Episode #50: Interview with Amanda Yue

Feeling frustrated with stubborn skin problems? Find out how a deeper look into your gut health could be the game-changer you've been searching for. Join me and Amanda Yue as we explore the fascinating connection between gut health and skin issues!

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Show Notes:

• Amanda Yue, a functional medicine pharmacist, discusses the connections between food sensitivities, skin issues, and autoimmune conditions.

• Differentiating between food allergies (immediate reactions) and food sensitivities (delayed reactions).

• The importance of accurate testing for food sensitivities and working with a knowledgeable practitioner.

• Proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec can worsen gut health by suppressing stomach acid.

• Healing the gut through addressing food triggers, digestion, stress management, and lifestyle changes.

• Amanda's journey with psoriasis and gut health, emphasizes the interconnectedness of the body's systems.

Key Takeaways:

• Food allergies cause immediate reactions, while food sensitivities manifest as delayed responses.

• Accurate testing and interpretation are crucial for identifying and managing food sensitivities.

• Proton pump inhibitors may exacerbate gut issues by suppressing stomach acid.

• Healing the gut involves addressing food triggers, digestion, stress, and lifestyle factors.

• Gut health plays a significant role in autoimmune conditions like psoriasis, emphasizing the importance of holistic approaches.

Transcripts:

Welcome back to Better Than a Pill. Today I am super excited to have Amanda Yue on as a guest, and Amanda is an integrated, functional medicine pharmacist who is passionate about true healing. She's also a yoga instructor, a meld instructor, and an. autoimmune patient. So realizing the traditional medical system couldn't help her, Amanda embarked on a journey to explore and learn about other tools of medicine, utilizing her medicine expertise and training in functional medicine, she was able to support all her chronic health conditions, including symptoms relating to autoimmune disease, like psoriasis and IBS. Today, she is here to share one of the missing links that is connected to skin issues.  food sensitivities and skin reactions.

So today we're going to be talking about all these things and I am, I'm just really excited, like just cause I know a little bit about Amanda's work and um, we're going to delve deep into all kinds of stuff like, like this. Okay. We're going to talk about proton pump inhibitors.  That many take for acid reflux and indigestion can lead to other diagnoses and we're going to talk about the truth  about food reactions and how they can help identify food triggers and how Removing food triggers can actually eliminate GI symptoms for many people and there's a lot of other facts too.

So we're going to delve into this, um, talk about food sensitivity and I am super excited. So welcome Amanda.  

Thank you. Thank you. I love your podcast name Better Than A Pill and I'm a pharmacist.  I love that.  That's really funny.  I love that so much. Yes. Yeah, I'm a pharmacist and I am passionate about helping people get off medication.

So, de-prescribing. Many people think that pharmacists are drug pushers, but we're actually not. We're actually the police. We're actually the drug police. And you're so knowledgeable too. I just think of the pharmacist I go to and how much she knows and, and, and, you know, we've talked before, so I can see how that would be, you know, we do think of you as like, you're not pill pushers, not, not at all, not  at all.

No, we're trying to help you get off medication.  You know, nothing else. So, but from, from my own journey, I, uh, again, um, yes, I am passionate about just this amazing body, how intelligent our bodies are, and we're designed to heal ourselves, giving the proper tools, right. Giving the proper nutrients, the proper, you know, um, support, um, Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. That's great. And it's like, so just kind of tell us a little bit. So what is actually the difference between a food sensitivity and a food allergy?  Great questions. Yeah. So many people think about, you know, food sensitivity and food allergy are the same, but they're not. So the food allergy is quite, um,  immediate.

So food allergies, when you eat something, or even when you come in contact with something, your body reacts right away. So it's easy to identify, right? You eat something and then you get, um, rash or, um, you have swollen lips or in anaphylaxis, your throat starts to close up. You know, that's an immediate reaction.

That's an IgE reaction. And that's the allergy. That's the allergic reaction that you can go to your allergist and your allergist will be able to. You know, I identify that to do an allergy test for you, whereas food sensitivity is where it's a little sticky. It's a little confusing, um, that we test, um, it's a different antibody.

