How Orgasms and Laughter Actually Reverse Aging with Dr. Gowri Rocco

Ruth Soukup: Okay, real talk. When was the last time you actually had fun in the name of your health? Because let’s be honest, most of us have been conditioned to think that getting healthy means struggle, sacrifice, and willpower. But what if the real secret to looking and feeling younger was actually more laughter, more pleasure, and more endorphins?

Yeah. Today’s episode is gonna blow your mind in the best way.

Welcome to the Feel Better Live Free podcast, brought to you by FIUs. I’m your host, Ruth Soukup, and here we’ll talk about everything from the science of weight loss to practical tips for making your health a priority in the midst of a busy life. It’s a little bit nerdy, a little bit funny, and a little bit revolutionary.

So buckle up friend, because it’s about to get real.

Today I’m chatting with Dr. Gowri Rocco, a double board certified physician with over 25 years of experience and the founder of Optimum Wellness and Longevity in Corona, California.

Dr. Rocco, also the international number one bestselling author of Growing Younger. Restore your hormones, energy and sex drive. And she is on a mission to help women age better naturally by taking a more holistic, hormone balanced, joy-filled approach to wellness. And you guys, I absolutely love her perspective.

She calls it her recipe for youth laughter, orgasms, and endorphins. It’s science-backed, it’s impactful, and it just might completely change the way you think about getting older. I cannot wait for you to hear this conversation, so let’s get right into it. Dr. Rocco, thank you so much for being here today.

I’m so excited to talk to you. Aw, thank you for having me. It’s my pleasure. Thank you. You’re welcome. Um, so let’s just start with the question I like to ask everybody, which is tell us a little bit about yourself, who you are, what you do, and how you got to be doing what you are now. Big question. 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: Thank you, Ruth.

Okay. So, you know, um, I am in women’s, I’m a women’s health specialist, which means that after med school I decided to do a fellowship in women’s health. And what, to me, what women’s health means is like, um, you know, why is it that what, uh, with every phase in our life, like us women, whether it’s our.

Periods when we’re going through puberty or after we have babies or menopause, like, there’s so many phases that change. It’s like we don’t just have like, like men just seem to have like a, like, you know, one plateau and they don’t really hormonally go all over the place. We’re likes waves. And so to me, I wanted to go into one’s health to understand why my body’s like that.

Why, um, my, how can I help people, you know, navigate through that. In life, like different seasons, right? Yes. So women’s health is like. It’s so important. So I’m a women’s health specialist, which really revolves around hormones. That’s what women’s health is, ’cause our hormones are so dynamic. And then I’m in functional medicine, which means I believe in finding the root cause of disease instead of just prescribing drugs to kind of fix it temporarily and then still have our bad habits, right?

So we wanna understand why is this happening? How can we, um, fix it naturally as possible? I love that. And so that’s what functional medicine and, and I love it because, um, it’s very rewarding when you empower your patients to teach them tools to help themselves. That’s so true. That’s so true. 

Ruth Soukup: Um, so.

I don’t know why. I’m just blanking on this question. I know it’s a lot of stuff because I, there’s so many things that I wanna talk to you about. There’s so many things that, but then you got me thinking about functional health and I all came together all at once. But tell, like, I, I don’t think we talk about this enough, and I, and I always like when my clients are like, what kind of doctor should I go see?

Or who should I go see? I’m always like, functional health. Functional health, functional health, because I don’t think people understand. The, really the difference between functional medicine and traditional medicine. So before we dive into all the stuff that I wanna talk to you about, can you just say a little bit more about that?

Like, what is real, why is it so much more powerful to to be seeing a functional doctor who’s kind of looking at things holistically? 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: So, you know, um, this is a story. It’ll help kind of bring things together. My, I had a, growing up, you know, we were born in India. We came to the States and my sister was a baby of the family, and she, when she was going away to college, she started having like.

Schizophrenia and bipolar kind of symptoms. And you know, my father’s a really brilliant physician and we, in Indian culture, a lot of us are a physicians, so we always thought medicine was gonna be something that would help her with her condition and it, it really stabilized her when she took it, but she couldn’t shake it on her own.

And, you know, nutrition. Behavior, sleep, toxins. Um, all these things affect disease formation and chronic inflammation. And sometimes when we’re on regular medicine, which is like, you know, what we traditionally go to medical school for, we get taught like, here’s, here’s what it’s supposed to be. Here’s pathology.

