Shownotes
As we age, it's hard to think of it as just a number. Many women feel less valued and a little invisible. Dr. Robin Miller heard this from her patients and wrote the book “Invisible or Invincible: Your Choice” in response. She wants to empower women to take control of their health and aging and be seen. From hormones to gut health (yes, all comes down to poop) to integrating exercise and joy, we touch on a lot of relevant topics.
Dr. Robin Miller, an established author (The Smart Woman’s Guide to Midlife and Beyond, Kids Ask the Doctor, and Healed: Health and Wellness for the 21st Century), gave us an exciting advanced glimpse at her latest book, “Invisible or Invincible: Your Choice”. She has gathered the knowledge, insights and information offered in this book over the course of 33 years of treating patients using the principles of integrative medicine and personal experience. Board-certified in Internal Medicine, she trained with Andrew Weil as an Integrative Medicine Fellow at University of Arizona. She is currently Medical Director of Triune Integrative Medicine, a highly innovative, consultative integrative medicine company in Medford, Oregon. She serves as an Executive Advisory Board member for Sharecare, an interactive health and wellness website founded in conjunction with Oprah and Jeff Arnold (Creator of WebMD). Robin is also a medical reporter and a regular correspondent for KOBI-TV NBC5.
She writes a regular column for the Grants Pass Courier and can be heard on Jefferson Public Radio on her show, Doctor to Doctor. She lives in southern Oregon with her husband and in her free time when she isn’t dancing, she tends to the vineyard they own together known as Peter William Vineyard.
In this episode, Robin talks to us about the importance of gut health in overall health and immunity, the impact of a good diet, and the importance of exercise. Thank you for being a part of our community.
Connect with Dr. Robin Miller
Facebook - DocRobinMiller
Twitter - RMillerMD
Website - triunemed.com
Dr. Robin’s books
**Invisible or Invincible: Your Choice** https://bookshop.org/a/
Kids Ask The Doctor https://amzn.to/3DOdR6I
The Smart Woman's Guide to Midlife and Beyond https://amzn.to/3SRXeeG
Healed! Health & Wellness for the 21st Century https://amzn.to/3NqeqHe
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Transcripts
We feel it is important to make our podcast transcripts available for accessibility. We use quality artificial intelligence tools to make it possible for us to provide this resource to our audience. We do have human eyes reviewing this, but they will rarely be 100% accurate. We appreciate your patience with the occasional errors you will find in our transcriptions. If you find an error in our transcription, or if you would like to use a quote, or verify what was said, please feel free to reach out to us at connect@37by27.com.
Shawna Rodrigues 0:00
Age is just a number. But at times, it can be hard for to feel that way. Today, we have an author and renowned physician who offers insight on how to be healthy and not get discouraged as you age, because there's still so much you have to offer. We also touch on the coming flu season, and the fact that it all comes down to poop. Yep, you can call it gut health. But we really do get pretty specific. You'll understand further.
Shawna Rodrigues 0:28
Welcome to The Grit Show. Growth on purpose. I'm glad you found us. I'm Shawna Rodrigues, and I'm honored to be leading you on today's journey as part of this community growing together as seekers and thrivers. Dr. Robin Miller's career as a physician has been quite varied. She serves as the Medical Director of Triune Integrative Medicine, a highly innovative, consultative integrative medicine company in Medford, Oregon. She has written multiple medical books, the most recent has been, Invisible or Invincible: Your Choice. Something we will spend a lot of time talking about in today's episode. She is also a medical reporter for KOBI-5. An NBC affiliate in Southern Oregon and Northern California. She has produced award winning health series, Is There A Doctor in the House, which is shown on the wellness channel nationwide. Her health tips are seen regularly on triunemed.com and KOBI-TV, NBC5. She and her husband live in Southern Oregon. In her free time when she isn't dancing, she tends to her vineyard they own together known as Peter William vineyard, which has some amazing wines and a gorgeous view of the Rogue Valley. It is such a pleasure to have her here to talk with us about her new book and touch on what we can do to prepare as we enter into the coming flu season. Especially when there's still some concerns floating around about COVID. There's a lot we're going to cover. So buckle up. Thank you so much for being here today, Dr. Robin.
Dr. Robin Miller 1:51
Thanks for having me.
