Dr. Joel Villeneuve, ND

Lisa : (00:01)
I’m a Hair Mineral Analysis Expert. I have a background in Functional Medicine, and I educate people using HTMA testing and maximize health, erase debilitating symptoms and gain energy. I’m a multi time Kettlebell Sport World Champion and I’m constantly searching for high performance pros from all over the world to bring you this Human Optimization Podcast, my name is Lisa Pitel- Killah. Welcome everybody to another episode of the Human Optimization Podcast. I am so excited to have here with me today. Dr Joel Villeneuve, she is a Naturopathic Doctor, is the founder and the clinical director of Revive Life Clinic in Ottawa, Ontario CANADA. She is also the author of the book “Power Foods 101,” and she’s going to talk a lot about power foods today. Dr Villeneuve’s pursuit of excellence, providing trusted care to her patients and motivational coaching through media has defined her 25 plus year journey as a highly respected Naturopathic Doctor practicing Integrated Natural Medicine. Welcome Dr. Joel.

Dr. Villeneuve: (01:04)
Thank you. I’m so happy to be here.

Lisa : (01:07)
Good. Well and we have so many things to dive into today. I’m so excited for everybody to have all of this knowledge that they’re going to get from you.

Dr. Villeneuve: (01:17)
I’m super happy to be able to share and, I love making sure that people are well informed and that we’ve got good resources behind the information that we’re presenting.

Lisa : (01:29)
Absolutely. And that is definitely necessary. So let’s dive in and talk about Revive Life. How did it come about? What was your passion to starting the Revive Life Clinic?

Dr. Villeneuve: (01:42)
Well, Revive Life Clinic is a clinic that’s designed to bridge traditional medicine and natural therapies. My vision was to have a team of health professionals where we would be able to collaborate, be able to walk down the hall and say, “hey, Dr. So and so, I’ve got this client and this client has X, Y, Z, and what are your thoughts?” So, this is a center that provides all of that in a holistic setting, and our goal is to provide resources and finding the root cause of what is happening with people’s health imbalances.

Lisa : (02:20)
Excellent. Well, I know that I have definitely visited your clinic and you have lots of options for people there to become healthy and optimize their health. So, I work with a lot of athletes and I really wanted to ask a few questions that I know some of my viewers and listeners are going to be thinking about, and wondering about. So, the first one I want to start off with is a lot of people, athletes especially, when they’re doing their training or even getting ready for a competition, we’re very heavily focused on carbohydrates, if it is endurance and a lot of that sometimes revolves around sugar. So, what would you feel are some great foods to fuel the body for that training but with minimizing sugar?

Dr. Villeneuve: (03:15)
That’s a great question because there’s a lot of information on the internet and traditionally you are right. We did focus on the use of carbohydrates, you know, that big “pasta meal before your workout, marathon, or a long training day,” is what we used to rely on historically. The answer to that question really depends on the goal. If your goal is to focus on a lean body, then you want to be targeting healthy fats as your first reserve of energy. If your goal is to maintain, and build weight, you’re going to include healthy fats for that quick source of energy but you’re also going to include a baseline of healthy carbohydrates. And really, we’re all striving to be the best, whether it’s a gold medalist runner or in everyday life, so the key foods that I would focus on is first of all, one of the wonderful foods to include would be beets. And the reason why is because beets are high in nitrates, which helps you increase the production of something called nitric oxide. Nitric oxide helps to vasodilate the vessels and increase oxygenation and energy brought to the body. So extensive research shows that it can improve athletic performance, increased time before for exhaustion, and decrease oxygen consumption in athletes. One of the simple ways to include beets is you can definitely include them in salads, I have a smoothie called “Revive Life, Pink Power,” and it’s actually in the “Power Foods 101” book on page 37. The second power of food would be chia seeds, and these little beauties are tiny supersedes and these are actually known as ‘super foods’ to the Aztec warriors. And see, chia seeds promote energy and strength and they’re a really great balance of all the macros of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. And when you are in a carb loading phase, or an energy loading phase, let’s say if we’re using healthy fats, one research study found that if a person was to use a sports drink alone, or to use a sports drink with chia seeds, they found that the mixture of a sports drink with chia seeds was equally effective at improving athletic performance, even beyond, than using a sports drink alone. The bonus, is that chia gives us fiber, helps to reduce any rise in blood sugar that’s unnecessary, and it also provides nutrients such as Omega 3’s for recovery. How do you like to use chia seeds?

