Episode 79
· 25:39
I'll introduce Barrett. Let me introduce Dr. B.
Grant:"Welcome back to my podcast." You know, mom said. No.
Dr. Barrett:Sounds good.
Becky:Let me talk about who this guy is. Yeah. What's the purpose of me being on here? I mean, truly. Like, I know I'm just asking questions.
Dr. Barrett:I'll just say it as we go.
Becky:Oh my word.
Dr. Barrett:I'll just say it as we go. We're just going to go.
Grant:You're a co-host.
Becky:Okay. Here we go. This is gonna be great.
Grant:And action.
Dr. Barrett:Welcome back to another episode of The Real Health Podcast. We are joined together with a special guest. So we are starting a new, like monthly series where we will have someone come on from the practice, from our city, and we're just gonna have a conversation. Just kinda, like, treat it as a interaction like I have on a day to day basis.
Dr. Barrett:So welcome to the show Becky Crenshaw.
Becky:Glad to be here.
Dr. Barrett:She's been a patient. Tell me about how you found us and just, like, what your story is in getting here.
Becky:Okay. This is a full circle moment because I was a podcast binger.
Dr. Barrett:Okay really?
Becky:So I found you on Instagram.
Dr. Barrett:Okay.
Becky:Someone in my circle of friends was posting about this Armor Health, and I realized this guy's in Knoxville. So I started I found The Real Health Podcast, and I binged it.
Dr. Barrett:Really?
Becky:Nobody's, like, I'm binging it like Netflix.
Becky:Really? Just like one after this yes.
Dr. Barrett:I didn't know that.
Becky:Yes. And so it was through, a podcast that actually you did on, hormones
Dr. Barrett:Okay.
Becky:That I sent it to my husband. I was like, you've gotta listen to this guy. He knows his stuff. And, you do. You know your stuff.
Becky:Here I am full circle on the pod.
Dr. Barrett:Yeah. So it's, well, that's been a couple years now.
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:Um, what are some practical things that you've applied in your personal journey?
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:Because you've been a patient for a couple years, but even just, like, on a day to day basis. What you've learned from the podcast, what you've learned from being a patient here, what are a couple of practical things that you've applied that's been helpful?
Becky:Yeah. Well, I came to you because I did have, disregulated hormones.
Dr. Barrett:Mhmm.
Becky:And just I was a little upside down on my health journey, and you were able to to settle me into a really good place, and so I'm actually gonna talk to you about that and something that you said that still rings true every day. I think about it a lot actually. But I got into chiropractic care. First and foremost, you got me into a pretty aggressive treatment plan to get my body regulated and that was really impactful. And then you added on layered some other pieces. And so one thing that I've always appreciated about you, while there are so many things that we could be doing, you are always really good to not overwhelm, me, my system, my mental space, you know.
Dr. Barrett:Sure.
Becky:I've said several times, so what about this or should I do this? And you're like, nope. Let's start here. You know, just, like, layering. But I remember you said to me, and this is actually one of my questions for you.
Becky:You quoted, Psalm 127:1
Dr. Barrett:Okay
Becky:to me, and you said, in that first appointment, I was weeping. I just felt so broken, and you said, "unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain".
Dr. Barrett:Mhmm.
Becky:And you were really clear with me that we want the Lord to build this house, and that was really an impactful moment. And I remember going to some friends. I was like, I mean, who quotes scripture in a doctor's appointment? It was just so life giving. I felt so seen and heard. And so all these, you know, years later, I've seen you with patients and so, you know, come someone comes to you, you know, feeling broken. A lot of people come just feeling really hopeless.
Dr. Barrett:Yeah.
Becky:So how do you encourage people? I knew what that meant to me, but, you know, someone's listening to this or watching this for the first time and they just fill in that place. They're just broken. So how do they move from building their own house to allowing the Lord to build their house of wellness?