Shawna Rodrigues 1:53
Yes. So as this new book, Invisible or Invincible: Your Choice is coming out, what do you think are your favorite pieces of wisdom that you have to offer from that book?
Dr. Robin Miller 2:03
So many. But the reason I wrote the book in the first place, is because I had so many patients over the age of 60, who were feeling invisible. Feeling that now that they're getting older, people just blow them off. They don't ask their opinions. When they do speak, they are ignored. Some of the women who were really beautiful when they were younger, and dependent on that as their identity, now are having a really hard time. So, I thought, I wanted women to see that they are more than their age, that age is just a number. There are so many things we can do as older women, so we're no longer considered invisible. And they can be invincible.
Shawna Rodrigues 2:48
I love it. I think that's a great message to come out of it. And something people need to hear more of.
Dr. Robin Miller 2:53
Yes. I mean, I'm so tired of it.
Shawna Rodrigues 2:55
Yes. So, was, when did you make that determination from conversations you had with people that were kind of being stuck in their mindset around their age and not being heard? Or when did that kind of shift?
Dr. Robin Miller 3:01
. There was an article in the:Shawna Rodrigues 3:54
Yeah,
Dr. Robin Miller 3:55
we can make a difference. Because we were the children of the 60s. We are the ones that were burning bras. Getting abortion rights. We were doing all these things. Where is everybody? It's time to show up again. That's my feeling.
Shawna Rodrigues 4:12
That's awesome. And sort of find new ways to get yourself inserted into the conversation when you're feeling that way instead of walking away and being discouraged by it.
Dr. Robin Miller 4:20
Find your passion and go for it. And don't let anyone discourage you. Because they will. They'll try. But don't.
Shawna Rodrigues 4:27
That's awesome.
Dr. Robin Miller 4:28
But in order to do that, you have to be healthy. So there's a lot in that in my book, where I talk about how to be healthy and what you need to do. Cause a lot of people give up, they get into their 60s and 70s and think, I don't need to exercise anymore. It's hopeless, but it's not.
Shawna Rodrigues 4:44
It's probably even more important.
Dr. Robin Miller 4:46
Absolutely. You want to stay young? Eat healthy and exercise.
Shawna Rodrigues 4:50
So there's the case to it. It was probably important for most ages actually to have that reminder of those pieces.
Dr. Robin Miller 4:57
Oh yeah, you can't start too early. That's for sure.
Shawna Rodrigues 5:00
Yes. And as that was coming into the, the season, we're talking about if you've been worried about illness and, and the flu is going around and COVID still being on steam, sometimes it's turned up a little bit in different places. What is the, the thoughts around that? And how people can better take care of themselves?
Dr. Robin Miller 5:18
Well, so if you look at COVID, the people that got the sickest were the people with diabetes. So the majority of those who got sick and died were diabetic. So number one, find out what your blood sugar is, in a fasting blood sugar. And look at your weight and see if you are healthy. Are you overweight? Are you obese? And then look at what you're eating. So when you look at health, immunity, all those things, it comes back to one thing, your poop.
Shawna Rodrigues 5:54
Or bring it all down to one thing. All right, I like that. Let's bring it down to one thing, the poop.
Dr. Robin Miller 5:58
All those microbiome, all those micro organisms that make up your GI tract, there are so many of them. They help you make vitamins, they help with your immunity, they help you stay healthy. So when you look at people who are sick, like, rheumatoid arthritis patients, 70% of them have the same bacteria in their stool.
Shawna Rodrigues 6:19
Really?
Dr. Robin Miller 6:20
Most, yes. So really, it's, it is about your microbiome, when and what you eat. So we have really interesting experiment with college students for 10 days, they gave him just McDonald's. It basically destroyed their microbiome, made the diversity of their bacteria went down precipitously. So it's all about having healthy bacteria or healthy microorganisms and diverse organisms.
Shawna Rodrigues 6:50
And is that, because I know that I definitely have been taught about taking orally taking little pills that have, you know, a mix of probiotics that you can take, does that help? Or is that, is it mostly diet that you need to be attentive too?
Dr. Robin Miller 7:02
Well, if you're eating a healthy diet, and you take probiotics, probiotics, that will help. But if you eat crap, it's not gonna do anything. You're just wasting your money. You're killing off the micro organisms. What you want is to, really, to get it from your food. So you get probiotics from fermented food. Prebiotics are the food that make it to your colon, undigested. Asparagus, onions, leeks, all really good for you. So, yeah, I mean, we've looked at all these diseases, and are starting to find, it's related to the microbiome. Even MS, even Alzheimer's.
