From Chronic Illness to Vibrant Wellness: A Journey into Functional Medicine with Linn Rivers

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  0:04  
Hello, and welcome to Your Health Moment podcast. I'm your host Max Sturdivant better known as Dr. Fitness. On this podcast, I want to give you the tools to start, continue and never give up on your journey towards health. Now, whether you struggle with your weight, eating the right food, hydration, exercise, or even time management, you're in the right place, and I'm here for you. Now, let's dive right into this episode. 

And thank you for joining us for another episode of Your Health Moment. I'm your host, Dr. Fitness. And as always, we're going to discuss all things holistic health, and wellness. And it will be no different than last time. But I'm really excited. The thing that's really different is we get to speak with Linn Rivers. And we're going to discuss Well, here we go. If you have high blood pressure, diabetes or any other chronic challenge, you're not alone, 70% of Americans over 45 are being treated for chronic for chronic health condition. And our guest is guest is going to show or our guests is going to share information about functional medicine, and what separates functional medicine from traditional mainstream medicine. But first, I'd like to thank our sponsor, McGowan Rehabilitation Center. If you've been in a car accident, it can be physically and mentally traumatic. At McGowan Spinal Rehabilitation Center, you get first rate care with the latest equipment for your physical trauma. But their kind and caring staff also rehabilitate your mental trauma. So there is severe mental trauma from accidents. And if you if you'd like more information, call them at 904-350-5544. That's 904-350-5544. 

Now, our guest Linn has been in the holistic health field in the coaching world since 2008. So she has a lot of experience. Now. Linn is a health and wellness expert, and educator who assists people all around the world. And you know, must be traveling a lot, Linn. And it's really great to be able to assist people in all those different places. But Linn, how about we start with you introducing yourself? And, you know, telling us a little bit about yourself and your journey into functional medicine? Yeah,

Linn Rivers  2:02  
Well, first off, thank you for having me on the show, I'm super excited to be here with you. And my journey started off very tumultuous. I had pneumonia when I was one in three, which I was in incubators, they had my arms tied down, that turned into childhood asthma, which I was always in and out of the hospital for and being on steroids. And a lot of antibiotics as a kid really wrecked my gut microbiome, which then in turn caused a lot of other issues, including hormonal disturbances, and the list went on. And I ended up with chronic depression, chronic fatigue, all of these different symptoms, I was down to eating two foods at one point because my body just didn't want to process anything. I had multiple near death experiences from my body just not functioning properly. And it just got to the point where all of my, all of what I went through and my family, the majority of them died before I was 15. And the rest of them followed with other forms of disease of some form. And so with all of that being said, I really took that on and I started as early as I could to understand the human body and why are we getting so sick? Why did my family die from all of these? Why was I not healing? Why wasn't I getting better? And while I started very early on, I was actually I was more like 18 When I started the journey of nutrition and understanding diet and how it relates to illness. But it wasn't until about five years ago that I really started diving into functional medicine, to understand finding the root cause of illness. Why are we actually getting sick and not just using food as like another bandaid if you will to try to fix the symptoms, but to find the root cause of illness why? Why are so many people getting sick? not just myself but as a whole. Why are 50% of Americans at this point, either diabetic or pre diabetic? Right I wanted to get to the bottom of it. So that started me on a deep dive of understanding functional medicine finding the root cause and real healing myself on a level that was profound. I mean, I got to the point several years ago where I almost had a heart attack from throwing a Frisbee once, and I was pre diabetic, and I just had so much going on that where I'm at today, it's because I did my studies, I did my research, I did my schooling. And I found you know, the answers, I found the bigger pieces as to why we're getting sick. And now, it's my passion to share this and creating courses, so everyone has access to it. So that's a bit about me where I'm at and what I'm doing.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  5:40  
I mean, that's a fascinating journey. You were talking about kind of how you took ownership of your care. Am I hearing the message that? Were you in traditional medicine getting traditional treatment, when you were finding out that you had when you were pre diabetic? You know, what was your experience with through traditional medical sources that you felt, hey, I need to seek other methods to really come to to get a better understanding of what to bring in this on. What's, what's the origin of this for me? Yes. So was that your experience? Did you first try traditional medicine and then switch? Or did you? What was that journey like for you that from? Or did you never have the experience really, with traditional I

