Pretty Well Podcast

Pretty Well Podcast Welcome to all things Health and Beauty in the Wellness space. Lisa and Ashley can't wait to unpack

08/21/2026

We’ve been told that midlife weight gain is basically a math problem:
Eat less.
Exercise more.
Burn more calories.
But what if your body is doing something much more complicated than that?
In this conversation, Dr. Sam Shay explains how changes in estrogen can influence where fat is stored and how the body handles energy—and why simply exercising harder may not address the underlying reason your body is changing.
That’s an important distinction.
Because if your body is responding to hormonal changes, the answer isn’t necessarily to keep pushing harder and eating less.
Sometimes the better question is:
What changed inside your body that made the old strategy stop working?
And THAT is where personalized health gets really interesting.
This is just one of the fascinating conversations from my episode with Dr. Sam Shay on the Pretty Well Podcast.

08/20/2026

If you’ve ever thought, “I’ve tried all the diets and none of them work long term,” this is for you.
There’s a concept Dr. Sam Shay calls “metabolic barbed wire.”
The idea is that your body may have its own personalized responses to things like carbohydrates, caffeine, alcohol, histamines, food intolerances—and even how easily you feel full.
And here’s the part I found especially interesting:
Fullness happens in the brain, not the stomach.
So if your satiety signals are different because of your genetics, simply being told to “eat less” may completely miss the point.
This is we always want to ask a better question:
What does YOUR body actually need?
Because the goal isn't to find another diet you can force yourself to follow.
It’s to understand why your body responds the way it does in the first place.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Dr. Sam Shay on the Pretty Well Podcast.

08/09/2026

Okay…90% longer?! 😳
That got my attention.

Chris Burres was telling me about a study where researchers were actually looking at whether carbon 60 was toxic.

And instead of the rats getting sick…
the Wistar rats lived 90% longer than the control group.
NINETY PERCENT.

Chris said it's the single longest longevity experimental result ever recorded in mammals in peer-reviewed research.

And apparently, this was the study that completely changed the direction of his career—from carbon nanomaterials scientist into the health and wellness space.

That's exactly where this conversation gets really interesting.
🎧 Listen to the full episode of Pretty Well.

08/08/2026

Wait… 50%?! 😳

Apparently, a peer-reviewed study found that 50% of supplements on the market didn’t contain what the label said they contained.

Um…excuse me?
Because if I'm spending my money on a supplement, I kind of want to know that the stuff I'm swallowing is actually what I think I'm swallowing.

And this is where this conversation took a really interesting turn.

Because Chris wasn't talking about some run-of-the-mill supplement.

He was talking about Carbon 60—a completely different kind of compound that has been getting some very interesting attention in the research world.

And the story of how this ended up becoming a supplement is pretty wild.

Let's just say…by the end of this conversation, I had a whole new compound to put on my "okay, let's try this and see what we find" list. 👀

🎧 Listen to the full conversation on Pretty Well.

08/07/2026

Tired all the time. Brain fog you can't shake. Struggling to focus. Annoyed. And then there's the sleep...
You might assume these are separate problems.

Maybe you're getting older.
Maybe it's your hormones.
Maybe you're stressed.
Maybe you just need more sleep.

But what if there's something happening farther upstream?

Your cells need energy to do their jobs—and your mitochondria are responsible for producing it.

And your brain is particularly demanding. Chris Burres explains that there are around 2,000,000 mitochondria in a single brain cell, which may help explain why problems with cellular energy can show up as things like fatigue, brain fog, and irritability.

One of the most consistent patterns he hears from people using his amazing product?

Better mental focus and energy during the day, followed by better sleep at night.

And honestly, this is the kind of conversation I love because it makes you look at familiar symptoms with a completely new lens.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Pretty Well wherever you listen to podcasts.

07/31/2026

Pain isn't the problem.
It's the message.

As Reed Davis Reed Davis shares in this episode of the Pretty Well Podcast, there's nothing wrong with taking pain medication when you need it.

The problem is when relief becomes the entire treatment plan.

Painkillers can quiet the alarm, but they don't tell you why the alarm went off in the first place.