Where’s something went wrong and here’s the drug to fix it. It’s not that simple. In real life there’s side effects. People gain weight, people hate how they feel on it or, you know. So that was my sister. She hated taking her medicine even though it worked for her. And unfortunately, like, you know, 10 years after dealing with, you know, this chronic illness, um, she took her own life, which was devastating for us.

And she was only 27, you know, and, and that shook up my life. It shook up my, my family’s life, my brother, my parents, and it taught me that in medicine. Like, that’s not how I should be looking at things. It’s just did someone take their drug? And, and if they didn’t take it, things didn’t go well. And I wanted to look at like, why, why?

You know, why did this happen? Like, what could we have done differently? Like, what could she, what more could we have done for her? And she left a beautiful note and everything, but that isn’t, isn’t the point. The point is that maybe there was something that we were missing and, and so like vitamin D. So this is what got me driving into functional medicine.

You know, when we don’t have enough vitamin D, we tend to be more prone to depression, bipolar psychosis, um, anxiety disorders. And even when you take the ME medication, it doesn’t work optimally and you have to take a lot higher doses. So fixing vitamin D makes a big difference. And maybe she had low vitamin D, you know, maybe she had toxins that she was exposed to that we never detoxed or looked at.

So  Functional medicine doctors. And your blood work matters. How you urinate matters and, um, how you talk to yourself matters.

So yes, your, your history and your trauma matters, right? So in regular medicine, we don’t always look at those things. We do blood work and we just give a prescription to lower the cholesterol. Yes. 

Ruth Soukup: Oh, that is, so, that is such a powerful story and it like really, really resonates with me. Um, because I, I went through, I talk, I’ve talked about this a little bit, but I went through a really bad depression in my, um, early twenties and attempted suicide multiple times and, and I have talked about that now.

Um, of just when I look back, you know, I spent two and a half years in and out of psychiatric hospitals and I was on every medication to the point where they gave me electro shock therapy, right? Like all the things, and that was never discussed was what’s your nutrition like, right? I wasn’t, I wasn’t eating meat, I probably wasn’t getting an I’m so in me.

I was so depleted of, of so many things and no one ever thought to ask, what does that look like? What does that part of look like? And I, and I think about that now so much. And it, it really like it. I mean, how, what a heartbreaking story, but how powerful of a legacy that has left for your patients to know that there’s something so much deeper there that is behind why you care about.

About their whole, their whole life and their all, like every part of their health. And not just what medicine can I push on you and what, what drug is gonna fix this problem, right? It’s not that simple. You’re not simple, simple machines. But man, thank you for sharing that. That is, oh 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: no, Ruth, I love your story.

See, that’s an inspiration like that. You went through that and you battle through it and you are stronger for it, and you can help people conquer their, you know, pain. You know, ’cause it’s very painful and you feel so lost and it’s scary, you know? And, um, yeah. I’m so sorry for what you went through and, um, but I’m so proud of you for enduring through it and conquering through 

Ruth Soukup: it.

Thank you. Yeah, no, it’s, I mean, and it’s, it’s been a long time, right? And I’ve been, been well for a long time and that’s, that is actually why I love sharing my story because I think when I was in that place. I, you never, especially like you, I am sure you’re familiar with it, right? Like the psychiatric hospital environment.

You do not see people getting well like it is. Yeah, it is negative. A revolving door. They leave and come back and get readmitted and readmitted and no one, and I used to say that to my doctors, like, how can you tell me I’m gonna get better? This is a, I’m a lost cause because everybody else here is a lost cause and they just keep coming back.

No one gets better. You can’t show me a single person. And now I get to be that person who’s like, I am here. I recovered. I am better. I am fully healed. And so, yeah, that’s just, I mean, I know this isn’t even what we’re talking about happy things today. Yes. It’s, this is like such a big. Important piece of it like that.

It like that right there. If you don’t understand the difference between seeing a doctor who’s going to just prescribe you a medication and seeing a doctor who’s gonna look at you as a whole person and go, what is actually the root cause of all of this? That’s, that’s 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: huge. That’s. Yes. And you know what, being, like you said, like not having enough protein or iron, it’s so hard to have the energy to recover for your body and your cells and um, yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s a process, you know, and it’s so, it’s such a relief when you find someone that cares to, you know, kind of unpeel that onion and try to look at a deeper you.