Shawna Rodrigues 7:43
Really?
Dr. Robin Miller 7:44
Yes. And in fact, when they've done fecal transplants, so fecal transplants are when you clean out someone's colon, and then you put someone else's fecal matter. They found that actually, an Alzheimer's patient got her memory back.
Shawna Rodrigues 8:01
What?
Dr. Robin Miller 8:02
It lasted about two months. A Parkinson's patient got better. And people with inflammatory bowel disease got better.
Shawna Rodrigues 8:12
Really?
Dr. Robin Miller 8:13
These are all anecdotal. No one's done a huge study yet. But it's big. Big deal.
Shawna Rodrigues 8:20
Yeah, and the fact that could even happen in one case is surprising. Like, let alone, you know, what I mean, a large study of that, that's so phenomenal that that makes that big of an impact.
Dr. Robin Miller 8:29
Oh, yeah. I mean, when it comes to weight, it's huge also. Pardon the pun.
Shawna Rodrigues 8:36
Yes.
Dr. Robin Miller 8:37
A woman who got a bacteria called C. difficile. C. difficile, is where there's an overgrowth of this bad bacteria. And it's treated usually with antibiotics. But it's, many people has become resistant. So what they did is, they'll do a fecal transplant, and they get the pills. I mean, they come in pills, or solutions that are used through colonoscopy. They get them from people in MIT, or they used to. That are smart, healthy, and have a normal BMI. And so this woman did not get those. She at the time, they just started doing it. So she was resistant to the antibiotics and got the fecal transplant from her daughter. Her daughter was healthy but overweight, when they treat, and the mom, who had C difficile was thin. When they transplanted the daughter's stool into the mom, she couldn't stop gaining weight.
Shawna Rodrigues 9:39
Really?
Dr. Robin Miller 9:40
Yes. And they found this with mice as well. So,
Shawna Rodrigues 9:44
this is phenomenal. This is amazing. This is like, mind blowing. This is, this is very intriguing.
Dr. Robin Miller 9:49
Yeah. So anyway, if you do it with mice, you can go both ways. So you can give that mice, then, you know, then transplants. Mice are easy. Just paint the poop on their little paws, and they'll lick it off.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yeah. Doesn't work with humans, thankfully.
Dr. Robin Miller:That explains something. Then my soul comes back if you do the reverse.
Shawna Rodrigues:That is wild. I'm guessing you're doing more research on this and finding more ways to apply this?
Dr. Robin Miller:Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, it's a big deal. And so in terms of inflammatory diseases, the microbiome is really important. If you eat, a great example, I have a patient recently, after she got the COVID vaccine, her autoimmune disease went crazy. I don't know if it's vaccine related or whatever. But she, she developed rheumatoid arthritis. And she was getting shots every month for her rheumatoid arthritis. So, what can I do? I said, well, you can start eating healthier, do an anti inflammatory, Mediterranean style diet, which she did. And lo and behold, eight months later, she no longer needs the shots. She's gone into remission, and she's lost 30 pounds.
Shawna Rodrigues:Wow.
Dr. Robin Miller:So, wasn't chance. I don't think so. I,
Shawna Rodrigues:yeah,
Dr. Robin Miller:she healed her microbiome. That's what I think.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's incredible. And so it doesn't matter like, with, like, you mentioned things like asparagus, and you mentioned leeks and different things, does it matter if things are cooked or raw or how they're prepared or what makes the biggest difference? Is it just a matter of getting those, is helpful?
Dr. Robin Miller:Healthy. Red meats. Not a good thing. Processed meats, that just all wrecks your microbiome.
Shawna Rodrigues:Well, there you go. You need a book on this. Do you have a book on this yet?
Dr. Robin Miller:I have a huge chapter of it. So there were these reporters that went to Tanzania. This is really cool. British worse, and ate. Just like all the locals ate, they had some really weird food, like, porcupine, and these Congo roby berries, they sounded pretty good actually. And they ate just like the natives. They also live with them. So in Tanzania, they live in dunk huts. So they're surrounded by poop. They paint the dome, on the walls of their caves, or the huts. So they had their microbiome checked. And after just four days, they had the same microbiome as the people living there.