Linn Rivers  6:34  
did, it's the reason that I'm no longer, you know, it was a reason that I switched out. And it was because my entire childhood, I was on some form of medication. And being told that I was always going to have asthma my entire life, that it's not something that goes away, right. And all of these different things. And I think the boiling point for me was one, seeing my family go through the traditional medical system, Western medical system, and always getting worse. And the wards that the doctors used to my family of, you're not going to get better, this is just going to keep progressing, this is going to get worse, there's nothing you can do. And that alone at 15, to hear that my mom's dying, and there's nothing that they can do. That alone, I think planted a seed. But then it was when I was 17. And the internet just came out. And so I had the dial up service. I remember the AOL, I just remember listening to it while I was trying to figure everything else out. And I had kept going to the doctor, for I was on so many medications for antidepressants at that time. And I was using antibiotics and ointments for certain conditions that weren't going away. I mean, it was just like a reoccurring thing. And there was a point that just clicked where the doctor, she gave me the same antibiotic cream and said, Okay, here you go. And I was just like, there has to be a way to get rid of this, like, this is not normal, my body should not be having this time and time again. And so I got online. And it took me a long time for everything to load. But I searched, I said natural treatment for XYZ. And I mean, at that point, there is barely any information on there. However, there was enough for me to find a solution that someone had wrote about. And I was like, You know what, I'm not getting better the other way. So let me give this a shot. And sure enough, this one simple solution, literally, completely got rid of what I was going through, and it never came back. And that for me was the point where I got off of all medications and didn't go back to the doctor. And I started diving into the extent of research and natural medicine and all of the above to start my own healing journey which took a long time, but I did it

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  9:06  
See, that's pretty fascinating. It's that that moment where you realize there has to be another way Yes. And and then you started diving into it. You've you've come a long way. I mean, you have clients, a you have a huge coaching platform. So you discovered a need, what's the what's the journey look like for you next? So

Linn Rivers  9:38  
my journey at this moment is the onward trajectory of where I see myself continue going. And I actually created I am in the creation of a platform right now where people can go and learn everything that they need to about the human body and how to heal mind, body and soul. Barrett, where they get all of the information that they need that they are not getting in society, not definitely not from their Western medical system, but also not in their educational practices. And I'm doing this, I'm doing it in a course format, because I was charging my clients $3,000 to get this information because of all the testing involved in it. But there is another way to do this, where everyone has access to this. And right now I'm in pre launch with this course. And it's called chronic illness to vibrant wellness. And the pre launch price is $50. Because I want everyone to have access to this information, not just the people who can afford this. Because unfortunately, if you want to get better insurance is not going to cover it. So people need to have access to something where they can get the information about why they're sick, and how to get better. And then that way they can choose to take responsibility for their own health, right, that's the thing, I can give them all the information, but it's up to them to actually take that information and do something with it. So I created this course, and I'm creating more courses that will help people heal, genuinely heal, you know, it's, we really need this.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  11:19  
And so, so if I can pick your brain a little bit about some things that are in the course, for the listeners that have diabetes, is there a tip that you can give them to help them, you know, get off all the medicine that they're taking is there open in one or two tips that either you're open to