Oh yeah. And that’s what functional medicine is, you know, so huge. I love 

Ruth Soukup: that. Well, thank you. Thank you for what you do. It’s just, it’s amazing. So let’s talk a little bit more about what you really talk about, um, in your practice and, and with your clients about laughter, orgasms and end endorsements as your recipe for youth.

Um, so tell me a little bit about this approach and what inspired this and how this all works together. Because I, I feel like. I like this approach, and I’m pretty sure my husband will like this approach. Yes, yes. You know 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: what? So we are like, we, you have to remember, we have senses, right? Like touch is so powerful.

Like healing, right? Is it’s healing. So when you hold your baby, when you hold your dog, when you hold your husband, we release, um, oxytocin, right? Hugging and kissing and being affectionate, holding hands. You release oxytocin, which is a positive endorphin, which makes you feel loved, it makes you feel like happy and like, you know, when you.

Look at the sun and you have a dopamine hit. Or when you go for a walk and you have like energy, all these hormones, especially with orgasms, you release prolactin, you release oxytocin. These are all positive endorphins that make you feel good and loved and, and it’s like a hug, you know? And you sleep better.

That’s a natural sleeping aid if having orgasms before you go to bed. Yes. You know, really. And yes, 30 to 40% people sleep. So much better. Like just having that in itself with like, and if you take a magnesium that helps you sleep better. You know, taking a a chamomile tea helps you sleep better. So like, it’s amazing, like there’s so many natural things that are free and that are like safe to do that, you know, these are God-given things that God gave us, like hormones and like feelings.

And laughter is another way. Like when you laugh, you release serotonin, epinephrine, you know, all these. Good chemicals that make your brain feel good and that prevent disease that heal you. You know, laughter yoga in India is a real thing. They literally go to yoga class and just make each other laugh, and that makes them, yeah, that increases your immune system.

You know that, like Ruth, when you, um, wake up in the morning, you should have a better immune system. When you laugh like a really good belly laugh or when you just like smile, it’s contagious. And it increases your immune system. So all these like really nice things that you could do like every day, like it’s a powerful way of improving your immune system, sleeping better, feeling more loved, you know, and it, it’s, it doesn’t even require words.

Ruth Soukup: I love that. So how do people get more of that in their life? Right? Like I feel like we get, we’re in such a society where it’s go, go, go all the time. Yeah. It’s like high stress. There’s, you know, all, all the things, especially women in their forties and fifties, right? Yes. We are 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: like, 

Ruth Soukup: teenagers.

Do not give you 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: endorphins. Yeah, that’s true. You know, I have three kids and Yes, yes, yes. But you know what, like. You know what’s really, what’s really significant is you really have to prioritize your, we as women have to have like our maintenance time, like our love time for ourselves, you know, so whether you wanna read your book, whether you wanna journal, like you can do multiple things, but I would put aside an hour a day, whether it’s early in the morning while they’re still sleeping, you know, or in the evening, or whether they’re in their school.

But you really have to prioritize it. Like we can do anything if we just prioritize it. So like going for a walk, oh my gosh. In Nature Outdoors is a great, like me time, getting a massage, like writing, journaling, um, reading a book, just even like, whatever makes you feel good. Try to do something every day for yourself every single day.

Like, we matter. ’cause we raise families, we have, you know, careers. We have to stay healthy if we want to exude that to other people. 

Ruth Soukup: Yeah. Well, and it’s that a whole idea of putting on your own oxygen mask first, right? Yes, exactly. We don’t think we have time for that, but do you have time to get sick for and be down for the count for three days?

Right. This is actually saving you time when you’re taking care of yourself and taking care of your own wellbeing, because it’s keeping, it’s keeping your whole life Yes. Going and flowing and allowing you to pour, like, pour into everything else with more energy. I love, like, I love that. Rationalization.

’cause I think we need that rationalization, right? For it to say like, no, this isn’t selfish that I’m sitting here and reading a book for an hour. This is me. This is what is keeping me healthy and keeping me. Yes. 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: And it lowers your blood pressure. Yeah. It lowers your cortisol levels, improves your immune system.