Dr. Barrett:Yeah. Well, when you when you look at our, like, the work of our hands, what we do, it can be- what we do can be used either for, like, building of our kingdom...
Becky:Mhmm.
Dr. Barrett:or His kingdom. It's really a...
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:a frame of mind. You know, who are we putting on on the throne of our hearts?
Becky:Right.
Dr. Barrett:Anything can become an idol really quickly, right? So health is one of those that, in my opinion, can become a can become an idol. Now it can become something where we just don't care about at all.
Becky:Right.
Dr. Barrett:Right? We're just a total, like, passive to this idea of reaping what we sow and creating health and honoring and stewarding over the physical body. But it can also become hyper consuming.
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:And where we look at our physical body, then we try to do all these things and we and we realize we're idolizing how we look and how we feel, and what we should, what we think we should be like or what we think we should feel like or, even comparing ourselves to people around us and saying, hey, that's the way I should look, that's the way I should feel. And it just becomes this never ending cycle where we don't get anywhere except more anxiety, more depression.
Becky:Right.
Dr. Barrett:And a feeling of worthlessness. And so the whole concept of building your house upon the Lord, letting him do it, and not doing it out of vanity is on a day to day basis asking the question why I'm- why I'm doing it.
Becky:Right.
Dr. Barrett:So do you wanna be healthier? Right? Yes. Like, superficially, I think the question is easy to answer because I wanna be- I just wanna feel good.
Dr. Barrett:I wanna have better energy levels. I wanna trim down some fat, Whatever. I wanna build some lean mass. Okay. Those are- those are great superficial answers to the question.
Dr. Barrett:But when you really ask the question why, what are my motives behind getting healthy? And if we were to sit with that question for a little bit longer than the quick response knee jerk reaction of I just wanna feel better, a lot of times we'll get into this to the reality of the why. And if the why isn't something that is in a in a sense serving the mission and the vision of being a a Christ follower. Which is everything for His good, everything for His glory, His kingdom to come to this earth, then it's in vanity. So if we look at anything in our lives, whether it's our marriage, whether it's how we raise our kids, whether it's how I build this business, or whether it's how I create health in my physical body, any of those can be for my glory.
Dr. Barrett:And you wouldn't know it, and and the opposite could be true too. They could be for His glory. And so why do I want to be healthy? Why do I wanna build this physical body for His glory? Well, because I wanna see His kingdom come.
Dr. Barrett:I wanna have energy and vitality, so that I can be an effective witness for His kingdom, because I believe Christians should be the healthiest on the healthiest physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. And so these are things that I think is true, that we get to reap what we sow, and that we should be set apart, that we're holy, we're distinct, we're set apart. So that whole principle of unless the Lord builds a house, those who labor do in vain. It's if you build your health based upon the framework of superficiality, you know, I just wanna feel better, I just wanna look better, it will fail you. Sooner or later, it's gonna fail you.
Dr. Barrett:It's gonna crumble. It's gonna be the house that is built upon the sand, and you will find out that you are still missing something. And that void is just now gonna get filled with something else, and you're you're gonna constantly live in that state of still anxiety and depression no matter how good you look or no matter how healthy you are. So it is not about just being physically healthy. It is about being physically, emotionally, spiritually healthy.
Dr. Barrett:It is Romans 12, to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, all of them...
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:before the Lord.
Becky:So good. You kinda took another question. So I was gonna ask, but you kinda answered it within that answer, which that's so good. But my- one of my questions was, how do we stay? There's 2 ditches.
Becky:There's obsession
Dr. Barrett:Yeah.
Becky:About our health, not just our physique. Like, it's not I think for a lot of people, it's not about physique. It's about this, how can I be the the most healthy I can be? That becomes a golden calf.
Dr. Barrett:Oh, in and of itself can, yes.
Becky:Right. So that's one ditch. And then the other ditch is negligence and, you know, fast food and just not paying a bit of attention. So...
Dr. Barrett:Right.
