- PNC is proud to support "Business Forward", where community leaders discuss the issues confronting business in central Illinois.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Welcome to "Business Forward", I'm your host, Matt George.

Joining me tonight, Laurie Kaplan with Genetically Nourished.

Laurie is a joyful dietician, and we're gonna get to that in a second.

An epigenetic coach and farm retreat facilitator.

You can't say that five times fast, right?

We're gonna get to all this, welcome, Laurie.

- Thank you.

- Well, I mean, let's get down to it.

So first of all, the question when I was thinking about your business, I was thinking about one time I was working with a nutritionist and she said to me, "I'm a dietician."

And she said it, is there a difference between the two?

- So there's a lot of roads to get you to be a nutritionist.

Dietician is a four year degree that also requires a year of internship.

- Gotcha, okay.

- And you have to pass the boards, and you have to maintain that credential through ongoing education.

- [Matt] So you're a registered dietician?

- Correct.

- Okay, so that explains it.

And that's why she actually was upset with me when I said that (laughs), I get it.

All right, so you say you're the joyful dietician.

Let's talk about that 'cause I love that title.

- Yeah, so a lot of times when I tell people I'm a dietician, I almost hold back saying that because I feel they think I'm going to be a food Nazi, and tell them they can't eat this.

- Right.

And they can't eat that, and really take the joy away from eating.

Because we get so much joy from food.

- Right.

- And so, how can I work with my clients to find the right foods for them and have it joyous.

- Yeah, and I wanna talk about, you know, the feeling good piece because you know, what you eat really, that next day or that night is how you feel, right?

- Absolutely.

- So if you eat a lot of junk.

- Yeah.

- And the reason why I wanna talk about this and the feeling piece of it is because if you're going to work that next day and you're sluggish, that impacts your business.

- Absolutely.

- But it also impacts your family.

It impacts the feelings that you have and so on.

So let's talk about taking care of yourself, right?

Genetic coaching is something that you do.

- Yes.

- Explain that.

- Yeah, so it's really exciting.

And as a dietician, I do lifestyle genetic coaching.

- [Matt] Life.

- I'm not a medical doctor so I don't do diagnoses of cancer or things like that.

- Okay.

- So what we do is we, it's a very simple cheek swab test, and we run it through a lab, that one of the companies I do the reports through, does.

And then we get back reports of your lifestyle genetics.

- Okay.

- So how it impacts your hunger and your moods, and if you crave sugar, what kind of fat might be best for you?

- Right, you know, when I was researching your business, I thought to myself, I stay in shape but I still, I love the sweets, I love the caffeine.

And I start thinking to myself, maybe I have this addictive personality, because if I start eating certain foods like pizza, is an example, I can't eat one piece or two.

I have to eat a half of pizza.

- Yeah.

- And the older I get, the harder it is.

- Sure, sure.

- Do you know?

And so what you're saying is if, let's just use me as a client.

- Sure.

- All right, so I say, "All right, Laurie, "I'd like to do this."

- Yeah.

- You come in, do the swab and what actually comes back?

- Yeah, so it's multiple genes with your genotype.

- Okay.

- So we all have similar set of genes, but how they express are different.

So the combination that you got from your mom and from your father came to your genotype.

- Okay.

- And those show up as SNPs or single nucle polymorphisms.

And so that's going to then tell me, and the algorithm of the test then spits out a gauge.

- Okay.

- That then tells me, okay, it for instance, there's one we call the sweet tooth gene.

And that's the one where you actually crave sugar and it's actually tied back into how your body handles neurotransmitters.

- Okay.

So man, see this is blowing me away because, all right.

So, Matt gets this one.

- Yeah.

- You get the decoding of the gene, so to speak, is that a good way of putting it?

- Exactly, yep.

- And then that really will impact the influence moving forward of your nutrition, right?

- Yes.

- Am I?

- Yes, yes.

- Doing the step, right?

But it also, and I mentioned earlier about getting older, 'cause it also affects my sleep.

- [Laurie] Yes.

- So you can cater a program.