We test for the I. G. G reaction. So the allergy testing is testing for the I. G. E reaction. That's the immediate reaction. The food sensitivity can be slow and low and very confusing. So yeah. For example, for me, I'm intolerant to Almonds. And for years, I did not know that because I will be, you know, eating almond, drinking almond milk, and then I'll be getting GI issues and didn't understand why, um, until in my late 40s, I had full blown leaky gut that I wasn't able to eat any solid food at all because anything that comes in my body would react, it would trigger an immune response because I had these gut permeability.

So, you? The food sensitivity test is, um, it's not ordered by your doctor and it, um,  it can be, um, you can find that online or, um, through functional medicine practitioners, such as myself. Okay. So that's kind of the  difference. Um, so it's testing for different antibodies and one is slow and low and the other one is immediate.

Um, and the slow and low, it could be different degrees. So you could be intolerant to a food and can show up in hours later, but for some food it can show up days later and it can compound. So that's when it's very confusing. So you, you could be eating something today, it might feel okay. And then. Okay.

Three, four days later, you'd be eating the same thing and you get all this negative response and And you don't know what food that you are intolerant to or sensitive to that's causing that negative symptoms. Yeah. No, that's interesting. And I have had some of those food sensitivity tests myself and I, you know, it's really great to have the clarification between that and an allergy and understand that because those terms are often used interchangeably.

And, you know, I just am curious what, so not all food sensitivity tests are accurate.  Yeah, no, there are so many out there. There are so many out there online that, you know, there are some bad ones and there are some good ones, but even the good ones, if you say you get a good one. test result, right? So you order the same test that I provide, um, online.

You can order that and you get the result and use it like everything shows up,  you know, like with all these sensitivities and you're like looking at the result and you'll be like removing everything. If you don't know how to interpret the result, you know, there are false positives and false negatives to these results, right?

So not knowing or not working with a practitioner who knows how to interpret. This data, you could be removing a whole food group that's  beneficial to you, that's necessary for you, and then it can lead you to be nutrient deficient.  Yeah. No, that makes sense. Is that, you know, even in having the testing myself, for example, it's been done in different ways, um, with different practitioners.

And then one of the last tests I had had a bunch of different things on there. It had like a three, which thought I meant  antibodies were high and like different numbers. And I was just really surprised, like, wow, did I stay away from all these things? And then. You just aren't always sure. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to try and eat.

I can't stay away from some of these things after a while. So, and then I started to wonder, because I've heard that the sensitivities actually can change. So like how often do you need to test and how do you know if it changes? And if you're sensitive to one food at one point in your life, that might not be the case later.

Is that right? Um, for some food groups like, um, high, like for nuts, for example, it's considered a super allergen, um, group. So say if you identify that you're intolerant to one nut, say for me, almond, and then if I continue to Eat like cashew. I'm not intolerant to cashew. If I continue to eat cashew every day, you know, because I, because it didn't show up on my test.

If you keep doing that, eating that every day, the same nuts every day, you can develop intolerance to cashew as well. So in that case, you know, we advise that. You alternate. You can eat other nuts, but don't eat the same nuts all the time. So, um, rotate and alternate, diversify is always a good, um, you know, it's always a good practice.

Um, yes, and as far as I, um, um, as far as, um, you can develop, um, yeah, that's one way that you can do that. Um,  The test that we provide is genetic. It's, it's, it's per your genetics. So it's not something that you have to eat, you know, before you do the testing. Um, so, um, you know, I, I, I've had people who, um,  never had, say a chestnut or a ginkgo nut or, um, and. 

it shows up on their test like really high.  So, um, that's how accurate, um,  you know, the tests that we provide. Um, it tests your genetics.  Oh, wow. So that's better. So the one I had, I was thinking about was like, I think a blood draw  and said the genetics is better than like a blood draw is what you're saying.

Well, it is blood drawn. It is a dry blood  test, but it does test per, you know, it tests your, it tests your, um, genetic response. Gotcha. So, you know, yeah. So it's like, um, some people say, oh, you have to eat and that food has to be in your body before it can be accurate. It's not the case. Right. Okay. You don't have to eat the food for it to show up.

That's interesting. And boy, I am so glad you're here because almonds were something that showed on my test, right? And so what did I do? I switched to walnuts and that's all I've been eating  every day.  Well, that's good for you. But yeah, but yeah, try to alternate and diversify. And yes, very interesting.

