Personalized wellness is reshaping the entire health conversation, and this new The Next Frontier Files episode proves the old rulebook is officially closed for good. From psychedelics and genetic testing to women's health investment and metabolic health, expert guests from year three of Salad with a Side of Fries reveal the trends that would become some of the biggest wellness breakthroughs, long before the headlines ever catch up.

Host Jenn Trepeck shares the ideas from year three of Salad with a Side of Fries, revisiting the boldest predictions, the holistic health conversations, and the recurring threads that shaped where wellness was headed next.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

✅ Why the future of health is built on personalized nutrition and genetics rather than one-size-fits-all rules

✅ How psychedelics and microdosing are entering the mainstream conversation around consciousness and healing

✅ Why metabolic health is being named as the true root cause behind most chronic disease

✅ How accessible wellness and honest food conversations are becoming the next big shift in the industry

The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast, hosted by Jenn Trepeck, explores real-life wellness and weight-loss topics, debunking myths, misinformation, and flawed science surrounding nutrition and the food industry. Let’s dive into real-life wellness and weight loss, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 A preview of year three, covering psychedelics, genetics, women's health, and personalized wellness

03:59 Alexander Carter suggests looking at the individual and questions following the wellness rules

05:03 Daniel Sanders and Peter Reitano discuss psychedelics, consciousness, and life extension research

07:17 A raw, unscripted mental health conversation shows instead of tells during Awareness Month

08:32 Dr. Lisa Oldson connects genetic testing and artificial intelligence to future personalized nutrition

09:57 David Frost on gene editing, BRCA, and the ethics of enhancement technology

11:20 Sophia DeSantis shares her fertility story and why alternative medicine and modern care can coexist

12:23 Marie Van Blerkom exposes the shocking lack of female health companies on the stock exchange

13:42 Erica Stein and Aly French challenge food inequality and call for truly accessible wellness

15:35 Guests discuss trauma, anti-aging, longevity and aging well

17:34 Hope Pedraza links gut health work to spirituality, human design, and total wellness

18:28 Dr. Mariza Snyder names metabolic health as the real root cause behind most chronic disease

19:54 Justine Ang Fonte hopes the next wellness frontier is genuine body affirmation over profit-driven trends

20:20 Jenn ties up her thoughts on year three

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

💎 The wellness rules that once defined right and wrong are giving way to individualized wellness built around each person's unique body

💎 Trauma work is now considered foundational, showing up as a root cause across nearly every wellness modality

💎 Women's health investment is still shockingly rare, but a generational demand for better data is building momentum

💎 True holistic health means blending alternative and modern medicine rather than choosing one over the other

RESOURCES:

Become a Happy Healthy Hub Member

Jenn’s Free Menu Plan

A Salad With a Side of Fries

A Salad With A Side Of Fries Merch

A Salad With a Side of Fries Instagram

About Uncomplicating Wellness

Text ‘Book’ to 833-801-0500

The Next Frontier Files: The Frontier We Didn't Choose - Vol 1

The Next Frontier Files: Precision and Permission - Vol 2

Train Your Gut, A Plant-Based Approach (feat. Hope Pedraza)

Where Does the Food Go?

Wheat, Celiac, Gluten and Glyphosate

QUOTES:

11:51 "Sophia and I are so aligned on this. There's almost a false dichotomy because both approaches can be true and used together." – Jenn Trepeck

16:47 "Changing our language changes what we're willing to hear." – Jenn Trepeck

18:54 "Metabolic health keeps coming up under a variety of names every single year of this show, and that is not a coincidence at all." – Jenn Trepeck

22:29 "Year three confirmed I was no longer handing you one path. I gave you a bunch of doors, and which one you walk through is your choice." – Jenn Trepeck

Jenn Trepeck, Salad With A Side Of Fries, Nutrition Nugget, Health Coach, Weight Loss For Real Life, Personalized Wellness, Individualized Wellness, Whole Person Health, Psychedelics And Wellness, Microdosing Mushrooms, Life Extension, Longevity Science, Genetic Testing, Artificial Intelligence In Health, Personalized Nutrition, Genetic Makeup, Alternative Medicine, Holistic Nutritionist, Fertility And Ivf, Women's Health Investment, Female Health Companies, Perimenopause, Menopause, Accessible Wellness, Organic Food Access, Food Culture, Trauma Work, Root Cause Healing, Anti Aging, Healthy Aging, Gut Health, Plant Based Nutrition, Spirituality And Health, Human Design, Metabolic Health, Mitochondrial Health, Chronic Disease Prevention, Heart Health, Sex Education, Body Affirmation, Body Image, Diet Culture, Wellness Industry, Health Coaching, Nutrition Myths, Mental Health Awareness, Next Frontier In Wellness Trends, Personalized Nutrition Using Genetics And AI

Daniel Sanders: A [00:00:10] intertwining of consciousness with technology.