Linn Rivers  11:44  
share? Yeah, the biggest tip is to lower your carbon take. Our bodies are not designed to have those extreme insulin spikes. And it happens every time you overload on carbs. And I mean, we're our society eats over 500 plus carbs a day easily is the majority of the population. And for eggs for a comparison, I eat 20 carbs a day, right, so I'm on a very low carb diet, because that is where my body does best. However, as a whole, we should not be eating as many carbs as we do in this world. In general, our bodies not meant to process them that way. And so what it does is it causes your insulin to spike. And those insulin spikes are what causes I mean, it's linked to over 98%, of dis ease is from insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the key to so many different problems. And yes, there's a lot of other practices that go into that as well and understanding certain foods. And you know, there's so much more to it. But one of the best things that you could do for yourself, right off the bat, is to lower your carb intake, and increase better sources of protein and higher fat, while making sure you're able to absorb these processes. But doing that alone, I mean, people can really shift their lives so drastically, just with one little part of that, you know, and so that's my biggest tip for people who have diabetes, or are pre diabetic.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  13:19  
That's a great tip. You know, and I'd like to share with people, Hey, before you really take any of our advices make sure you check with your primary care physician first, because it's really important to do that you could have some underlying thing that we're not aware of. Yes. So it's really important that you check what your primary care. But that being said, I've actually seen people get off of insulin type two diabetics get off of insulin to Yes, but it's interesting, because I've learned when you're making that shift, and you want to make that shift, be sure to have a way that you can track your blood sugar, because so many people do it in a way that they think they're doing it correct, but they're not. And I think it's really important that you work with a coach, and someone who is very familiar with what you want to accomplish. Because knowing what that blood sugar is, on a pretty constant basis is going to be essential when you're shifting from medicine to off medicine, because your traditional doctor is not going to believe you. When you say you're not going to take medicine because you're going to do things right. And it's you're not going to need it anymore. They're not going to believe you because they believe that if you put yourself in the situation where you're already a diabetic, chances of you changing that are slim to none. And so their first thought for you is going to be well, that's not going to happen. So when you say it, Hey, I heard from this really great motivational press Send Lynn, that I just need to reduce my carbs, and I'll be fine. Um, so reducing your carbs is really essential, like Lynn explained, but having a way to make sure you're doing it safe is also going to be important. And I recommend that you have your doctor get you one of those wearable blood, glucose checkers, okay? Because most people are not going to poke their fingers enough to keep a running blood tap a blood sugar tally, to actually make that transition from being diabetic, to not being diabetic. And your doctor won't believe you unless you give him the numbers, you know. So I recommend that you share your blood sugar, never numbers, and we're talking eight or nine times a day and share what you're eating what you're primary, so that they know you're serious about the change. And they'll see that you're one of the people that will actually be successful, because millions of people try and fail. And so they they lose the confidence in people. And so you really have to document that journey from being diabetic to not being diabetic. And I feel that's how you can transition better away from medicine with your primary team. But functional medicine, I think is really important. And taking ownership of what you're doing with your health, I think is key. And I think so many people in mainstream medicine just don't take ownership of their health. So for Yulin, I mean, that transition from being pre diabetic, to not diabetic at all. It's really awesome to be able to accomplish that. Did you find that you have sugar cravings? What was that journey? Like for you switching from being pre diabetic to diabetic? What did you learn about the foods that you needed? And how did you know that the new foods that you were eating were affecting your blood sugar in the right way? Because most pre diabetics aren't regularly checking their blood sugar,

Linn Rivers  17:16  
right? And so I think for myself, my my journey came down to life or death. You know, I was constantly like, really, really sick, and almost dying twice from my body just not functioning properly. I think I did get pushed to the brink, where it was like, I need to take care of myself. Like there's no question I need to figure out it's not that I was eating really unhealthy is what what it looked like, I wasn't just eating like packaged food or Cinnabon or McDonald's or any of these things. I was eating whole foods, but not realizing how those Whole Foods affect you. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't really understand what it means to eat healthy, right? And that's what we're learning, we're finally understanding like, what does the human body actually need. And so for myself, it was a, it was a journey of feeling not good. And, and it started getting to the point where I had the numbness in my fingers and the tingling and pinpoint, you know, feelings in my toes. And that's where I was like, oh, something's not right. And I was eating a lot of fruit at the time. I mean, like a lot of just like, fruit. And the reality is I want to touch on that really quick is that we were never meant to over eat anything of one quantity in, you know, large quantities. Like we have access to all these different foods now because of importation and massive growth. But our bodies weren't meant to consume, like three, four cups of fruit in one setting. And we tend to do that we tend to do that with certain vegetables to which have their own properties that though those chemical compounds actually really create an imbalance in our system. And so I was doing that I was over eating so many different things and just kept spiking my blood sugars. And it really just came down to me going on an elimination diet and being willing to go on an elimination diet, and really come back, I was at a carnivore diet mostly. So that way my body could really center really just clear out and no inflammation, and then slowly start adding things back in, in small quantities to see what was setting my body off. And so it was a process where I'm willing to do, I'm willing to take those steps because it's my body and it's what's getting me through this life. So it's important to me to to know my body and what it needs. And so I did I took the long road of just like diving deep and letting go of everything and not finding excuses. It was very much like hey, I need to do this if I want to live a happy and healthy life.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  20:03  
There's no doubt about it. And when it comes to, like, high blood pressure, was that in part of your experience