Becky:You did answer that, but I think, like, how do we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus in this journey of health, stay out of the ditches, and stay on the right path for the long term?
Dr. Barrett:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like I said, right, you could definitely have like, you can be obsessed about anything. And what we find is that with health, when we are obsessed about our health, it's because we're trying to control something. A lot of times, we're trying to control something that's out of our control, and we're trying to control it.
Becky:Mhmm.
Dr. Barrett:So you might feel out of control in other areas.
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:I think out of a place of peace, out of a place of rest, are we able to take control in a healthy way over our lifestyle? You know, this world is about discipline. Right? This is a word that we don't like to hear much.
Dr. Barrett:There are healthy rhythms and disciplines to everyday life. And so it's not about this healthy, like, discipline for the day, for the moment, for the year. It's about creating healthy disciplines, not just for my generation, but for my kids' generation. Why am I disciplined today?
Dr. Barrett:Because I wanna show my kids what healthy disciplines look like.
Becky:Right.
Dr. Barrett:Spiritually and physically so that they can show their kids what healthy disciplines look like physically and and spiritually. So this idea of just being consistent and constant in life. Is is important, not just swinging back from one ditch to the other because we do that as well.
Becky:Right.
Dr. Barrett:We can live in an obsessive ditch of health, and we can also then just veer off and become a fat, gluttonous person that's just eating whatever's in front of us. Like, it's- we can be the same person on a day to day basis. We can intermittent fast in the morning just so I can plunge into whatever food I want for that evening.
Becky:Right.
Dr. Barrett:Right? So we can even have that level of a swing even on a day to day basis.
Becky:That's good.
Dr. Barrett:But when we operate from a sense of like fulfillment and peace and and looking to your your bigger question, and this is probably a question that you wanna ask yourself, again, why am I doing this?
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:You have to have...
Becky:It's like the long game.
Dr. Barrett:You have to have a bigger why.
Becky:Right.
Dr. Barrett:Right. And your why cannot be even- it can't even just be about you.
Becky:Right.
Dr. Barrett:You know, your- I always say your why has to be bigger than yourself.
Becky:That's good.
Dr. Barrett:Your why has to be so big that it isn't about you anymore.
Becky:Right. That's good.
Dr. Barrett:And when you take the eyes off yourself and why you're doing it, and you place it on a maybe it's a generational why, then I think you have a little bit more, like, yeah, ability to stay true to your disciplines. Because then because then you're just thinking, well, I just wanna see I want my kids to see why...
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:Dad gets up every morning at this time and does this and that.
Becky:Mhmm.
Dr. Barrett:Why these are his routines. Like, make it or break it. This is- I know my dad does this every day.
Becky:Right.
Dr. Barrett:I know my dad does this every week. I know my mom does this every day. I know my mom does this every that's so valuable for a child. You know? So when they grow up, they're just like, hey, this is just what we did.
Dr. Barrett:This is what we do. This is who we are...
Becky:That's so good. So health is caught not taught
Dr. Barrett:to you.
Becky:I mean, by your kiddos in a lot of ways.
Dr. Barrett:No doubt.
Becky:Okay. So this is so good. Alright. So now let's, I'm gonna think like someone.
Becky:Well, I was a someone. You know, I feel like the health industry talks does a pretty good job of talking to someone coming from zero trying to get healthy. But what about the person that's coming from a really good place of wellness? Like, I came to you.
Becky:I was a pretty healthy girl.
Dr. Barrett:Agree.
Becky:You know? But I wanted to get 1%, 2% better. I can't- I'm not gonna go to extreme. It takes money, and I do have a question about, like, if you don't have much money, how do you get started?
Dr. Barrett:Yep.
Becky:But that's next.
Dr. Barrett:Okay.
Becky:Put that one away. But for someone who's coming to you pretty healthy, what is the next best thing that they can do? They're eating clean.
Dr. Barrett:Okay.
Becky:They're, they're working out.
Dr. Barrett:Yep.