And you know what, like another thing is like. It’s really important that we realize how we think up here. This is our terrain, this is our brain, okay? And whatever we think here reflects on our body, and it’s important that we start with positive thinking. Like even when things go really hard and things look so scary and unknown uncertainties, you have to think positive because that’s when it really matters.

That’s when faith matters. That’s when you know being optimistic matters, not when things are great. No, like it’s already great. Like you have to have that faith and optimism like when it’s challenging and it’s so important that you fill your brain with positive thoughts. ’cause it really happens. You attract it, you attract positive people, you attract what you think and you become it.

You know, and, and that’s free and that’s powerful. So, you know, I deal with a lot of people that have autoimmune diseases that might have cancers, that might have like negative things. And they’re like, gosh, doctor, like where am I supposed to start? Like, feeling good. Like, you know, what do you, what do you want me to do?

I feel so demoralized because a lot of people that I do see tend to be going through chronic disease or depression or something. And I tell them, I said, you know what, like. It’s so important that you imagine tomorrow’s a better day. If you think it’s gonna be crappy again and shitty and just like yucky again, it will be.

And so you are. You have to want it. You have to imagine it. You have to like think it, and you have to like, you really have to think it because if you don’t believe that, it can be better. It’s never gonna be. Yeah. So sometimes I have to sit them and hold their hands and, and have them do an imaginary board on their brain.

Like, you know, just imagine a just tomorrow, a better day. Like what one thing could be better that would make you smile, you know, maybe. And so you gotta start with baby steps. And baby steps matter. Like one thing better today than yesterday makes a difference. Yes. So that gratitude of life of like things could be so much worse.

Like if you know someone worse than you, then you should be grateful, you know that that’s not happening to you. Yeah. And so these, you just have to rational with people. ’cause sometimes people are so deep in pain. 

Ruth Soukup: They’re hurting so bad. That’s true. And I can 100% relate to that too. And, but there’s also a, like, if I even think back to my own journey with depression, uh, it, one of the things that like finally helped me get past it was this idea of fake it till you make it.

Like just yeah. 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: Do the things. And I 

Ruth Soukup: finally, that for me, I finally got to a point where I said. Called a new therapist and said, I have just spent the last two and a half years talking about every bad thing that’s ever happened to me. Right? We’ve delved into all the trauma, all the ways my parents did me wrong, all the, all the things.

And all it does is like at some point bring you down, right? Not that you don’t have to work through some stuff, I get it. Like that is, that is true, but there is a point where you can go so into wallow of. Yes, that you’re not looking forward towards the future. And so I said, I don’t wanna talk about any of that anymore.

Like I literally just need to know how to go to the grocery store without having a panic attack. Like, help me, help me live. ’cause I don’t know how to live anymore. And that’s what we would do. We would just talk about like. Practical focus, like, what can you do today that’s positive? And I think I really truly, when I look back on it, realize, I mean, one, I, I changed the way I was eating and was starting to eat a lot more healthy whole foods and, and yes, cut out sugar, cut out, yeah.

Cut out sugar. Mm-hmm. And, but at the same time, I was really focused on just like practical day to day. Making friends got a dog. Right. Like things little, like little things that were positive in my life. Yes. Instead of wallowing in all the negative. And I, and I do think that like really made such a difference and it, it’s everything that you’re talking about, right?

It’s, it’s not always one big thing. And I, and then I think back even just to a few years ago. When my oldest daughter was, you know, a teenager, she was 14, 15, she was going through a really just kind of nasty nor it was normal teenage stuff, but it was really hard to deal with and my husband and I were like at the end of our rope with her of just like.

What are we gonna do? How are we gonna deal with this? Like every day in, day out, like when you’re with a, a teenager that has a bad attitude, like it’s hard to not bring down the whole like, vibe of the, of the household. And we started going back to church right at that time, and I just remember. Being in church with him every week, just clinging to my husband and just like letting the spirit pour into us, right?

Like that was what we needed at that time to just like be, yes, you can make it through, we can make it through another week. We got this and we have each other. And we got, and that was like such a positive thing in the midst of this like time that felt very hard and very challenging and very, so there’s always, there’s always like a different.