Linn Rivers  20:20  
at certain points? Yes, it was, um, excuse me? I definitely there are certain things that were actually causing my body, my body to be imbalanced. And the high blood pressure came from salicylates in food not even necessarily the the carb intake at the time, but I my gut was so dysbiotic that I couldn't absorb any nutrients from plant foods. And so those were causing my blood pressure to rise so much, that even though I looked fit and healthy, climbing upstairs, I'm not talking about being winded. I'm talking about I had to stop before I passed out because I felt so unwell. It was like my heart was about to beat out of the chest and I had so much pressure in my head. And there I was thinking like, Oh, this must be from this food. And turns out it was actually from plant based foods that I was just overloading my body with and causing high blood pressure and a lot of heart palpitations and a slew of other symptoms.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  21:27  
Yeah. Wow, that is crazy. I had no idea that connection that even plant based most

Linn Rivers  21:34  
people don't. Yeah.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  21:38  
Can you give us an example of some plant based foods that tend to spike blood pressure? So salicylates?

Linn Rivers  21:45  
So it's a list of our chemical compounds in the plant and they have oxalate salicylates and other chemicals that they they have as their protection to not be eaten. Right? And if you eat them into larger quantities, what plants are those? The majority of the majority of plant based foods have high salicylates. And so like the the highest would be something like

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  22:09  
um, is there a particular plant that I should be so zucchini

Linn Rivers  22:12  
or zucchinis are very high? Okay, and their olives are extremely high. Cilantro, mint. Those kinds of all the herbs are extremely high in salicylates. And this is why herbal medications, a lot of people can tend to feel worse on them. Because if their body can't process them because of a dysbiotic gut, those seep into your bloodstream and cause so many different things. In fact, salicylates are directly linked to autism. They're directly directly linked to asthma which I had as a kid and I was eating watermelon and all of these other high, high salicylate foods. And so those little things that you don't know about people don't know this, which is why I'm sharing this information. Because if your body's not absorbing the nutrients,

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  23:03  
I want so slight spelt it

Linn Rivers  23:06  
sa l i c y la because I mean

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  23:13  
Okay, that would be something I think people would really want to know about what foods have solicit lights and, and, and try to maybe remove some of them and see if it impacts your blood pressure, blood pressure, and that that's actually so you have this information and tons of information like this. I'm sorry, it hypes aggression, so

Linn Rivers  23:39  
it actually causes immediate aggression after eating. So if you have a child or you yourself, recognize like a irritability or an aggression after eating about between like 10 to 30 minutes after eating, that is a solicit late reaction and tinnitus comes from salicylates.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  24:01  
So that information is in your course, one of the very many pieces, yes. And tons of information. Oh, yes. So that information and more. So there is a lot of really powerful information in the course. Because, trust me, I had no idea that, you know, the herbs could literally be impacting your blood pressure. So that's like really a great nugget to take away. So definitely, if you have high blood pressure, doing a little more research in that area might be really helpful. And, and alynn reverse course might be something that would really do great things for you. So Len, you got me interested in taking your course that's for sure. That's a great nugget. Yeah,

Linn Rivers  24:49  
there's I mean, it's I've had to dive into the pieces that a lot of people don't typically dive into, because I had to uncover so much for myself and my clients and you The as an independent researcher, you dive into the things that people are not talking about

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  25:11  
that's fantastic. When it comes to mental health and stress, I mean, you hit you touched on salicylates impact your mental I mean, your make you angry. So that seems to have an impact on your, your mental health? What are your thoughts is there? You know, is there something that you would recommend for that? What's your thoughts in and around mental health and nutrition and activities and functional medicine?