Shawna Rodrigues:Wow,
Dr. Robin Miller:good, diverse, healthy, then went back to England, within a matter of a week, back to their old stuff,
Shawna Rodrigues:it changes that quickly, then
Dr. Robin Miller:that's changes really fast. And you can trash it pretty fast, too, by eating, you know, processed foods, you know, foods that are unhealthy, you can trash the microbiome pretty quickly.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yeah, and the speed of life that everyone's living, when there's not time to get things and do things, and you grab what you can. Those are the things that people often end up going to or the things that aren't as healthy or as good for them that probably do trash their microbiome pretty quickly.
Dr. Robin Miller:And when they think they're doing something good, by eating sugar substitutes, it's hurting it even more. That really wrecks your microbiome.
Shawna Rodrigues:Really?
Dr. Robin Miller:Aspartame, all that stuff. So bad for you. And it also usually results in doing the absolute opposite of what you want it to do. So even
Shawna Rodrigues:even like, Splenda and stevia are the same or all of them?
Dr. Robin Miller:I would stay away from all of them. Yeah,
Shawna Rodrigues:very good to know. Because it's kind of a different objective when you're not looking at calories. You're looking at your microbiome.
Dr. Robin Miller:Yeah. Diet Coke, no more. I stopped drinking it several years ago and I loved it too. Really loved Diet Coke.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yes,
Dr. Robin Miller:no more.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yes. Interestingly, this is very like, a one case thing. My mom had a tick with her, her head moving, and we got her to stop drinking aspartame and it went away. It was like the strangest thing that she had that. So I don't know how we ever came across that. We thought that could be related but somehow we came across it without like, being related. And when she stopped drinking diet coke that went away when she was going through all the treatments.
Dr. Robin Miller:Isn't that interesting?
Shawna Rodrigues:Yes.
Dr. Robin Miller:Example, the brain-gut connection.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yes.
Dr. Robin Miller:Your inner nerves. And do you want your skin to look good when you get older? That kind of food totally wrecks your skin. Processed foods, the meats, causes you to develop these advanced isolation end products, wrecks your skin. So the healthier you eat, the better your skin's gonna look. We all care about that.
Shawna Rodrigues:The one thing we all have in common. We care about how our skin looks.
Dr. Robin Miller:How young you are, right?
Shawna Rodrigues:Yes. Yes. That's amazing. So just vegetables, things like olive oil and those type of things are kind of that Mediterranean diet or what?
Dr. Robin Miller:Mediterranean diet is so good for us. It is good for your heart. It is good for your mood. It's great for your gut, which is probably why it does all the good things it does. And it's good for your, your brain in terms of cognitive abilities, resisting Alzheimer's. So there's so many reasons to, to eat it. And in fact, there's a great story in the book, love this story. There was a guy, he was being studied by a guy named Dan Buettner, in charge of the Blue Zone Project. Have you heard of that? There are five places in the world where people live into their hundreds. And he was studying this. So Okinawa, Nicoya, Costa Rica, Sardinia, Ikaria, Greece, and Loma Linda, California, because that's where all the adventus live.
Shawna Rodrigues:Oh,
Dr. Robin Miller:so people live into their hundreds. And you want to know why? So this man was from Greece, lived in Florida, diagnosed with lung cancer. This was in the 60s. And he was in his 60s at the time. And he got nine doctors tell him, you're gonna die. I can give you chemo, but it's not gonna help, you know, maybe give you a few months. So he decides, Okay, I'm gonna go to Greece, and go see my parents, and I'll live with them. And that's where I'll be buried. So he goes to Ikaria, Greece, where his parents are, he and his wife go, he hangs out, sees his friends in the afternoon, starts taking walks, goes to the little church on Sundays, eats the local food and feels a little better. So, over time, he just got stronger and stronger and stronger. Until cancer was no longer there.
Shawna Rodrigues:Wow.
Dr. Robin Miller:He was eating well, he was exercising and started working in their vineyard, expanded it and started making wine. So Dan Buettner called them and said, "Have you ever thought about going back and seeing those doctors that told you you're gonna die? I did, I went back there, but I couldn't find any of them. That's why. Cause they're all dead."
Shawna Rodrigues:That's a good punch line. That's a good punch line.
Dr. Robin Miller:I have to be over 100.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's amazing.