A different way to add that in, and I, I love everything that you’re saying about. Just because we don’t think about this, especially in a world where it feels stressful and it feels hard and it feels like everybody’s at each other’s throats all the time. And just to bring in more light, more laughter, more just 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: yes, the simple things go back to the simple things that God gave us that we can all do.

And Ruth, I love that you’ve, you know, went back to church and prayed because that these things, um, people. Don’t people forget? We are empowered, we are dynamic beings that change. Our body wants to be better, even if we’re in a really bad place. One little step toward movement toward the future, toward being better, like repeated every day makes a big difference.

Yeah. And so you, you know, staying around positive people and if there’s not positive people, be by yourself. Be with the Lord, you know, love, be with nature, be with the birds, be with the butterflies. I mean, nothing great happens without sorrow and pain, you know? And that’s nature’s life. That’s nature’s story.

It’s not mine. It’s not ours. It’s it’s life. You know, like even so we have to like. We have to honor what the pain that people go through and the challenges, but you also have to move forward doing it. Like it’s gotta be baby steps every day that accumulate. And it’s, it’s, um, it’s a journey. Life is a journey.

Like it’s not supposed to be easy. It’s not supposed to be like fun all the time. And just the fact that you have a partner in your life, like you have a husband, you have someone that like loves you, that goes through it with us. Like it’s so helpful. Whether it’s your parent or your child. You know, someone you love, like your husband or wife, like it makes a big difference that we’re not alone because loneliness is another big, you know, cause of disease.

Yes. And we need to feel community and in, and God and people and pets and like it. We don’t wanna be alone all the time. You can be alone when you wanna think about things that’s healthy. You shouldn’t feel like lonely all the time. 

Ruth Soukup: You know what I mean? Right. 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Ruth Soukup: Right. And that’s, I mean, I talk about that too and, and I think, like in my program, so many women in our programs stay with it, not because necessarily they need the guidance for what to eat and what not to eat, right?

Like you start to can pick that up, but. The community of having people that are in the same boat that kind of get it and that are cheering you on and that are bringing that positive side of things. Like it’s so huge. Yes. You right. I think sometimes we get so isolated or we don’t have those kind of mindset focused people around us that you can, that.

Kind of you. You don’t even realize how much you’re being pulled down by the weight of the people around you and the attitudes of the people around you. But then you get around that and you’re like, okay, this is my people. This is my crowd. And it’s so cool that we live, you know, the internet can be a really awful negative place, but it can also be a place to find such positivity.

Yes. Community. Yes. Community in community. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah. So let’s talk a little bit more about hormones and how. How have the, your hormones played such a role in your energy and your mood and your wellbeing? And, and you know, that’s like most of people listening right now is of the women listening, right?

Yes. In that stage where our hormones are a mess. So what do you, I mean, what do you, 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: what do you recommend? You know, I’ll give like, some major tidbits. ’cause I am a big believer in, um, that’s what I specialize by identical hormones, natural uh, replacement of hormones from plants, you know, and. As we age, we naturally do lose hormones with dynamic shifts in our body.

Like with, um, menopause, you know, we tend to make less estrogen. So it’s, it’s estrogen is our driving force for women. It’s what defines us as women. So, and it’s an, it’s the strongest antioxidant in our blood system. So how do you. Supplement some of that naturally by activity is like one is good sleep, exercise, like I tell everyone, minimum of 10,000 steps just for like activity.

But you should do 12 to 14 if you wanna make more hormones. And just also, you know, menopause is more of a. Western philosophy than it is throughout the rest of the world, to be honest, because you have to keep yourself busy and keep your brain active. Journal read, write. I’m not talking about just getting on the internet, I’m talking about like actively learning something every day, whether it’s gardening or whether you wanna learn how to play golf or crocheting, right?

Like whatever it is, find joy in it and that increases your endorphins and hormone balancing. So hormones have. Not just to do with estrogen. Um, it has to do with thyroid. It has to do with cortisol. So that’s why I tell people, if you wanna optimize your hormones in every type of hormone, eat less sugar, eat less processed foods, okay?

Move more, sleep at least six to seven hours minimum. You know? And if you can’t do that, some people aren’t, don’t value sleep, then, then you know what? Move moving. It like really burns off sugar and bad chemicals in our toxins. You sweat it out and you replace it with good energy. And, um, our body has, um, autophogy, which means like it knows how to kill off bad cells and replace it with good cells.