- Correct.

- Where maybe I should just ask you the question, you saying but I'm walking myself through this 'cause one, I wanna do it.

- Okay, awesome.

- And then two, I don't sleep a lot of hours at night, and when I eat after a certain time, I know I'm actually gonna sleep less hours.

So you can sit here and say, "Man here, I mean, "it's pretty obvious just by looking "at your decoding of your own genes, "that this is now moving forward what are the triggers, "so to speak."

- Yeah.

So what we do and there's, we actually look at genetics of sleep.

So we look at multiple pathways, your nutrition, your supplements, which are your vitamins and minerals, how your body utilizes those.

Sleep, athletic propensity, detoxification, hormones, a lot of different things and they really all fit together.

- [Matt] Okay.

- So what I would do, and very often I do start with sleep because that's a foundation.

- Right.

- And when you can optimize your sleep, then a lot of the genetics that might be causing you issues, for instance, the craving of the sweets can be tamped down, because your body is able to rest and reset properly.

- And is there, like when someone doesn't sleep a lot of hours at night, but that's just how it's always been, I'm using me again as an example.

- Sure, sure.

- And that's how it's always been.

Is that's just how you're wired or is there a chance to change that?

So let's say I average five and a half hours a night.

- Okay.

- And asking for a friend.

(laughs) - [Laurie] Okay.

(laughs) - So five and a half hours a night, get up at the same time every morning.

- [Laurie] Yeah.

- If you're feeling better.

And because I heard the athletic piece, I work out, but it takes more than just working out.

There's, you just mentioned probably six or seven things that have to combine, okay.

- Yeah, yeah.

- I'm gathering it now.

- There's often highlights, there's like roadmap signs.

- [Matt] Okay.

- First of all, I have a conversation with the client.

What's bothering you, what are your challenges and what is your goal?

And even behind that, what is your why?

- Yeah.

- Why do you wanna know this?

Is it for your grandkids, is it for a Ironman?

You know, what are your ultimate goals, longevity.

So then we look at the roadmap signs and say, "Okay, "is this bothering you?"

- Okay.

- And then we come back and design a program.

So, if you're only sleeping five and a half hours, if you feel really good during your day, that might be okay for you.

- Yeah.

- If the genes say, you know, seven hours might be ideal, let's see how we can tweak your day to help you get those seven hours.

- Interesting, so if you were like somebody that took seven supplements, let's say, and what you could say is after you do this and you're a part of the process now and a client, or a patient, that one of the goals could be to really cut some of those out because you can get 'em in healthier ways.

- Correct, yes.

- Okay.

- So the report will actually show which supplements can be ideal for you.

And then we go back and see how much you can get from your food.

And then depending, again, on your daily experience, we may still wanna add a supplement but I really like to keep them minimized.

- That is crazy.

So how long has this been going on?

Is this a new thing?

- Well, it's newer for consumers, it's been around, there's a number of companies that have been doing it for multiple years.

There's direct to consumer options that you can go online and send your sample in and then they spit you back a report.

- [Matt] That's too easy.

- Well, you don't have the guidance.

- That's yeah, that's what I meant.

That's too, that's like where you go in and say, "I'm from this area over here," and then you just get a one pager.

- Yeah.

And if that's what you're looking for, then that's great, yeah.

- Okay.

- But I wouldn't think if you're serious about it and gonna put your dollars to something, and you're serious about your health, you would need that next step, right?

- Sure, sure, the guidance, the plan.

- Okay.

So really in affect your genes, whoever it is are telling stories to you, to cater the menu to what you should, the menu, of what it should be.

- Yeah, yeah.

I love that.

- That is so cool.

- Yeah, super cool.

- I mean, what a fun job.

- Yeah, it really is.

- So I've always wondered, so like, and I'll just won't name a plan but like a diet plan.

- Sure.

- So there's all those books, you go into Barnes & Nobles, there's a million books.

- Gazillion.

- I mean, and I've thought about things like, how do they even know that's going to work?

- Right.