Lisa : (06:01)
Well, you know what, I like to make chia pudding because I can’t consume dairy. So, I put it with a non-dairy and leave it overnight, then have it in the morning before I train about two hours later. Because I do coach first thing in the morning, so that’s when I like to consume mine. So that’s good, that means I’m already doing something good!

Dr. Villeneuve: (06:22)
Yes, absolutely. Some other ideas on how to include chia seeds, is I’ve got a recipe called, “Energy Bombs,” little power balls that you can pop a few of those before your training and you’ll be getting your daily dose of chia seeds. I’ve got a few more gems for pre-training. Another one of course is coconut oil, and coconut oil is high in medium chain triglycerides, which can be absorbed very quickly and used for energy. What was found in one study is that when individuals used coconut oil regularly for two weeks, it reduced the body’s dependence on carbs for energy production. So that’s going to be key for anybody who’s trying to lean out. And so, an easy way to include that would be my pre-workout smoothie, which is also found in the “Power of Food’s 101” book. And if you just simply add a half a beet and, a mushroom called Cordyceps, which I’ll talk about just a moment, you’ll be all set. You did talk about sugar and I know that often people are thinking, okay, what’s a fast way to get sugar naturally? And so one of the fastest ways would be berries because they’re very rich and easily accessible glucose to provide fuel to your cells and muscle. And they also offer the added benefit of being high in antioxidants, which help with cellular regeneration and recovery post workouts. Easy ways to include berries would be, you could add it to a smoothie, you could use the maple oat granola recipe in the book and you could toss that on top of the berries with a little bit of coconut yogurt and that would be a perfect pre-workout snack as well.

Lisa : (08:12)
Excellent.

Dr. Villeneuve: (08:14)
Yeah, if we still want to talk on the topic of “pre-workout” because it is such a big topic is what about caffeine? Well, what are your thoughts?

Lisa : (08:30)
Well I think everybody is different. I think there are ways that you can use caffeine in the appropriate fashion. And I think one of the biggest parts is when we’re talking high performers and athletes, there’s a lot of different things that they’re focused on. And,when we talk about athletes who are working as well, they may abuse caffeine and then it’s not going to be able to be utilized the body in the fashion that we are going to talk about, just because your body’s not going to respond to it the same. So for me, I do implement caffeine products, but usually in the three weeks coming up to competition and I cycle off of them, just to make sure that my body never adapts.

Dr. Villeneuve: (09:18)
Excellent. That’s a great recommendation. What I typically recommend to athletes in addition to cycling with caffeine is to potentially use something like a Matcha green tea. The benefits of that is the caffeine intake is overall quite a bit reduced compared to a cup of coffee. In addition, it has a biochemical called L-Theanine. So the caffeine in the matcha helps to stimulate the adrenal glands, wake them up, let the body know that you’re ready for energy, and activity. But the L-Theanine helps to counteract that and provide a nice sense of relaxation and balance so that you’re mitigating any of the side effects that would possibly occur with overdosing on caffeine.

Lisa : (10:07)
Yes, like the traditional jitters, right? And yes, amino acids and I, we get along very well, and I do love L-Theanine, so yes, absolutely.