And, um, that happens with movement. Good eating, like nutrient dense foods, vegetables, um, eating lots of good fats. Good fats are critical for brain health and making hormones. So I am a big pusher of like avocados and seeds and nuts and grassed butter and, and organic grass pasture raised eggs. So. Eating.

Um, and then like I said before, like your mental thinking is critical. Like you have to like really try your best every day to try to be better than you were yesterday. You know, just little baby steps. 

Ruth Soukup: I love that, and I don’t think that that really gets talked about either is, you know, the importance of mental clarity and mental health.

Not from a, like, I’m depressed, I’m not depressed standpoint, but from a, just engage your brain. You gotta engage your brain and, and be passionate about something. It doesn’t really matter what it is. But yes, don’t stop learning. Stop growing. You don’t stop becoming the next version of you, whoever that’s going to be.

I, I really love that. So tell me a little bit more about bioidentical bioidentical hormones and how you know when it’s time. Because that’s what I’m curious about right now. 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: I, I test, I do test urine, blood serum just to make sure, um, that my patients do need it. Um, that’s where like the science part is really big and I, and I customize it.

I give it appropriately, like what’s not needed, you know? But. What’s amazing is that bioidentical hormones do come from plants, or they are plant-based. They’re not big pharma. It’s not, uh, synthetic. It’s plant-based. So that means that when you eat it like a vegetable, it binds to your receptor and it activates hormones like the same estrogen that God gave you, and it usually comes from yams, wild yam.

Eating lentils, eating, um, organic soy, like at Mame is a great way of getting some of these hormone replacements, uh, naturally. But it, it really comes with exercise and weight management. Like you gotta cut down your stress, your cortisol levels, which means moving more. Um. You know, very active societies don’t have menopausal symptoms.

Like if you look at certain, some of these Italian cultures, Greek, Peru, um, yeah. Blue Zones zone. Yeah, the Blue Zones for sure. And even if you look at like, um, historically speaking. Menopause was not a term that was common because women stayed active. They did their own household. They, they gardened, they walked a lot more than they do in our society.

So all these ha healthy habits burn fat to make your own hormones. So that’s what we need to think about. Like instead of just supplementing it just. Replacing it, which is important. ’cause in our culture sometimes, you know, it’s hard to do everything. Mm-hmm. But I do prescribe like customized low levels and I try to tell people first try to take a vitamin, like vitamin D for sure, take supplements like, um, dim, which is a very good supplement that prevents high levels of estrogen in our body that come from plastics and chemicals that are, you know, dangerous in our society that we put in our body.

So. Bad foods, um, create bad fats. Good fats create good hormones, and we have to remember that. So we, we can really change that, you know. But when women have really bad hot flashes, night sweats, they lose their sex drive. Sometimes I give them a little hormones to kind of like teach their body again to do the right things.

Okay? And, but a lot of these things, um. Make a big difference in the sense that like, especially if someone has a surgical hysterectomy, it’s really hard to just produce your own hormones again ’cause you don’t have the, um, the capacity. But eating lots of vegetables and eating lots of lentils and eating like some of the um, blue zone food groups, they produce their own hormones.

So it’s pretty 

Ruth Soukup: exciting. Yeah. And good facts. That is very cool. So, I mean, it sounds like it’s really case by case basis, but you could manage pretty much for most people without, you know, other extenuating circumstances could manage a lot of this with just eating the right things. We talk about healthy fats and cutting out sugar and, and all of those things.

That’s right, right. In my wheelhouse. So I love, I love hearing that and I love knowing that. Um, but I’m still like, okay, how do we pull in more endorphins? So. Tell me a little bit like about how the science of, how all the endorphins work and, and why that’s so, so important for your 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: health. Well, the endorphins are made in the gut health.

The gut health is critical. Like when I always see my patients, the first thing we talk about is how they’re eating because it determines your gut health. And gut health means like the gut terrain, like are you eating like alkaline? Um, are you eating real whole foods? And one of the best way to neutralize.

Gut health is really exercise. Exercise a probiotic naturally. And I encourage people to cut out sugars and process foods because that fixes how you absorb the nutrients that you’re eating. And two, it corrects your immune system. ’cause immune system’s all made in the gut. And three, the most importantly, you release endorphins in the GI system.