Yeah. Thank you so much. And yeah, so,  you know, it sounds like, um, you don't have to eat the food for, for the test to be accurate, which is good. And, um,  so like, let's just say like, you've had the test now. You then remove some of these foods after working with a practitioner like yourself, so you're not just guessing like, you know, and then so like how long after removing food triggers, do you see results? 

For some people, almost immediately. For some people, like days, they start to feel better. So I had a client who, um, who's a teenager and he's intolerant to beef. Right. To beef muscle. Yeah. So it was like, and he was eating hamburgers almost every day and he was eating dairy almost, you know,  regularly. And he was intolerant to beef muscle intolerance to dairy as a family.

So removing those foods. Yeah. Removing the food and him. He felt better, uh, within a week, and that was all we did. But then there are other clients who did not feel better right away because there are other issues involved. There's, you know, there's digestive issues, there's digestion, they could be having low stomach acid, that's Um, you mentioned before about the PPI, the proton pump inhibitors, that's often, oftenly prescribed for people with, um, indigestions for, you know, when they go see their doctors, that's the most common prescriptions that I get, um, that I dispense, um, on a regular basis, or for some clients, um, they have, um, dysbiosis, they have infections,  So there are so many factors involved, um, when somebody has digestive issue, when somebody has skin issues.

Um,  so, um, but food sensitivity is just one. Factor just, you know, but, you know, you can remove the trigger food that can decrease some information and that, um, supporting digestion can also help the body to restore  and start the healing process. Yeah. So it's not one size fits all. It's not, um, a quick fix.

It's a process. Sure. I like everything. Right. Yes. Anything worthwhile. Right. I think that when we hear that quick fix where we should run  because that's, you know, most of the time that's, that's just not really the case. Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.  So, give us an example of what a proton pump inhibitor is, so we understand.

What would be one that you prescribe? Um, um, Prilosec, omeprazole, Prilosec is the brand name, omeprazole is the generic or Nexium, um,  so those are the most common ones that we prescribe. Dispense. And, um, yeah, so, you know, somebody has, um, indigestion, they, um, have reflux, and they go see their doctor, and oftentimes they prescribe these medications to suppress the stomach acid.

But, um, A lot of times, oftentimes, um, um, the patient  already has low stomach acid. That's why they have indigestion because, um, you need stomach acid to break down foods, right? You need stomach acid to kill the bacteria that's coming down with the food. You need stomach acid to break down those allergens.

Um, and. They, they take the proton pump inhibitor and suppress their stomach acid even more, even though it resolves the symptom, they might feel better, but, um, over time, this can lead to nutrient deficiency because you're, you don't have enough stomach acid to break down the food into smaller particles for absorption.

for your body to absorb  the nutrients and also can also lead you to have more infections because you don't have stomach acid to kill the bacteria because stomach acid is your first line of defense, right? When things come down through your mouth. Stomach acid is the first stop, all right? Break down everything, kill everything, pulverize it, and then move down to the small intestine where your body can absorb those nutrients.

But, and yet we're suppressing this, um, Yeah. So,  yeah, that makes sense. Like listening to what you said, what's like what Tums, like if you take Tums, is that something that comes kind of just neutralizes it, it doesn't actually, um, prevent your stomach. It doesn't really suppress the acid secretions. Um, but. Yeah, fine.

Go after the root cause. Um, you know, food sensitivity, remove the food triggers, address your digestions, um, instead of taking the proton pump inhibitor, maybe introduce a digestive enzyme to help break down the foods to, uh, and oftentimes, um, people, I mean, we have clients who will. Feel better after that, when you address that and and also taking other supplements to help the gut to heal and address the gut microbiome, of course, through food, eating fermented food, um, taking probiotics to reintroduce the good guys back in there and, um, cut out the.

Carbohydrates, right? The sugary food, the all the processed food and  focus on eating more whole food, more protein, more good fat. Mm. Yeah. Power right there. Food is medicine. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.  So you had psoriasis, right?  And now it's gone. Now it's gone. Yeah. I had like this for years, this area here, like, you know, you can still see a little bit of the scars there, but it used to be really, really bad.