Dr. Robin Miller:So he was able to turn things around by eating a Mediterranean style diet, as well as some other things. I mean, obviously became more spiritual, did more exercise. He was happy.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yes, stress is not good for you. Is that what you're saying, Dr. Robbins? Stress is not a good thing?
Dr. Robin Miller:Not an issue.
Shawna Rodrigues:Well, I think we can all take that one home.
Dr. Robin Miller:That was a cool story. I love that story.
Shawna Rodrigues:It really is a good one. I think that's especially that they weren't, they weren't there to tell him any differently, because that was the biggest difference for them. So with like, the story you told the woman who had the transplant from her daughter who was overweight and she became overweight, was she able to correct that then? Through her eating and change her microbiome?
Dr. Robin Miller:I don't know. I never heard the, the rest of that one. But, I suspect she was. Maybe they did a different transplant. I don't know. Or maybe through her eating things change.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yeah, that's my curiosity of like, how much of that is, if it can be changed that easily towards that direction? I'm curious about change it back the other way. And if diet is enough, or how quickly that happens. That's so curious.
Dr. Robin Miller:I know. So I, that's where we're all going to end up and I think it's so funny, my husband's a gastroenterologist. And I think it's hilarious that of all the specialties, my guess is, the GI guys are gonna be a doctor, right?
Shawna Rodrigues:They don't even know it yet. They didn't know what they got into when they got into it.
Dr. Robin Miller:It's all about your brain, your heart, your lungs. Everything is related to that microbiome,
Shawna Rodrigues:and how well it's working and getting it function at top notch, especially if they're able to do those things for that. We need more research. We want to find more answers.
Dr. Robin Miller:Yeah, it's coming, really. Research is amazing. And aging as well. They might help you slow down the aging process if you have a healthier microbiome.
Shawna Rodrigues:Take better care of yourself just by doing that.
Dr. Robin Miller:Well, yeah.
Shawna Rodrigues:So what, what do you think with like, we mentioned the stress, and the walks and that, you know, changing to caretaking a vineyard instead of whatever other rat race that person might have been involved in, do you think that stress plays a lot into your overall well being and your health?
Dr. Robin Miller:Absolutely. Well on stress, sorry about this, but it affects microbiomes, too. But yeah, we can really do a number on yourself. If you're stressed all the time, because you deplete your hormones. You know, your adrenal hormones, just keep going, get exhausted. We can't keep doing that. We all need to slow down. It's really important. And especially as we get older, I mean, life's too short. You only want to be stressed out until you die. i don't think so.
Shawna Rodrigues:No, no. Pretty sure for that.
Dr. Robin Miller:Yeah.
Shawna Rodrigues:So also, it also can help with the microbiome, which it all, it all is connected, huh?
Dr. Robin Miller:We'll see it's all one big circle.
Shawna Rodrigues:And the Mediterranean diet and a chapter on that, in the book, Invisible or Invincible, your choice is all in the book to help you kind of find that and be able to live that.
Dr. Robin Miller:There's also the Blue Zones, when he studied it. He found that they act, they exercise quite a bit, but not the way you think. So, none of them go to the gym, on a regular basis. None of them run marathons on a regular basis. What these people are doing is just moving all the time. They're going walking to the store, they're walking to their friend's house, they're gardening, they're cleaning their houses, nothing really, you know, strenuous, but they're moving. And that's the key.
Shawna Rodrigues:Movement and activities. If you just have an active lifestyle versus
Dr. Robin Miller:it's called, non-exercise activity thermogenesis, NEAT.
Shawna Rodrigues:Ooh, I love it, when you can have a great acronym like that.
Dr. Robin Miller:They have a lot of NEATs in their life.
Shawna Rodrigues:We all need to have a NEAT life.
Dr. Robin Miller:And they have a lot of friends. That's the other thing I talked about in the book, how important it is to have a network, not a huge network. In fact, culturally, it's different. In the US, our networks get smaller, like, your friends, groups, get smaller. Your family group tends to get smaller. Other cultures, it's not like that. They get bigger. So it depends on where you, where you are. But having a network is essential.
Shawna Rodrigues:These are very good tips. I think these are good tips for anybody and everybody.