Dr. Villeneuve: (10:22)
Excellent. One of the last comments that I’ll make about pre-workout is one of my favorite oriental mushrooms is Cordyceps and Cordyceps is an energizing adaptogen. So again, talking about not over-stimulating and just helping the body produce the maximum amount of optimal hormones on its own. Cordyceps can help increase strength, alleviate muscle aches, and increase stamina. The way that it does that, is that there is a nucleic acid called Adenosine, which is used to produce ATP, which is the primary source of energy in the body. In addition, Cordyceps also contains antioxidants, which we love as an athlete because that reduces the recovery time between workouts by reducing free radical formation and just promoting muscle recovery. People often ask, “how do I use these mushrooms?” Well, you can buy them whole, you can buy them dried at most Asian markets and just rehydrate them in some water, and add them to your typical salads, or soups. You can also buy Cordycep mushrooms powdered and add them to soups or smoothies. So, to wrap up the pre-workout routine, the key recipes that I will highlight will include the Energy Bombs in the “Power Foods 101” book. That will give you your dose of chia and hemp, then you could also do the pre-workout smoothie and just add a half a beet and one tablespoon of Cordyceps powder, and then you’re all set, you’ve got everything that you need.

Lisa : (12:05)
Excellent. And yes, I do use Cordyceps as well, and I did find that it made a big difference with the training that I do. It’s not fully endurance, but it’s more weightlifting endurance, and I did definitely find a difference of how I felt and performed when I used that mushroom.

Dr. Villeneuve: (12:23)
Excellent, that’s great feedback. I find that if I do a long distance run, I’ll make sure that I include that, starting at least two weeks prior, to whatever my longest run is targeted at, in my training schedule.

Lisa : (12:37)
Excellent. Well, that was great. Lots of good info there. And so now, what about post-workout?

Dr. Villeneuve: (12:46)
Great question. Well the number one thing of course, is a high quality protein. My favorite high quality protein would be hemp seeds. Three tablespoons contains 10 grams of plant based protein and is easily digestible, easy to work with, and easily absorbed. This provides key amino acids to regenerate and recover muscle, and of course it is a key component to building muscle and burning fat. Other protein options of course include grass fed beef, free range poultry or eggs, wild caught salmon, lentils, are all great options. So, there are a lot of choices out there.

Lisa : (13:28)
Excellent. What about Whey protein? How do you feel about Whey? Because a lot of people use Whey protein.

Dr. Villeneuve: (13:36)
That’s a great question. Research shows the positive benefits of whey protein. However, as we’re going to discuss further on down, many people are becoming intolerant to dairy. So that’s why I tend to focus on the plant- based options and reserve the whey proteins for those individuals that tolerate dairy well.

Lisa : (13:57)
Excellent.

Dr. Villeneuve: (13:57)
I was just going to mention that in post- recovery routine. I like to encourage the big four, so that’s protein within an hour after working out, coconut water to help include the natural electrolytes to boost performance and recovery. Then, coconut oil as we discussed, pre-workout is also great for post-workout because it helps to reduce lactate production during exercise, which reduces fatigue and muscle aches. Lastly, which a lot of people don’t really talk about, is my favorite three fruits, which are pineapple, kiwi, and papaya. The reason why I include these is due to their natural enzymes, and the enzymes help to reduce inflammation and again, help with the post recovery.

Lisa : (14:49)
Excellent, that’s great. Yes, enzymes are very important and a lot of people forget how many are in those fruits. So that’s great. So, tell us about Power Foods 101. We’ve mentioned it a little bit already just with regards to some of the recipes, but tell us about the book. Tell us how that came to light for you and why you wanted to bring that to the table for people.

Dr. Villeneuve: (15:15)
Sure. Well, I think “Power Foods 101” is an accumulation of all life experiences. I think this happens to many of us that we go along life and maybe there’s some things that we experienced that are hard and difficult, but then there is a result, and something really beautiful that occurs from that difficult time. When I was growing up, I was an athlete, I was a gymnast, and I was always interested in the power of mechanics, nutrition and bringing that all together. That’s ultimately what brought me to Naturopathic Medicine and the “Power Foods” project. What happened there is that I was discussing the fact that my father had a history of prostate cancer. I was blessed to be introduced to Linda Eagan, who is the founder of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. And she asked whether I’d be interested in teaching a program at her center, I was really happy to do that. And the program became very popular and not only did individuals with cancer want to join the workshops, but those people in the general public as well. So, we discussed things and Linda and I felt that perhaps it would be a great idea if we could present a book where really everybody would be able to access this information. So that’s how “Power Foods 101” came about, essentially, one of the motivating factors was really helping people to understand what a power food was. Also the fact that when my father would eat really whole foods, homemade foods made by my mom from organic sources, his PSA, which is a prostate marker would come down, but on the other hand when he would eat processed foods (my parents love to go cruising, or were ballroom dancers) his PSA would elevate. So this is really where I felt the power of food needed to be expressed.