- You know, do you think like- - That's part of the challenge, I think what we're, people who are health conscious and trying to improve their health are overwhelmed by.

And that's what this plan can do, it cuts out the overwhelm.

So yeah, if everybody, we can't all follow one diet.

And what this provides is it doesn't give you an exact plan, but it does say this type of fat is great for you.

Let's see how we can incorporate more olive oil or something.

- Okay.

- This type of fat may not be the best for you.

Not that it's bad, but for your genes, let's see how we can minimize it.

- Yeah, so when someone says, oh, it's just off the cuff question, when someone says good fat and bad fat, what's good fat?

- So I don't like to say, there are no good or bad fats.

- [Matt] Okay, that's what I wondered.

- Yeah, there are no good or bad fat.

Now there are some that are much better for us.

- [Matt] Okay.

- There are some that tend to be more inflammatory and when they're processed through processed foods, but in their inherent nature, they're neither good or bad.

- Okay.

- There's just a molecule.

- So I was just thinking this just off the top of my head, it's like, all right, my wife and I, and we'll sit here and say, you know, we've got five kids.

So it's very hard to get everybody fed and you know, sports and all that.

- Sure, yeah.

- But we sit here and go, okay, we're gonna start.

We're going into the new school year.

We're gonna start eating healthier.

But my body's different than my wife's, vice versa, right?

- Yes, absolutely.

- But a lot of times you wanna do something together.

- Sure.

- And it fails all the time.

- It's a real challenge especially to feed the families, but understanding what your body needs, then you can combine the foods that everybody loves.

And you would just make a choice, okay, I'm going to not choose that or give me more of that, bring it on.

- And I think for like me personally, now I'm thinking about my wife, Laura, I'm thinking, I think she would really enjoy this because she's always, you know, does this fruit have too much sugar?

Or, you know what I'm saying?

- Yes, and you get in your head and then, yeah.

And it takes the joy out of it.

- So this is really a blueprint.

- It is exactly.

- Okay.

That is so, so what's mindful eating mean?

- So how many times do we drive in our car eating?

- Ah, true.

- Not very mindful, right?

- It's true.

- And so what's happening is we're putting the food in.

And I'm certainly guilty of doing it.

I'm not saying not to do it, but you're putting it in, you're focusing on driving, you're watching the call.

Where are you going to?

You're not paying attention to the food and the nourishment that, that food is providing your body.

- So when my son said, "Hey dad, "can we go out "and play wiffle ball," yesterday?

And I grabbed a Reese's peanut butter cup on the way out, that's not the right thing to do.

What does intuitive eating mean?

- Yeah, so intuitive is similar to mindful, but it's on an even deeper level.

So when you can really understand what foods are best for your body, you can listen, and it's really listening to your gut, our gut brain.

Do I want to have an omelet for breakfast or do I wanna have oatmeal?

- Okay.

- What feels good?

And once you practice that enough, it's easier for some people than others.

The omelet sounds great, the oatmeal doesn't.

The next day it might be vice versa.

So it's really paying attention to that.

- And you know, I was just thinking, 'cause I'm the cook of the family.

And so every night I'm putting together things.

But my kids, I'm lucky that my kids will eat whatever I cook.

- Oh, that's great.

- Yeah, so this is an advantage.

'Cause I'm now personalizing this again.

I'm thinking to myself, okay, my wife and I go through this.

We find what's good for both of us, which in turn for a kid, it's gonna be better than what normal kid would eat anyway.

Chicken fingers and all that stuff, right?

- Sure, yeah.

- And that would help in my menus.

- Yes, absolutely.

- In my planning.

- Yeah.

- And my grocery shopping.

- Yes.

- Which is, I spend $400 I don't even know what I bought.

- I know, I get it, yes.

- Okay.

- It's the precision that this can allow.

And then it gives you freedom.

So you do the work and it's, you know, like, ah, you gotta make these choices, whatever, but then it gives you actually real freedom.

- Yeah, my mind's going.

So is this considered wellness coaching?

- Sure, it's yeah, I mean it's nutrition, it's wellness.