Dr. Robin Miller:Yes. The one other thing you need in your life is joy. Joy is in the moment. Happiness, not so much. Happiness is overall, right? But you can be joyful, like, right now. And they did this really cool experiment where they had people take pictures in the morning, it was something they liked, and then review them at night. And it gave them joy. That's all they had to do. So try it. It's really fun. I've been doing it. It's really fun. Take something, picture something cool, like a flower or tree or your dog, and then look through your phone.
Shawna Rodrigues:Nice. I like that. I think that's our great takeaway from this. I mean, the Mediterranean diet is a very good takeaway as well. I think that the microbiome and the importance of your poop. I think it's good. But I think that moment of joy, so you just find things like, any point during your day or start your day that way, does it matter?
Dr. Robin Miller:No, it doesn't matter. Just take, they had people take three pictures a day, and then review them at night.
Shawna Rodrigues:Nice. So things in your day that brought you joy.
Dr. Robin Miller:Yes.
Shawna Rodrigues:I like that. I like, if we're gonna have these smartphones that we're carrying around, we should have them as little machines that we can find ways to bring joy into our life. I like it.
Dr. Robin Miller:Right.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's beautiful. Oh, good, that's our, that's our good takeaway. We're definitely gonna go with that.
Dr. Robin Miller:So one of the things I talked about are hormones. And I don't know how many of your listeners are over 60. But hormones, I think are very important. And even if you're 30, or 40, you might want to listen to what I have to say.
Shawna Rodrigues:Definitely, we all know somebody over 60 and we will all be over 60 one day, so we should definitely listen. So please share.
Dr. Robin Miller:So in 1997, the Women's Health Initiative study was done. Their findings released, and you probably don't remember it because you're too young, but it stopped a lot of women from taking their hormones. Theory, they said, you're gonna get breast cancer, you're gonna get demented. You're getting heart disease. Anyway, when you look at that study, it's not, it just was done well, but just wasn't permanent. Because what they did was they took women, on average were 65. So they'd already been menopausal for 10 years on nothing. And then they gave them hormones. They gave them Premarin which comes from pregnant mares, horse urine, and Provera, which is not progesterone. It's progestin. They didn't have a uterus, they just gave them the Premarin. And then they follow them. Then they just said was, when you give somebody hormones, who hasn't had them for 10 years, guess no one knew they were under hormones. 42% of them stopped it. So when you do clinical trials, you still follow people to the end, whether they take it or they don't. So the women on Premarin and Provera, many developed breast cancer and dementia and heart disease. Were they under hormones? We don't know. The women on Premarin alone had no increase in breast cancer. With no increase in Alzheimer's, and no heart attacks. They actually did better. So,
Shawna Rodrigues:wow,
Dr. Robin Miller:Provera, number one, which is bad stuff. I would never put anyone on that. And probably a better study would have been to look at estrogen and progesterone, given different ways, which is what was done in France.
Shawna Rodrigues:Oh.
Dr. Robin Miller:What they found was there was no increase in cancer when you took natural estrogen with progesterone, it didn't swallow it. So take it through the skin, under the tongue, any other way other than in the GI tract. Heart attack, stroke, any of that stuff. So it was relatively safe. And it really helps with your aging. My mom who is, won't tell you her age because she get really pissed off at me. But she's over 89. She's done her hormones, keep trying to take her off. What's wrong with you people? She's looks like she's 70. Leave her alone. And she's active sexually, too.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's incredible.
Dr. Robin Miller:And she looks so good. And she feels good.
Shawna Rodrigues:No. And I think that, I think that's a good information for everyone. Because I'm not over 60. I'll tell you that much of my age. But my mom had breast cancer. And hers was a hormone neutral is what they said. But they didn't want her on hormones because it was hormone neutral. And so there's always been this thing about for me and my sisters, and because she had breast cancer and concern about being on hormones and all that because of it. So it's kind of good. I'm appreciating hearing this because I definitely had warnings about the concerns around hormones and breast cancer, and there's an elevated risk of my family for it. And so we're always a little bit more aware of that concern. And so I think it's very useful to hear that because it's definitely something to be aware of.
Dr. Robin Miller:Oh, yeah. And if somebody is worried about that sort of thing, what we've done is, by giving it nasally, estrogen nasally. It doesn't get absorbed in the system, but it helps with hot flashes in the brain.
Shawna Rodrigues:Oh, wow.