That cut me up at night when.  I had the gut permeability when I had the leaky gut, um, when I wasn't able to eat any solid food at that time. So, um, yeah, so it, it correlates. So I had gut issues, my psoriasis flared. So, and once I healed my guts, my psoriasis went away as well. So everything is interconnected.

So there's a, you know, there's a skin, um. Gut skin, um, axes, there's the gut brain axis. Um, so it's, it's all interconnected. So, so fascinating because  I have psoriasis too, and it's not gone yet. And I've got issues. So listening to this, it's interesting. Um, the autoimmune disorder I have is Hashimoto's,  right?

And so I can relate to getting rid of gluten for me. Then it was like, wow, you know, so much inflammation cleared up. A lot of things have changed. Mm-Hmm. . But like you're saying, there's layers. So we've got  'cause you, you had autoimmune too. What, what autoimmune disorders. Yeah. Have psoriasis. Yeah, psoriasis.

Psoriasis. Consider autoimmune. Yeah. IBS.  Okay. Yes. And my daughter has, um, Hashimoto's, my husband has Hashimoto's, so. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, you know.  My daughter is like, uh, you know, she inherited both genes from myself and from my husband. So poor girl, uh, yes. Hashimoto's. Yes. Like eczema.  Um, yeah. So, but through functional medicine, addressing  hormones, um, food sensitivity, digestions, of course, stress management, movement, all that.

Yeah. Helps her, you know, so she's not on any medications and,  and she's  fine and yeah, yeah. Great. Yeah, she doesn't have eczema, um, she has the energy, so you can address everything, um,  naturally from a holistic, um, you know, approach. Yeah, that's very powerful because a lot of times that's overlooked, you know, in the case of let's just take, well, so many things, right.

But psoriasis, for example, like, you know, let's just  a lot of topical creams. I know that's what I use, right? Same, same, same. And I wonder what's that, what is that damage, you know, what's going on there? Because just because you don't ingest something doesn't mean it's not harming you, right? It's like, let me think about that.

Right. And, um.  Yeah, the level of the gut, how it can be different, um, sensitivities that could be triggering the gut versus the autoimmune, like. you know, the thyroid or other things like in the case of Hashimoto's, like, you know, just verbalizing that there's a, it's, it's very intricate. It's not as simple as one would think.

Right. Absolutely. I mean, most of your immune system resides in your gut, right? Yeah. It's like, it's like, according to UCLA health, it's like 70 percent of them reside in your gut. So if you have a messed up gut, If your gut is like a war zone, where do you think your immune system is like, you know, it's probably all confused, right?

It doesn't know who's a good guy, who's a bad guy. Everything that comes in, it's just gonna go on a rampage and just attack everything else in your body. So that's the thing with autoimmune disease is like, Your immune system doesn't know the difference between, okay, you have a diagnosis of Hashimoto, right?

Which is your immune system, which is your immune attacking your thyroid, right? So anytime that your immune system is triggered, it's not just attacking your thyroid. It's going to go attack everything else. It's going to attack your joints, your, you know, your connective tissue, your ovary, your adrenal, um,  You know, everything else will flare up.

Oh my goodness. So, yeah. So, the goal is to remove the trigger. The goal is to, um, you know, to not suppress your immune system, but,  but keep it at bay. Not trigger it,  you know, let it, let it sleep, let it do its thing, you know, so that I can,  so that I can protect you instead of, you know, um, attacking you.

Right. That's what autoimmune is, right? Our immune system is attacking us, attacking ourselves. Right. Rather than protecting us. Yeah. Uh, no, this has been so informative and just really, really helpful. Um, I just want to thank you so much for coming on today. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Yes. Thank you so much.

Um, and I want to tell everybody that's listening that if you want to learn more about Amanda's work, you can reach out to her at restored digestion, digestion. com. Is that correct? Correct. Yeah. Restore digestion. Yes. Okay. Excellent. Anywhere else?  Um, no. I think that's the main site. Yeah. You can reach me on, um, Facebook, Instagram also, uh, under restore digestion. 

So yeah. Right. Heal the gut. and  you will hear everything else.  Excellent. I'm so, so glad to learn about, um, the, the differences and the accuracy involved with all the food sensitivities and allergies. And this has been awesome. So remember everybody, we do new episodes every week on Wednesday, and I look forward to having you join me then.