Lisa : (17:13)
Absolutely. And that’s an interesting fact as well because, you know my mother contacted me and has high blood pressure, and that was about two years ago. So, we did protocols and got everything down and she didn’t end up having to take medication, but she contacted me this past summer and said, “My blood pressure’s up again”. And I think, well, we haven’t changed anything, I wonder what’s different. So I went to stay with her for a week and I realized what’s different, it’s her diet. And as soon as I realized, I’m said, mom, you’re not you’re not doing your smoothies. You’re not doing all those things, and everything that we talked about with your vegetables. Well, because when you’re alone and it’s hard to cook for one and things like that. Anyways, I’m going off topic but very, very true because it all comes back to diet.

Dr. Villeneuve: (18:08)
Exactly. But it’s great that we can share our stories because, you know, that that helps other people resonate with what you’re sharing.

Lisa : (18:16)
Absolutely. Yeah, I agree with that. So let’s talk a little bit deeper. So we’re going to dig a little deeper into the body. Because you know athletes are no strangers, actually, I don’t think anyone is a stranger to get problems. You know, we all have stress and then stress ends up if it’s uncontrolled, a lot of times resonating in the guts. When they got doesn’t function well, the rest of the body doesn’t function well. So, with GI problems, and athletes training, what foods would you suggest they focus on if they’re suffering from something but yet still have to do their training?

Dr. Villeneuve: (18:54)
Sure. Well, that’s a great question. Again, it’s very individualized. So the ideal situation would be for the individual to be tested for their food intolerances so that we could build the menu around eliminating any kind of food intolerances that are specific to them. The next best option would be following a modified anti-inflammatory menu, or low lectins. And so, lectins are biochemical products that exist on beans and legumes, nuts and seeds that are raw, as well as certain grains and then also the nightshade vegetables and they protect the plant in its growing phase. But, if somebody has digestive issues, it can be very difficult to digest. So, the modified anti-inflammatory menu would be the way to go. The other thing to discuss is that if somebody is training a modified anti-inflammatory menu, in its ideal state contains no grains, but you know, we’re going through this whole era of everybody saying, “Oh, I have to be gluten free, or I think I want to be gluten free or I’m not sure about being gluten free”. But the reality is that with whole grains, sometimes people are not really clear what a whole grain is because when we mention that word, people will say, Oh, I eat whole grain bread, or I eat whole grain pasta, etc. But if it’s commercially prepared, then what has happened is with genetic modification, the whole grains are predominantly, are based out of wheat, and wheat has been genetically modified so that it contains up to 50% more gluten than in European countries. So, our bodies are not designed to tolerate this high content of gluten. So, ultimately what we want to do if we are including grains for competition to make sure that we’re having healthy carbohydrates. Number one, we can go to root vegetables, if that works, great. If not, if we need to include whole grains, then my recommendation is to really think about what that means. And so basically, a whole grain: there’s a seed, there’s a bran and a husk. If that’s polished away, then we’re going to end up with something like a brown rice. So, Brown rice would be considered a whole grain. If we cut that, it becomes steel cut oats. If we press it and steam it flat, then we get the traditional Irish oats. Those are the kind of whole grains that we ideally want to stick with.