Becky:What next for them?
Dr. Barrett:Yeah. We always talk about the foundational pillars. So assuming they're getting 8 hours sleep at night, they're moving their bodies every day.
Becky:Yep.
Dr. Barrett:They're living a healthy emotional spiritual life, and that they're nutritionally sound, and we add one more- here at the Real Health Co., We talk about chiropractic care as a foundational pillar.
Dr. Barrett:If you're checking those boxes, then your progression of health is really is making sure you're checking those boxes every day. So it's the constant. You're not doing that for a month, 3 months, you're doing this for years. And then how you progress someone's health from there is you start to introduce really old time practices that have been around for generations that we just lose track of today. What is that?
Dr. Barrett:It's solitude. Yeah. It's silence. It's fasting. It's finding peace in nature.
Dr. Barrett:It's actually disconnecting from this world. It's not a fancy supplement. It's not a fancy detox program. Those are great. Supplements are great.
Dr. Barrett:We all need to detox. We all need to cleanse our liver, and we need to support our gut with really great $20 bottles of of kimchi and sauerkraut and kombucha. Yeah. But the reality is the more innovative and technologically advanced we become as a society, the more our bodies are starving for the opposite, which is where we were 100 of years ago.
Becky:That's good.
Dr. Barrett:Playing in the dirt.
Becky:Yep.
Dr. Barrett:Walking outside
Becky:Yep.
Dr. Barrett:Resting, fasting, sleeping, taking vacations, taking naps. I would say honestly the person that's probably as disciplined as maybe I am or you are in regards to these pillars that's checking these boxes every day probably needs this other end of the spectrum, as much as anyone.
Dr. Barrett:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:Because they're so probably high performing that, yeah, they're always on the go. They're the mom and dad always on the go. They're high performing. They're productive. They're living life.
Dr. Barrett:They're fulfilling societies, like, standards what they feel like they should do, but they're not resting enough.
Dr. Barrett:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:They're not taking time out of the busy schedule or technology. And so what they're doing is they're burning their dopamine levels out in the brain.
Dr. Barrett:They're burning the adrenal system and their hormone system out. And what you find is that when you when you pull them out of why I do caffeine detoxes and why I do electronic detoxes and why I pull these things out of my life is to reset my dopamine levels, reset my adrenal stress levels, reset my cortisol levels. And so that you find that what we want more of what's good for us and more that what drives, like, excitement and energy and dopamine, so taking rest from that is actually really healing for our body. So usually, I challenge people on that. Hey, let's do a 5 day fast, 7 day fast.
Dr. Barrett:Let's practice a Sabbath day once a week. Let's pull off electronics. Let's do a caffeine fast. It's usually actually removing things from their from their life. that they've grown accustomed to.
Dr. Barrett:So that's probably the bigger area. And then just making sure they're not overdoing it. Again, high performers, they're usually gonna train too hard. They're gonna walk too much. They're gonna run too much.
Dr. Barrett:They're gonna train too hard, and they'll burn themselves out. They're already the mom and dad that's that's that's investing so much emotionally into other people, and their children, a lot of times, actually need to make sure they're monitoring their activity. Am I pushing too hard? Am I training too hard? What season can I push harder? Those are questions that I think are important to ask. And, honestly, that's how you create health.
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:It's creating creating a sense of recovery
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:Not just a sense of of pushing and doing more and and and taking a new product. It's actually the opposite. It's removing things from your life.
Becky:You're reading my mail. I mean, that oh, yeah. I mean, you know my journey. I mean, that's what got me in.
Dr. Barrett:Oh, yeah. For sure.
Becky:The place I was in when I came to see you was just too much of all the things that, worked against my health. And so and your your recommendation for me was eat more, eat more nourishing food, rest more, you know, step less.
Dr. Barrett:Yeah.
Becky:You know, things...
Dr. Barrett:Right. Yes.
Becky:That were very counterintuitive for me.
Becky:And so...