Linn Rivers  25:53  
So again, I go into this in full depth actually, there is a complete section for mental health and nutrition and all of the above in my course, because Okay, so let's let's, for example, yes, they they are linked to aggressive behavior. And for myself, I spent the majority of my teens and 20s in really irritable, aggressive space, not knowing this. I removed that salicylates from my diet. Yes, I was willing to go extreme because it was bad. It was really bad. Like I just I felt like irritable and everything in life. And the second I took those out, I became a completely different person. It literally went from a to z, because and then I was like, this is how I'm supposed to feel regularly. And they can be linked to depression as well like chronic depression. And so it's like plant compounds. If our body is not able to break them down. It is linked to so many different mental disorders, like I said, salicylates in autism is directly correlated, and oxalates have a a play in all of it too. And the, for myself, the depression, I would get into the deepest depressive moods. I mean, I was suicidal for a good chunk of my 20s, where I just didn't want to be here anymore. Like I was certain I did not want to continue doing this live because I was constantly in that space. And when I lowered my, you know, I start I stopped spiking my insulin so much, I stopped having the depressive episodes, I was one of those people who was on antidepressants, a big chunk of my teenage years. And I, I am not a person who would ever go on a medication again, unless it was like a dire situation. But I went through the roller coaster rides with it. So I could find out what's actually helping me with my diet and what's not. And now I am completely even keel. Even when I'm on a hormonal roller coaster with my hormones, like during my period, I don't get the PMS symptoms, I don't have those depressive modes anymore. Where before I would be in my room crying for days, because everything was just so out of balance. And now it's like I am living proof that what we put in our bodies affects us immensely. And the thing is, we're just not aware of what's actually causing those symptoms in the first place, which is what I am bringing to awareness.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  28:16  
Oh, that's fantastic. For all our listeners who want information on your new functional medicine course that you've created. What can they do? What should they do?

Linn Rivers  28:31  
So you go to my website, www dot Len rivers.com. And it's li n n reverse.com. And there is a link directly to the course. And it's a walk through it's I have a video on there talking about the course. And you can walk through and look at a good chunk of things that are in the course and what you'll learn. And that's only it's a small part portion of what I show in the course. And you can learn more about why under the course and whatever you want. And you can actually enroll directly through there. And like I said, for the pre pre launch special is $50. So it's literally a no excuse price for people to learn something about their health, even if they take one thing away from it, it is worth that price.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  29:18  
Yeah, I find all all too often. People don't realize how important it is to actually invest in your health, in in ways like this, particularly with functional medicine because the system that's set up with our medical care, doesn't like paying for preventative medicine really. And it makes it takes it on you know, it's important that we take on that role of you know, being mindful about preventing health challenges for ourselves. And so doing courses like this, I feel are really helpful and I'm always seeking out, excuse me, I'm always seeking out new information that's going to allow me to be more proactive when it comes to my health and then help other people be more proactive with their. So this is definitely an opportunity to do that. So taking Lynn rivers course will give you an opportunity to learn a lot more about how you can be more proactive with your life. So if you want that, I suggest that you check out her web page. And Lynn, what's a web web page www

Linn Rivers  30:31  
dot Linn? reverse.com li N and reverse.com.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  30:41  
Oh, man, hey, Lynn. Um, if there was a specific question that you would have liked me to ask that I just didn't? What would it be? And what would be your answer?

Linn Rivers  30:59  
That's a good question. I don't know that there is anything that I for me, it's mostly about getting the the knowledge of chronic illness out there right into AI, I guess maybe if they're, let me look at it this way. If you had asked me, What do I think people need to do for themselves more is to take responsibility for their entire existence, they are the creator of their reality. And it's time for them to step into it and stop accepting the truth of everyone else around them, especially their their doctors in the Western medical system, because they are not set up to help people get better they're set up to continue the progression of the illness and just medicating and so it's really important that when you go into the doctor, you need to make sure that you're finding someone who's going to be on the journey with you of integrative approaches, and willing to walk you through the process of I'm going to take these steps in a natural form. And I just want you to be by my side. So you can help me through this. If your doctor does not agree with that, find a new doctor, because it's so important to have someone who's going to help out that journey.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  32:19  
That's fantastic. Linn Rivers. Hey, thank you for joining us today. And thank you listeners for tuning in to another episode of Your Health Moment. I look forward to talking to you again next week. Take care and bye for now. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Your Health Moment podcast. If you enjoyed what you've heard, you can visit our website, yourhealthmoment.com for past episodes, show notes, and all the resources that we mentioned on the show. Feel free to connect with me on social media to send me a DM and let me know what your thoughts are about the episodes that you've been listening to. And don't be shy about requesting any other show topics that you might like to explore.

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