Dr. Robin Miller:Done it that way. Yeah. And I checked levels so that I know that they're not getting it in their system.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's amazing. Yes. That's, that's amazing that there's that, you know, what I mean that there are so many options instead of just being a blanket like, no, not an option, just suffer, do whatever else. And to learn it, the studies that it was, what they were actually looking at the studies. It's so interesting. Studies are so important. But there's so many different ways of looking at the information in them.
Dr. Robin Miller:The other thing you can do is put it on, in a cream on the face. It doesn't get absorbed there either, but it makes your skin look good. So that's another option for women who don't want to do the hormone thing.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's incredible. Such good information. I know, you know, that your treasure trove of information. But it's nice for us to realize your treasure trove of information too, Dr. Robin.
Dr. Robin Miller:All there. Yes.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's wonderful. Is there anything else that you want to share with us before we start wrapping things up?
Dr. Robin Miller:Oh, yeah. So what's really important about hormones is your bones. And I talked about that as well. So, I called it the involution solution. So I don't know if you've ever watched people, but if you just watch, you can tell their age at how they hold themselves. A lot of people start slumping. Just stood up straight, you would take 10 years off your weight, your appearance.
Shawna Rodrigues:Wow,
Dr. Robin Miller:up straight. And the hormones are really important for bones. And what that Women's Health Initiative study was really looking at was, colon cancer risk and osteoporosis. They don't ever talk about that. It's dramatically reduced the risk for colon cancer and osteoporosis when faced all things women's stop their hormones. 43,000 women a year we're getting fractures.
Shawna Rodrigues:Wow.
Dr. Robin Miller:So, anyway. That's something to think about.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yes, you can tell us something that you've gotten to deal with a little bit in your practice with your patience, just a touch.
Dr. Robin Miller:Just a touch. One other thing in the book that I think people will be interested in it is that, you know, some people are worried about their appearance, others don't care. And I go through all the things you can do, other than you have plastic surgery, if you want to improve your appearance. For some people, that's what they want. So I talk about all the options out there. From Botox, micro needling, lasers, you name it, I talk about it.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's helpful. I think it's so funny. I found myself in a conversation with three of my friends that I never thought would consider any of those type of things and they were having a conversation around all of it. And I was like, wait, anyone I know cares about this? And it's so funny because I think that nobody thinks they'll care about it and they get to a point where they're like, Oh, maybe I should start caring about this because we don't imagine ourselves ever getting older or changing. But it's funny because you don't, I don't see myself that way. And, and I'm fine with how I look. But it's so funny to realize like, Oh, no wonder some of my friends might talk about that stuff because you know, my friends' older and we're getting older and it makes sense that some people would wonder about those things.
Dr. Robin Miller:That's fun. One other thing I talked about in the book is sex. So people might want really look at that.
Shawna Rodrigues:There you go, you guys. This is a good book. It has everything covered. And it sounds like you don't have to be 60 to get benefits from it. It sounds like it's definitely for for women at different ages to be able to look ahead and get some resources even sooner. Yeah, they
Dr. Robin Miller:Yeah, they might want to look at Scream cream that's in there. Cause that one is like, cliffhanger.
Shawna Rodrigues:All right, we got it. We got a cliffhanger guys. You got a cliffhanger.
Dr. Robin Miller:And I don't know about you. But I've had moments in my life where I felt invisible.
Shawna Rodrigues:Mm hmm.
Dr. Robin Miller:First part of the book, I talked about it. It's kind of a funny story. Because my husband's into wine big time, we have our own vineyard. Before the vineyard, he used to have these big wine tastings. And one weekend, these people came from all over the country, including some big experts from New York, to have a weekend of drinking wine, mom tasting different wines, having gourmet meals, and I was invited, but no one acted like I was there. Knowing what I said, none of that. And they acted like, how could you possibly know anything about wine? Well, of course, I don't know. And there was a special dinner where they had all the wines were bagged. So they had it for guests but they weren't. So I talked to the guy who organized it. And I said, tell me what the last best wine is. And he did but he didn't tell anyone else. So this wine comes out, and they're all tasting it and acting like they knew what it was. And I said, No, you're all wrong. It's the 1981 Chateau Patrice. How would you know that? You don't know that. I'm like, no, it is. I know this.
Dr. Robin Miller:Sus too, buddy.
Dr. Robin Miller:I was right, of course. And then they all have to think about, wait a minute. What, where was she all weekend? How come we didn't talk to her? Maybe she was the expert in the room.