Whether it's joint pain, headaches, digestive issues, fatigue, or brain fog, your symptoms are your body's way of asking for attention—not a prescription.

If all we do is mask the symptoms, the underlying problem often continues to grow.

Real healing starts by asking a better question:
What's driving this in the first place?

That's where lasting change happens.

🎙️ Watch the full conversation with Reed Davis on the Pretty Well Podcast. Link in bio.

07/29/2026

Supplements are incredibly helpful.
But they can't outwork problems that you've lived yourself into.

That's one of the biggest misconceptions in health today: believing the right supplement will undo the effects of chronic stress, poor sleep, nutrient-depleted food, or a body that's been out of balance for years.

Reed Davis Reed Davis , Founder of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN) shares  in this episode of the Pretty Well Podcast, supplements are just one piece of the puzzle.

Real healing happens when you address the foundations - DRESS:
✨ Nourishing your body with the right foods - Diet 
😴 Prioritizing restorative sleep - Rest
🏃‍♀️ Moving your body consistently - Exercise
🧘‍♀️ Managing stress - Stress Reduction
💊 Using targeted supplements when they're actually needed - Supplementation

Here's the part I love most...
Lab testing isn't about chasing numbers—it's about understanding you.

The best testing is clinically correlated to your symptoms, your history, and your goals so your plan is truly personalized.

There's no magic pill.
There is a smarter path.

🎙️ Catch the full conversation with Reed Davis on the Pretty Well Podcast. Link in bio.

07/28/2026

This conversation stopped me in my tracks.

Ben Azadi shares that at 23 years old, he was depressed, inflamed, living with prediabetes, high blood pressure, digestive issues, chronic pain, and suicidal thoughts.

When he finally went to his doctor, he explained everything he was experiencing.

Not once was he asked:
"What are you eating?"
Or...
"How's your lifestyle?"
Instead, the focus was on managing symptoms.

This is not about blaming doctors. It's about recognizing that our healthcare system often isn't designed to ask deeper questions about the daily habits that shape our health.

Food isn't the answer to everything.
Neither is lifestyle.

But they should absolutely be part of the conversation.

Because what we eat, how we sleep, how we move, and how we manage stress can profoundly influence inflammation, metabolic health, and how we feel every single day.

If you're struggling, please know this: there is hope, and there are often more avenues to explore than you've been led to believe.

🎙️ Listen to Ben's powerful story on the Pretty Well Podcast. Link in bio.

07/27/2026

Calories in. Calories out.
If only it were that simple.

In this episode of the Pretty Well Podcast, Ben Azadi shares the story of a client who tripled his calorie intake and lost more than 20 pounds in just 30 days.

How?
Because fat loss isn't just about eating less—it's about changing the signals your body is receiving.

When your body is under constant stress, inflamed, undernourished, or stuck in survival mode, it doesn't feel safe letting go of stored fat. It holds on for dear life.

That's why slashing calories often backfires. You may lose a little weight at first, but your metabolism slows, your hormones adapt, and your body becomes even more resistant to fat loss.

The goal isn't to eat as little as possible.
The goal is to create an internal environment where your body finally feels safe enough to heal, balance hormones, reduce inflammation, and release stored fat.

I know you've heard this. Now let it become your truth. Your body isn't broken.

It may just be getting the wrong signals.

Have you ever tried eating less and exercising more... only to watch the scale refuse to budge? Let me know in the comments.

🎙️ Listen to the full conversation with Ben Azadi on the Pretty Well Podcast. Link in bio.

If you've cleaned up your diet, cut the sugar, started eating real food — and still don't feel like yourself, you're not...
07/27/2026

If you've cleaned up your diet, cut the sugar, started eating real food — and still don't feel like yourself, you're not imagining it, and you're probably not missing "the one thing."

After running labs on 10,000+ people, the pattern is almost never a single root cause. It's usually several systems (hormones, gut, immune, detox, energy, nervous system) all tangled together, feeding into each other.

Amazing episode with Reed Davis Reed Davis, founder of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN). Find out why some root causes disappear before they're ever found and learn how they're still causing symptoms.

Address

Charleston, SC
29464

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Pretty Well Podcast posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category