Dr. Barrett:That's right.
Becky:So that's really refreshing. So someone that's wanting to get started on getting 1, 2, 3 percent better towards functional holistic wellness, it's free, first of all. Everything.
Dr. Barrett:That's right. All of what I just said.
Becky:So that really brings me to my next place. So someone, wants to get started on more of a holistic, healthy journey, but finances, resources are limited because we could spend a lot of money in this world, right, of of health and wellness.
Dr. Barrett:Yeah.
Becky:I think you just listed 8 hours sleep.
Dr. Barrett:Yeah. Those are the pillars, but the challenge that I give most people is saying, hey. You're gonna spend it now or spend it later. It's up to- it's up to you. Spend it now or spin it later.
Dr. Barrett:Spend it now on your health food options. Spend it now on chiropractic care. Spend it now on on wellness initiatives for your family. Spend it- spend it now on a sauna. Spend it now on clean organic protein, or spend it later, because of high insurance premiums Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:Because of sickness, disease, hospital visits, doctors' visits, medications. Spend it now or spend it later. It's up to you. And you can have all the money in the world, but not have your health, you won't have anything. If you don't have your health, you don't have anything.
Becky:That's right.
Dr. Barrett:Spend it now or spend it later. So the first thing I challenge people is, like, hey. We probably need to change our mindset when it comes to, like, how we budget our health. Health should be a priority in how we budget it.
Dr. Barrett:If it's at the bottom, it's gonna get the bottom number of investment.
Becky:Mhmm.
Dr. Barrett:Right? And so hey. How much fast food do you buy a week? How many time how many trips do you go to Starbucks or a coffee shop? Right?
Dr. Barrett:How much are you spending in in foods that add no value to your health? How much are you spending in drinks that add no value to your health? Yeah. And then when we look at that, we find that there's plenty of money. There is plenty of resources.
Dr. Barrett:The issue is really a budgeting issue and a value issue. And so any anything that we value, we we budget. So that's where I challenge people to start. And then the second is start with, protein. Like, if you're trying to live health, live healthy on a budget, you start with protein.
Dr. Barrett:Protein should be your cleanest, healthiest in the household.
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:That's good. So actually eliminate fast foods, eliminate junk foods, eliminate sugar, eliminate all that junk, buy clean protein that's satiating, that's fulfilling. Okay?
Becky:Yep.
Dr. Barrett:And then- and then dirty dozen. The 12 dirtiest foods that are sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, buy those organic.
Becky:Got it.
Dr. Barrett:And then go from there. So remove the sugar, remove this- the junk food, buy clean organic protein, and keep an eye out for the dirty dozen. And then, yeah, we're sleeping 8 hours a day, alright, a night. We're creating healthy habits and rhythms. We're valuing our body enough to move our body daily.
Dr. Barrett:Walking is perfectly fine. If you're not walking 10,000 steps a day right now, then don't go to a gym. Walk 10,000 steps a day, then go to a gym. Right? Don't spend the money don't say, and then don't tell me you don't have money to go to the gym so you're not no.
Dr. Barrett:Walk 10,000 steps a day. I assure you that'll burn more fat than you would trying to do something at Planet Fitness. Right? And you're just sitting there and then on Fridays eating free pizza that they give you. Right?
Dr. Barrett:So move your body in a healthy way, get out of the gym, walk 10,000 steps a day. So many things you can do free. So it's a- it's a mindset issue in our culture more than anything. But, yeah, that, like, at the same time answers the question.
Becky:That's good. I love the idea of, budgeting. Well, they're having a health bottom line budget, and look, that's a really easy thing everybody can do. But I love- I love the idea of budgeting your time in light of, do you have a silence and solitude day on the calendar this month? Do you have Sabbath woven into the fabric?
Becky:I mean, that was original OG command. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:That's right.
