of essential cofactors Synthetic vitamin C supplements can be outright harmful to your health. For instance, a 2013 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal medicine found that participants taking synthetic vitamin C supplements had twice the risk of developing kidney stones. Another study from researchers at USC found that a daily dose of synthetic vitamin C thickened the walls of participants arteries two and a half times faster than those not taking the synthetic supplement. This is absolutely insane because, number one, it's one of the most popular standalone supplements in the world and commonly found in most multi-vitamins. Number two, whole food based, whole food concentrates of real Vitamin C are remarkably effective in lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease even in people engaged in high-risk behaviors like smoking. A randomized placebo-controlled study published in the Journal of Cardiology had 20 smokers Consume a whole food concentrate of vitamin C in the form of camu camu berry daily over the course of a one-week study. And it led to significantly lowered oxidative stress and lowered inflammatory biomarkers. What's more there were no changes in these markers in the placebo group who received an ordinary Synthetic vitamin C supplement. Because of the damage humans have done to the soil microbiome Levels of vitamin C are notably lower in typical foods. That's why I've been utilizing a whole food vitamin C concentrate blend of camu camu berry, Acerola cherry, and amla berry for years. And I'm on a mission to spread awareness about this and get people off Synthetic vitamin C supplements. The essential C complex from Paleovalley is all organic, no synthetic ingredients, and no fillers. Plus it has a 60-day 100% money-back guarantee, so if you aren't absolutely thrilled with it, you'll receive a full refund. No questions asked. Go to paleovalley.com/model right now, and you'll automatically receive 15% off of your order at checkout. Vitamin C is critical for our immune system health, but also the health of our heart, our brain, our skin and so much more. Target organic whole food sources of vitamin C, and if you're going to supplement, make sure it's a whole food concentrate and not synthetic vitamin C. Go to paleovalley.com/model. That's paleovalley.com/model right now for 15% off. And now back to the show.