Voiceover: [00:00:20] Next Frontier Files.

Jenn Trepeck: Welcome to Salad with a Side of Fries.

Welcome back to The Next [00:00:55] Frontier Files. If you're just joining us, let me catch you up. Seven [00:01:00] years of Salad with a Side of Fries, seven episodes, one for each year, [00:01:05] built around the same rapid-fire question I've asked every [00:01:10] guest since the very beginning of Salad with a Side of Fries. What's the next [00:01:15] frontier in wellness?

That has always been and [00:01:55] will always be your choice. So before we take that [00:02:00] look back at year three conversation and proclamations of the [00:02:05] next frontier, I wanna tell you about the Happy Healthy Hub. Members get [00:02:10] a new recipe every week, curated articles, extra discounts from me and our partners, [00:02:15] interview episodes in full video, including some behind-the-scenes [00:02:20] content that you won't see anywhere else, plus access to the community board where you [00:02:25] can connect with each other and with me 24/7 to ask me [00:02:30] anything.

[00:02:55] So head to asaladwithasideoffries.com/membership to get [00:03:00] this recipe and access to all of the Happy Healthy Hub benefits. That's [00:03:05] asaladwithasideoffries.com/membership.[00:03:10]

Psychedelics enter the conversation for the first time. Sex education gets a full [00:03:40] episode. Women's health starts pulling real investment dollars, at least in [00:03:45] theory. And underneath all of it, guests keep using the same word, individual. [00:03:50]

You know, I think that for a long [00:04:00] time now there's been this idea of like the right or wrong way to do [00:04:05] things like the clean or dirty or good or bad. But I think [00:04:10] that what I'm seeing is that people, we are all so different and we do all [00:04:15] need different things to support ourselves and our bodies. And so a focus [00:04:20] on the individual instead of like the rules

Sorting people into categories instead of [00:04:35] seeing them as individuals is not serving us, and I don't think either [00:04:40] of them heard the other. So that's twice now this exact [00:04:45] idea shows up on its own.

And while they have stake [00:05:00] in the outcome, their excitement is palpable.

And then I think shortly after [00:05:20] that is going to be a intertwining of consciousness with technology, and I [00:05:25] think psychedelics holds a catalyst position within that point.

You know, how to live better, [00:05:40] longer, healthier, well-optimized lives. I think we're gonna see a lot of [00:05:45] interesting discoveries and, and changes over the next decade.

To [00:06:05] me, that means it's worth our attention and our reflection. A quick [00:06:10] pivot here. Year three of Salad with a Side of Fries was where we started [00:06:15] pushing back on the idea that there's one correct way to [00:06:20] do wellness or one clean list of rules that everyone should, [00:06:25] in air quotes, follow. My book, Uncomplicating Wellness: Ditch the [00:06:30] Rules, Quiet the Noise, Reclaim Your Life, is built on that same premise.

[00:07:00] So to get your copy and more information, text the word book, B-O-O-K, [00:07:05] to 833-801-0500. Again, text [00:07:10] the word book, B-O-O-K, to 833-801-0500.[00:07:15]

It [00:07:40] wasn't an interview, so there was no question to the next frontier. Instead, it was a [00:07:45] genuine, unfiltered, real-time run at what a mental health conversation sounds [00:07:50] like, showing instead of telling. That's what this year three episode brought, which [00:07:55] doesn't stay a one-time thing. Three years later, Salad with a Side of Fries launches a series [00:08:00] built on the same idea.

Here's where that word gets its biggest stakes yet [00:08:30] from Dr. Lisa Olson.

We can plug in other data and use AI to [00:08:55] analyze correlations and links and causation and just figure [00:09:00] out for each of us on a very personalized level how should we be eating. [00:09:05] We're not quite there yet. People sell stuff related to that already, but it's emerging [00:09:10] science. That's the next frontier. We're not quite there yet.

Voiceover: Here's the verdict on Dr. Lisa Oldson. Emerging science in year three becomes one of the [00:09:25] most persistent threads in the entire seven years. AI and genetics converging on [00:09:30] personalized nutrition. The most striking part isn't that it becomes a repeated theme, it's how [00:09:35] this ends.

David Frost: I never want people to say I don't have to [00:10:00] sweat because I can take a pill to give my hormones the feeling that I just exercised. [00:10:05] But I think the next frontier is the ability and with caution to [00:10:10] say altering genetic makeup. It's extraordinary if we can deal with the BRCA for [00:10:15] the ladies, their health problems, it's wonderful, but I get concerned about [00:10:20] super races and all that sort of philosophical stuff that comes up with technology.

Jenn Trepeck: David [00:10:35] was the first to kind of say the quiet part out loud. Christine Saint [00:10:40] Mary and Wade Lightheart talked about it in year one, Dr.

Voiceover: Not [00:11:10] every guest in year three is looking at a lab.