I combine everything depending on the client and that's where it becomes so personal.

Some people may need more mindfulness support, habit support.

- And I think a lot of times like when I used the pizza example earlier and people, you know, they'll grab a bag of chips and they just plow it, right?

But there is a balance.

It doesn't mean you can't have pizza.

- Right, exactly.

- You're just saying, it's just control yourself, Matt, you don't need a large by yourself.

(laughs) - By yourself.

Yeah.

- Right.

There's that balance.

- Yes.

- So my body, the genes would tell you, that the DNA would tell me what that balance is after I talk to you and you map it out.

- Yes.

Plus your daily experience.

What is your experience as you walk through life?

- Yeah, and so we were talking about earlier, having you be that person that kinda really holds your hand during this process.

So how long do you take that journey with them?

I mean, do you?

- So it depends, it depends one, what the person needs.

If they've got other health concerns that might need a longer program, blood sugar issues, then we go even deeper.

I can do lab work and really get into a very extensive health program.

Continue glucose monitors, all of that.

But you can also just do a, what I call the exploratory program, which is a test and then a couple sessions.

Which we go through the test, I call it a read 'cause we read it.

- [Matt] Okay.

- And then that's that.

And then if you want further coaching, it's really flexible.

I do 3, 6 month, 12 programs, but I do, it's very personalized so.

- I was just thinking about know somebody that's diabetic.

And I wasn't thinking about this earlier, but now if they need to get on a change their health style, right?

You can do that and really change their life back to maybe how it was.

Right?

- Hmm.

- Huh, so I think people, a lot of times think of diets of just losing weight.

I've gained 10 pounds I needed to, but this is not just losing weight.

- Oh no, no, no.

If that needs to happen, if that's what one of the goals is, then we certainly have that in one of the goals.

But everything comes before it because the weight gain is a symptom of so many other issues.

- Now you're also a farmer, right?

So let's talk about that for a second because you have, I know you have a lot of animals, I wanna talk about that.

But, also the food that you grow, right?

Actually can, so tell me about the farm.

- Yeah, actually the food I grow is hay for my animals.

- [Matt] Hopefully, okay.

- I don't use any chemicals and that's been a challenge on its own.

Now hay doesn't need a whole lot.

But you know, I don't spray for weeds or anything like that.

- So what animals do you have?

- I have sheep, right now I have 11.

- 11 Sheep, okay.

- Just lost a couple.

- Aw.

- Yeah, when you have livestock, you have dead stock, unfortunately.

- Aw.

- I've got a couple horses, I have about 50 chickens and then a variety of dogs and cats.

- [Matt] So what do you do with the chickens?

- I sell the eggs.

- Okay.

- Yes, and also chickens are a great stress reliever.

- You know, all animals are really.

- [Laurie] Yeah, yeah.

- You know, when I was at children's home, the kids would always, there's, you know, horse therapy.

- Yes.

- We had dogs.

And I remember one time a group of kids got to go out to a horse farm, and these kids had never been around a horse before.

- [Laurie] Wow, oh.

- Isn't that amazing?

- Yeah.

- And, you know, when you go and you actually see how big these horses are and you're from inner city somewhere.

You don't get that opportunity.

- Right, they're magical.

- It's a pretty cool stuff.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

So tell me more about the farm, how'd you get into that?

- Well, I started riding horses when I was five.

And so that's always been part of my life to varying degrees at different stages.

And then I studied animal science at Michigan State before I went on to do nutrition and just, it's very healing to me.

I feel like it's where I'm supposed to be.

I love doing the work.

I love waking up and looking at the field.

It just, it's very genetically supportive for me.

- And it really does have to do with your business that you're in too, because there's that calmness.

- Yes.

- There's that stress.

Yeah, the stress piece.

- Yeah, yeah.

(laughs) - So that is what I was thinking about when it's relating to business.

- Yes.

- That's what I was kind of alluding to earlier and I wasn't explaining it right.

But if I feel a certain way when I get up and go to work, I'm stressed.