Lisa : (21:30)
Okay. That’s great. And so that takes us down to one of our next questions that I really want to cover: gluten and dairy issues because that is a big one. And you know, when people don’t realize that stress on the body doesn’t necessarily have to be external stress, it could be a little bit of stress from over-training, but it could be stress from what might be going on inside the body as well. We have to take that into consideration that those foods get harder and harder to digest as the body starts to try and deal with all that stress. So, just some good options for those people who maybe can’t tolerate dairy and or gluten

Dr. Villeneuve: (22:15)
Sure. So, if we talk about dairy and we’re wanting to reduce or eliminate dairy, of course the most common is starting with milk. So great alternatives, now we have wonderful resources of non-dairy based options, the most common being almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk. These are all really easy to make at home on your own. All you basically do is take one cup of the nut or seed, I just made a batch of hemp milk, just soak it overnight with water, with a pinch of sea salt, drain it in the morning, add that one cup to a blender with four cups of water, blend away and you actually have your nut milk. So that’s a milk option. And then when we talk about cheese, there are vegan, plant-based cheese options; like cashew cheese, it’s amazing. It tastes like cream cheese and there’s all different flavours like dill and garlic.

Lisa : (23:16)
Nice.

Dr. Villeneuve: (23:17)
Yeah! And then when it comes to yogurt, my favorite is the coconut yogurt. It’s smooth, and it’s creamy and you can add your own amount of berries and just a touch of natural sweetener, if you wish.

Lisa : (23:30)
Excellent. Yes, my favorite’s coconut too. And the yogurt is my favourite foresure. And so, I’ve heard a little bit about, from some different practitioners and different health individuals as they do, in the Spring and the Fall, almost like an elimination diet or elimination nutrition plan. They do it for two to three weeks in eaach of those seasons. So what they do is they change up everything they’re eating for two or three weeks to give their body a break from the norm because we may not get as much variety as we think we do when we’re eating. We usually reach for the same things, so to get us out of that, and give the body a bit of a break from digesting those foods, they take a break of two to three weeks or maybe four weeks and try and choose options that they wouldn’t normally consume. They believe that this will help the body not to become intolerant to any foods. So, give me your opinion about that.

Dr. Villeneuve: (24:33)
Yeah, absolutely. It’s a great practice. It’s essentially like creating a little bit of a detox and ideally a person’s doing that minimally two times a year, perhaps once in the Spring and once in the Fall. When we talk about the biochemistry of intolerant foods, what we want to keep in mind is that foods can remain in the body for up to 72 hours, so that’s one aspect. But then also as well if you are reacting to a food and you’re sensitive, there is a possibility of having an immunoglobulin reaction. So these immunoglobulins or the food is seen as an antigen and the body releases an antibody. So you get these antigen antibody complexes, which increase in number to the tipping point where you have a symptom. So the beauty of really reducing these intolerant or sensitive foods is that when both the antigen is removed, the antibody then starts declining. So essentially what we’re saying is that a longer period of eliminating that food really helps the body because it helps to reduce the allergenic pathway that might be associated.

Lisa : (25:48)
Okay, that’s very good. And again, I think that’s a good practice. And so, I mean, Spring and Fall is normally the typical, but I mean, if you’ve got something else going on, maybe more times a year would be appropriate.

Dr. Villeneuve: (26:04)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I mean, the best practice there is the optimal world and there’s the realistic world.

Lisa : (26:11)
That’s right. We live in the realistic one.

Dr. Villeneuve: (26:16)
That’s right. Yeah. The optimal world is you’re eating a variety and rotation of foods always. But the realistic world is that you when you piggy back detoxification like this, it can be very helpful. The other benefit of changing up your foods, including making sure that you’re eating local foods and raw foods is that we are 90% microbes and our microbial DNA comes to us through the foods. Well, first of all, through your mother, when you’re born, but then also through foods. And if we eat raw foods and local foods, we get the correct DNA to learn how to digest those foods. So that’s the other bit.

Lisa : (27:01)
Yes. One of the interesting ones too, not to get too far off topic because I do want to talk about the best foods for inflammation is local honey for people who have some issues with any allergies, especially in that kind of May and September season. To be able to foster that and consume that, to help those potential allergic reactions.