Sophia DeSantis: I'm hoping that we start seeing the benefit between alternative medicine [00:11:25] melding together. I don't believe in one or the other. I do believe in a meshing of both, and [00:11:30] that started when I was going through fertility.

Jenn Trepeck: Sophia and I are so aligned on this. I [00:11:55] truly appreciated her answer. She didn't choose a side, just like David. [00:12:00] There's almost a false dichotomy because both approaches [00:12:05] can be true and used together.

Marie Van Blaricum: I am also super [00:12:25] passionate about the rise in women's wellness. So only two companies on [00:12:30] the stock exchange are female health companies. Insane. And so I think, however, [00:12:35] this whole rise of our generation of women going into perimenopause, [00:12:40] menopause, new stages of life, having kids and demanding better data- Mm-hmm

Voiceover: Here's the [00:13:00] verdict on Marie Van Blerkom. Two companies on the stock exchange in year [00:13:05] three.

This next pair, business [00:13:35] partners who co-run Courageous Wellness Collective, join Jenn together. Naturally, [00:13:40] their next frontier answers align and build.

The [00:13:55] United States is still surviving because of course they are, and I have no judgment in this, as from my [00:14:00] answers before, on fast food and, like, all of that. So I do think the [00:14:05] conversation around food is the next frontier.

It has been... become something for the elite or the [00:14:20] wealthy, and making it more accessible, making it more affordable, [00:14:25] and making it easier to comprehend. It doesn't need to be that conflicting information.

Voiceover: Here's the verdict on [00:14:50] wellness accessibility.

Trauma is [00:15:15] named as a true root cause. Anti-aging receives a new name. Gut [00:15:20] health keeps building, albeit more quietly in the background. Metabolic health as a root [00:15:25] cause continues, and sex education earns its first full episode since year [00:15:30] one of Salad with a Side of Fries. Let's start with Sahara Leigh and then Claudia [00:15:35] Wilson.

Hope Pedraza: Mm-hmm.

Like, everything is talking [00:16:10] about trauma, and that makes me so unbelievably giddy with joy and happiness. [00:16:15]

[00:16:30] That's what I think is the next frontier.

Anti-aging virtually disappears as a phrase, [00:17:05] so I suppose Claudia got her wish.

Hope Pedraza's episode was about a plant-based approach to [00:17:30] gut health, yet her answer to the next frontier takes us down a different track.

I, I tie in human design and a few [00:17:45] other things, but I think that's where it's headed next.

Instead, [00:18:10] they connect it to the whole, to other aspects of [00:18:15] total wellness

Dr. Mariza Snyder: I think it's really focusing on [00:18:30] metabolic health.

Jenn Trepeck: Dr.

It just, I guess, didn't have the headline in those years.

Her next frontier answer aligns with her work.

Jenn Trepeck: As I listen back to Justine's answer, I see a connection not [00:20:25] just to heart health and our February episodes each year, and not even just to other sexual health [00:20:30] episodes. Now, more profound to me is the connection to later [00:20:35] conversations about the impact of social media, body [00:20:40] image, and body autonomy. And that thread runs [00:20:45] every year after this one, all the way to the very last episode [00:20:50] of this seven-year run.

[00:21:15] She said quote, "not-for-profit based reasons." [00:21:20] And it took me a second pass through this whole year to hear what she was [00:21:25] drawing a line around. It's clear to me now, though, it's the difference [00:21:30] between a wellness industry that sells you self-acceptance and a [00:21:35] culture that lives it. Alexandra wanted individual over [00:21:40] category.

Looking back now [00:22:10] all together, I can see how it all fit together, one overarching [00:22:15] bigger theme. It was really about how many new doors show up in wellness, [00:22:20] psychedelics, genetics with caution attached, trauma work, [00:22:25] accessible wellness, body affirmation that isn't for sale. [00:22:30] Year three confirmed I was no longer handing you one path.

It's often used to describe that rounder, [00:23:00] more puffy look that people blame on stress hormones. The question [00:23:05] is, is it real? Could it be anything other than stress? We'll discuss [00:23:10] it on Friday in this week's Bite Size bonus episode, so be sure wherever you're listening, click the plus [00:23:15] sign or the follow button, and then your app will alert you when it goes live on Friday morning.

And thank you for listening each week, each [00:23:45] year. I invite you, friend, if you are not already a member, join us in the [00:23:50] Happy Healthy Hub. You'll go to asaladwithasideoffries.com/membership. [00:23:55] This shows your support for this podcast, this community, and your health. On top of [00:24:00] interview episodes in full video with behind-the-scenes content, your 24/7 [00:24:05] ask-me-anything on the community board, you'll get this week's recipe for cherry soft serve ice [00:24:10] cream.

Thanks so much for joining us. Be [00:24:35] sure to click subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast platform. Share us with a friend and [00:24:40] we'll be back next week. Always remember, you deserve it and you are worth it. [00:24:45] Happy, [00:24:50] healthy.