And so to take some of these, you're not gonna take 'em all outta your head, but if you take some of these things to make yourself feel better, you will eventually get to the point of feeling good about this, this and this.

And everyone wins, your work wins, your family wins.

- Yes, your health.

- Your health wins.

- Well, and even you can follow a diet plan or even when it's genetically planned for you to the letter.

But if your stress is still off the chart, your genes are gonna be influenced by that.

So your stress hormones are going to be increased.

So the apple and the olive oil and all the good foods are not going to have their full potential in your body.

- Yeah, it's almost irrelevant eating it because you're pushing it all back away in a sense.

So do you do groups or is this an individual?

- So I do groups.

I'm just starting to plan day retreats at the farm and it can be really customized again, like my other program.

If you wanna bring your group in and have your own speakers, then here you go.

There's trails, there's fire pits, there's 60 acres.

- 60 acres, wow.

- Yeah, yeah.

You can spend time with the animals.

There's a lovely space.

There's kitchen and a living space that you can, you know, tuck yourself away in or have a speaker present.

Or if you want me to do a cooking class or presentation on a epigenetics.

- I was gonna bring up the cooking class.

- Yes.

- It's like one of the most fun things you can do.

You can do a healthy cooking class.

You can do so many things.

We could even use your eggs that from the 50 chickens.

- And I do, yeah.

- Oh, you do.

(laughs) - Yeah.

(laughs) - That is awesome.

So let's talk a little more about the farm because I do love the idea.

And I'm thinking about the farm that, I keep talking about children's home, but Bob Gilmore, donated a 76 acre farm.

- Yeah, yeah.

- And that is the ultimate stress reliever for these kids, right?

But it's for adults too.

- Very much so.

- And yours.

- Yes, I just had a group out and we were doing some meditation and yoga in the sheep field, it's not goat yoga, they're not walking on your back.

- Sheep yoga?

- So they usually go to the other end.

But one of the participants said, "This is so grounding.

"This earth is so grounding."

And another one said, "You've got a little slice of heaven here.

"There's something about this land that is so deeply healing "that I wanna share it."

- Isn't that crazy?

- Yeah.

- That's so cool.

- It is so cool.

- I mean, if you think about it from a business standpoint, you just got a fun business, right?

- It's super fun.

- Is that why you're smiling so much, because.

- (laughs) I think so, yeah.

- Yeah, geneticallynourished.com.

If I wanted to get a hold of you, I would sit here and say, "My wife and I wanna come to you.

"Here's what it is."

You lay out the menu of what your services are.

We go all in and we say, "We wanna do the next six months.

"We're gonna spend the next six months getting healthy."

You put together the plan for us, we abide by the plan.

Habits start forming, right?

So after let's say six months and we're on our own now.

And for that next six months, hopefully those habits stay.

But if you think about it from a family standpoint, those habits, those kids are being part of those habits, no matter what.

- Right, right, yeah, yeah.

- Me and my mind's really going.

So this is really good stuff.

And when you think about the retreat piece, the first part of the business that we talked about, you don't even need to have that part of the business.

The farm can be separate.

So if you wanted to do a business retreat there.

- Absolutely.

- If you wanted to do a- - Team building.

- Team building.

- I think it'd be great.

You can do exercises in the woods and all kinds of- - Hiking.

- Yep, challenges, intention walks, silent walks, forest bathing.

The forest is amazing.

- That is awesome.

- Yeah, writing retreats.

There's separate rooms if you're writers and you wanna, you know, just spend the day working on your book or whatever.

- Well, I'm thinking about writing another book, so maybe I need to come out to your farm.

- Absolutely.

- Geneticallynourished.com, Laurie Kaplan.

This was a very, very fun conversation.

You talk about 30 minutes going fast.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- It went fast.

So thank you for coming on.

- Thank you, Matt.

- Very fun stuff, you've got two new clients.

I'm Matt George, and this is another episode of "Business Forward."

(upbeat music) - Thank you for tuning into "Business Forward."

Brought to you by PNC.