Shawna Rodrigues:Wondering and wondering, how did she know that? And why didn't we pay better attention?
Dr. Robin Miller:Exactly.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yes, I like that.
Dr. Robin Miller:I'll need to do more of it.
Shawna Rodrigues:Find ways to be part of the conversation and, and show up a little bit more, huh?
Dr. Robin Miller:Absolutely.
Shawna Rodrigues:Well, that's awesome. Well, that's good. Well, I am so excited that you've written this and that it's coming out. And then people will have access to that in the show notes. And it's, it is fresh off the presses, you guys. So you can get, get on there and be able to read it and do the reviews because I know authors love when things are first coming out to get people to get feedback and the reviews for that. That's always helpful. So that's amazing. I'm so glad that we got to spend this time with you. We have one more thing before we get to go, well, we'll wrap up with how to get in touch with you but, we always talk about self care on this podcast at The Grit Show because we care about that a lot. So what are some of the things that you do for self care to take care of yourself, Dr. Robin?
Dr. Robin Miller:Well, I exercise every day. Sometimes, it's, you know, real exercise, like, you know, strenuous exercise, but most of the time is what I talked about, NEAT. I'm walking, moving, doing what I can to stay active. I meditate twice a day, sometimes more than that. And I get facials every month.
Shawna Rodrigues:Oh, lovely.
Dr. Robin Miller:Once a month, it's the best, let me tell you.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's important. That's very important. And so when you meditate, are you someone who spends a lot of time on meditation? Or is it just smaller chunks that you do?
Dr. Robin Miller:No, no more than 15 minutes. Twice a day.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's wonderful. And do you use like an app or guided meditation or?
Dr. Robin Miller:No, I just do a visualization type meditation that what I've been taught by a teacher, but any meditation works.
Shawna Rodrigues:That's just wonderful.
Dr. Robin Miller:Or there's a ton of stuff out there that you can use.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yes, yes. I love for people to get an idea of how different people do it so they can see what resonates with them as they're, they're listening and learning about how different people work into their routine and two 15 minutes time slots is something that you know, everyone has. So definitely make sure they have so, good to keep in mind.
Dr. Robin Miller:You have to be kind to yourself. Oftentimes we do negative self talk. Stop, stop that.
Shawna Rodrigues:The last negative thing you're telling yourself is to stop that.
Dr. Robin Miller:Be kind to yourself.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yes, very, very important. That's awesome. I like that very much. It's a good thing as a takeaway too. So we're gonna do the joy, the pictures, the three pictures a day, to reflect at the end of the day, as our moments of joy, because that's important. And then we can stop the negative self talk and start catching ourselves when we're doing it. That's the first stage is recognizing when we're doing it, because we've all done it for so long, we don't even realize that we're doing it. So it's a good first place. So because we care so much about self care at The Grit Show, we actually have a series of coloring books called the Color of Grit. And we give each of our guests as a thank you, one of our coloring books. And so we have the one that's out currently is called Vintage Mermaid and the Magnificent Ocean. And then what is coming out is You've Got This, which is inspirational and funny quotes. Would you, which one, would you like for us to send you a copy of Dr. Robin?
Dr. Robin Miller:I like, You've Got This.
Shawna Rodrigues:You've Got This. Awesome. We'll send it to you hot off the presses once it comes out.
Dr. Robin Miller:That sounds great.
Shawna Rodrigues:Yay. All right. And so the best place for people to find you is on Facebook. Is that correct?
Dr. Robin Miller:Yes, definitely. You can find me under Dr. Robin or Robin Miller.
Shawna Rodrigues:Awesome. Dr. Robin or Robin Miller on Facebook, you can also go to triunemed.com, T-R-I-U-N-E med.com. And we'll have that in the show notes as well. She has more books as well. And so we will have links to all of her books in the show notes. But the one that we spend the most time talking about today is Invisible or Invincible: Your Choice. So when you're looking, we'll make sure we highlight that one so you know that's her latest one that we spent our time talking about today. Yes, anything else you want to say before we go?
Dr. Robin Miller:Just thanks for having me.
Shawna Rodrigues:Oh, thank you for being here. It's been wonderful. Yes. And so for everyone out there, thank you for being here with us as well. You are the only one of you that this world has got and that means something. We'll see you here again next week.