Becky:And remember the Sabbath, observe the Sabbath. And so what are these practices, really the way of Jesus, that we implement into our healthy rhythm to establish, routines that, for the long haul, keep you out of the ditches? It's free. I love it. That's so good.
Becky:Okay. So I have one more question, and I think we're Last question. Go ahead.
Dr. Barrett:Go ahead.
Becky:Wrap it up. 3 nonnegotiables of Dr. B's. You could do we could do anything. Just let it go. 3 nonnegotiables.
Becky:It could be of your health journey, of your rhythms.
Dr. Barrett:Oh my goodness. Yeah. 3?
Becky:And I was budgeted on that. I was gonna just say what are nonnegotiables, but
Dr. Barrett:I'm gonna- I'm gonna- I'm not gonna give you 3. I'm gonna give you more than 3 because that's it's my- it's my- it's my podcast.
Becky:That was out the window.
Dr. Barrett:I can do whatever I want.
Becky:It's this podcast.
Dr. Barrett:Yes. So, I would- I would say there are the nonnegotiables, it starts at the top. I spend- I spend every like, nearly not gonna say every. Nearly every morning with Jesus. It's a nonnegotiable. It has to be.
Dr. Barrett:It's the only way I'm spiritually emotionally healthy for everyone else in my life to be an effective doctor, to be an effective husband, and to make sure that I'm building my house upon the Lord. Like, it has to happen. That's a nonnegotiable. And then my second nonnegotiable, so I'm gonna use Jesus time and say that first one is like my morning routine. Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:My morning routine is a nonnegotiable.
Becky:K.
Dr. Barrett:So when I wake up, hit the floor, sauna, Jesus time, everything in the morning, everything I do first before I even start seeing patients at 7 o'clock in the morning, that's that's the nonnegotiable. The second nonnegotiable would be how I fuel my body daily, so my nutrition. That is my second nonnegotiable. So physically, first one's spiritual, emotional. That one's physical.
Dr. Barrett:If you were to say, "hey, you you either can't go to Whole Foods and buy healthy food, or you can't have a gym membership, which one it would be?" It would be I don't want the gym membership. I'll take healthy food because I can use nature as my gym. So that's good. I'm gonna say nutrition is a is a non negotiable for sure.
Dr. Barrett:I love to sleep. Yeah. I need 8 hours. I go to bed at 9. I wake up at 5.
Dr. Barrett:So, you know, I really try to- I try to get quality sleep. It's like a non negotiable in in my, like, friends come over, you know, kids are playing upstairs, and my cue for my friends is when I tell my kids, hey, it's time to brush your teeth. It's like 8 o'clock. "Hey, kids. It's time to brush your teeth."
Becky:Yeah.
Dr. Barrett:That means, "hey, get out of my house. Get out of my house. I'm ready to shut it down. I'm ready to sleep."
Dr. Barrett:Other non negotiables that are just like, I- it's so hard to choose, but it's like creating healthy relationships, having healthy relationships, having healthy relationship with my wife and my children. You know, physical training is a nonnegotiable. Being adjusted is a nonnegotiable. Gosh. There's if, you know, fasting, I would say, is a nonnegotiable.
Dr. Barrett:So those are just some of them. It was it was really hard to give you 3.
Becky:You didn't.
Dr. Barrett:I gave you a few.
Becky:Yeah. That's good. And it- I have more questions. We need more pods. This is great. Listen to me. This podcast is so helpful.
Dr. Barrett:That's awesome.
Becky:And I'm so grateful to be part of it.
Dr. Barrett:So thank you so much. Monthly, we're gonna have guests on that are really just patients in the office that have questions and can just ask me whatever they want, ask any questions they want, share their story, how they get healthy, what health, you know, challenges have they overcome recently, and what they what they've been doing to create health in their own bodies. And then ask me any questions they want like you did today. So great job. Thanks for coming on.
Becky:Thanks, sir.
Dr. Barrett:Yeah. I appreciate you. And thanks again for listening to another episode of the Real Health Podcast. Till next time.
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