Dr. Villeneuve: (27:23)
Yeah, absolutely. Local raw honey is very health beneficial. There’s a lot of nutrients that are present in raw honey. But in addition, the philosophy is that you’re being exposed to tiny amounts of pollen that exists within the local community so that your body can create more of a natural reduction in allergy symptoms.

Lisa : (27:47)
Yes, good. So let’s talk about foods for inflammation. We’ve touched on a couple that can kind of go both ways and a little bit in the post workout, but just anti-inflammatory foods. What do you suggest?

Dr. Villeneuve: (28:03)
Well as we were talking about dairy and we just touched on gluten, maybe we can highlight gluten a little bit more. So again, because in North America a large foundation of our foods are based on pasta, cereals and breads, and those tend to be very high in gluten. So one of the things is if you are intolerant to gluten is to remove gluten, number one, and if you’re not intolerant to gluten, to make sure that you’re using whole grain sources that are organic so that the overall gluten content is reduced. So that’s number one. Number two is sugar. We need to take people off refined sugar in order to reduce inflammation because we can add lots of anti-inflammatory foods, but if we still have sugar, then we’re kind of being counter-productive. So to go back again to addressing things that cause people to crave sugar, which would be that digestive health and the energy. Other great foods to reduce inflammation would be your antioxidant rich foods. So your berries, fresh and raw so that you’ve got lots of natural enzymes in foods, so at least 50% of your foods raw, if tolerated. And then of course, the other typical herbs like turmeric, of course, super easy to sprinkle in a smoothie and just add to your soups, etc. Garlic and ginger have nice anti-inflammatory properties as well. And all Omega-3 rich foods like flax and chia seeds.

Lisa : (29:44)
Good. Excellent. And chia seeds again.

Dr. Villeneuve: (29:48)
Yeah.

Lisa : (29:48)
So we need to make sure those are in your cupboard if they’re not already because they are great.

Dr. Villeneuve: (29:53)
Exactly.

Lisa : (29:55)
So let’s talk smoothies. You mentioned your pre-training smoothie, which is excellent because everything in there was amazing. Instead of focusing on that pre-training but a basic smoothie recipe, I find that some people, and I just had this conversation with my mom, she was like, “well, I’m not sure how to make them, I don’t know what to put into it”. And I said, well, start with your cup of veggies and then maybe a little bit of berries, some oil and build them as you go. So what would be your basic building point and then what are a couple of your favorites?

Dr. Villeneuve: (30:38)
Sure. I think you’re right, people are not quite sure and sometimes people think that they have to follow a very specific recipe. So the first thing that maybe we can share is that the beautiful thing is that you can be very creative. So basically, the foundation would be threefold. Number one, some type of fluid. So for fluid you can use water, you can use a non-dairy milk, you could use coconut water. So let’s say we’re going to start with one cup of that. Then the next building block would be your greens. Spinach is a very mild green, so it’s easy to add into your smoothie, especially if you’re just getting started, perhaps you could start with half a cup. And as you become more accustomed to smoothies, you can just bump that right up to a whole handful or a full cup. And then thirdly, people do like their smoothies to taste good. So this is where we add in the berries and we just simply say, add a half a cup of berries, bump it up to one cup if you’re just getting started. And this is going to create a great foundation. So that’s the threefold foundation. And then you can add other things; so if you want a little bit more healthy fat, you can add a nut butter or if you want a bit more support for your digestive system, you could add in some foods rich in natural probiotics, like a kefir or a coconut yogurt. If you want a little more help in your performance, you could add the Cordyceps powder or Maca powder, which is another herbal that’s an adaptogen. So really the sky is the limit. Some of my favorites in the book here is the Key Lime Smoothie because I love limes and yeah, and it adds a little bit of a banana and half an avocado to give it a rich, smooth flavor. And then when people are feeling really tired, my favorite suggestion is the Power Hour Smoothie. And this is where we use the coconut water, we add some vanilla extract and we’ve got some great herbals like Maca and bee pollen with hemp seeds and cinnamon.

Lisa : (32:50)
Nice. That one sounds wonderful. I haven’t tried that one yet, so I will definitely have to give that one a try, because I do like maca for sure, I use that almost every day. So we’re talking all about power foods. A lot of people get stuck on the word superfoods and they think I have to eat these superfoods and then that’s all they’re focused on. Which again, we were talking about having a variety of food in our diet and why it’s necessary for our digestive system and the workings of our body. So tell us what your superfood list would include.

Dr. Villeneuve: (33:26)
Okay. So you know, the wonderful thing about these superfoods is that if you open up your refrigerator, you can be exposed to 3,000 to 5,000 phytonutrients every day, by just making the right choices. So I like to translate superfoods into power foods. And the reason why I chose that term is because I’ve created something called a power food index, which means that, that food has a big superstar for nutrient content, for antioxidant component, for anticancer action, maximum absorption and overall energy. So my list would be the superseeds and those would be the chia, the hemp and the flaxseeds. These are really high in protein, Omega-3s. Next I would actually include oats. That’s one of my foundations of healthy carbs, so steel cut oats. And then thirdly, Wakame or some type of sea vegetable. Sea vegetables I love to call a multivitamin in a cup. They’re very high in iron. And one of the issues with athletes is iron tends to be a concern, especially with females or long distance athletes. So it’s an easy food to incorporate. If you’re just not sure how to use it, you can take a dehydrated source hydrate it up and just chop it up and add it to a salad that’s usually the easiest way. For protein, there is edamame works super fast, you can buy it frozen with just simply a few minutes to defrost it, and then you’ve got a great source of high-protein, and there are strawberries for sweetness and antioxidants and vitamin C. Any kind of herbs or greens, they all have great medicinal properties. One of my favorites is bazil and it has antimicrobial properties and it refreshes your breath and you can make amazing pestos. Just simply take a half a cup of lemon juice, a handful of your favourite herbs, a little bit of nuts or seeds, blend that up in a blender and you’ve got a great pesto. Then, there is Matcha green tea, I love it. It helps to energize you, but it also helps to calm the nervous system and support the adrenal gland.

Lisa : (35:45)
Excellent. Well that is quite a list for people to be able to dive into and probably a few things that they haven’t heard of before.

Dr. Villeneuve: (35:54)
Sure.

Lisa : (35:55)
And I think that’s one of the great things about being able to share is giving people some great information that they can take away and understand how that can affect them in a positive way. So I think the question here is how does everybody get a copy of your book? Tell us.

Dr. Villeneuve: (36:13)
Oh, thank you. Well, it’s really easy. You can just simply stop by the clinic, Revive Life Clinic or go to www.revivelifeclinic.com. You can also order it on Amazon, amazon.ca, just simply punch in “Power Foods 101”. Lastly, you can give the office a call and we can deliver it out to you, if you’re remote.

Lisa : (36:38)
Perfect. So lots of options. So if you’re an Ottawa, there’s tons of options you can stop by the clinic and we’ll have that link in the description on YouTube as well as your favorite podcast host. So much wonderful information shared here today. And you know, so many athletes focus on sometimes a little bit too much on supplements. Supplements are used for a reason and they’re used strategically. So putting the emphasis on food and making sure you’re getting the energy you need from the food is key. So I really appreciate you being with us today and giving us so much incredible information that they can take away and use for their training and in their pre/post workout.

Dr. Villeneuve: (37:22)
Absolutely. It’s been a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me Lisa, and I wish all of our athletes and weekend warriors all the best. If there are additional questions, please feel free to be in touch with me.

Lisa : (37:37)
Absolutely. And again, description will be in the bio, a website will be there as well. So thanks for watching, thanks for listening. If you’re watching on YouTube, give us a thumbs up if you like this video and subscribe so you know when the next one’s released. Until next time. Thanks for listening to today’s show. Head on over to killah.org to gain access to some amazing resources that will help you gain energy, rid yourself of debilitating symptoms, and be the best version of you. Remember to give this podcast to like and follow me on Instagram @coach.killah. I’m here every two weeks with a brand new episode of the Human Optimization Podcast. Until next time….