So that way you release serotonin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine. It’s all released in the GI system and it binds in the brain. You see? Yes. So the most important thing really is your gut terrain. And if you have a great GI system, you have a great skin, you have great skin, you have great immune system, and your body can fight dementia.

’cause type three, you know, diabetes is dementia, is is Alzheimer’s. So it means it’s too much sugar. It’s not just rusting your organs, it’s rusting your brain. Yeah. So the first try to, first thing I work with my patients is really teaching ’em to cut out sugar and processed foods. And then really everything else, food, that all comes back to that.

Mm-hmm. Always. It’s 

Ruth Soukup: like the cure to almost everything. 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: Yes, it is. It is. ’cause it improves your, um, endorphin release, it improves your immune system and your hormone balance. 

Ruth Soukup: Wow. And it’s so, it’s so simple. It’s so like in theory, right? It’s so, so simple. That it, it al it comes back to that over and over and over again.

And yet for so many people, this is like, and I, and I know it’s, I mean, we could go, we could go deep down the rabbit hole of big food conspiracies and what they’re doing. Oh no, it’s true. I know society, but it’s like. On a practical level for so many, for so many women, it’s so hard to cut that piece out and to, or to even go, oh, nope, that’s too much.

That’s too extreme. Like, it’s not extreme to be taking all these medications and doing and ha and having all of these health issues. I don’t know. What do you say to that? 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: You know, I tell them if they don’t wanna change and be better that you know, I’m not gonna be able to help ’em. And I tell people, you know what?

You have to be accountable for how you eat. How you think it’s your body. I can’t make you do anything. And if you don’t wanna be better, think about why. You know, so it, a lot of it has to do with introspection and when, when we’re not, like when I’m not in front of my patient, when we’re not together, working together, what are they gonna do on their own?

That makes a difference because it’s 90% them and maybe 10% me, a lot of ’em think it’s me, but it’s not. It’s them. They’re doing all the hard work. They’re making the right decisions. They are doing all the effort. So all I can do is provide ’em education and teach them and guide them. But you know, it’s up to us to be accountable for our actions, how we think, how we eat, how we sleep.

So, you know, we have to be willing to take. So if you don’t wanna be better, then you have to accept what’s happening, because that’s the reality. Yes, it 

Ruth Soukup: is. And I love that. I love, I love the tough, the tough love. So what kind of transformations have you seen in, in your practice for patients who have like actually taken responsibility and implemented what you’re, what you’re saying?

Dr. Gowri Rocco: You know, uh, I’m so, I feel very blessed. I love my patients. They’re high retention, like, you know, I’ve treated them for decades, you know, and, um, I see them and their kids, and now some of ’em have grandkids. It’s, it’s amazing, like just to follow someone’s life and family growth and, um, so we know.

Transformation comes in multiple seasons. Like after COVID, we, we had to worry about immune system more, not just like, you know, cancer prevention or heart disease prevention. So if you teach someone the right tools, like how to eat right. How to improve their own immune system. They pretty much have it like, I call it cruise control.

Like I teach ’em like how to fix a major thing so they can do what they have to do at home. And they don’t always have to see me. I don’t really prescribe antibiotics that much at all. So they’re fixing their own immune system to be better, you know, and all I do is keep in check with them and make sure that they are taking the right supplements that are good for them or the right, you know, medications if they need ’em, like hormones.

But really like, I mean, I have patients that are well in their eighties, like 87, that just kind the, uh, you know, Mitri, pji in Peru. Like, they’re amazing. Like, I feel like my couples that age, or my patients that age, they age with vitality, with clear brain and healthy sound bodies. Like, they’re not like debilitated.

They’re not, they’re, they’re living life. They’re scuba diving. They’re diving, they’re playing golf, and that’s what it should be. You know, they’re, they’re active creatures in the world. I love that and I, I, I love it too. ’cause it inspires me. I’m like, yay. Like my people are like living life. They’re spending their money on, on living and not spending life and spending all their money on someone taking care of them.

Ruth Soukup: Yes. Yes. Oh, I, I. Resonates so deeply with that. And I would think about like when about, I don’t know, it was probably 15 years ago now. My husband’s mom came to live with us and we were her caregiver for a couple of years, right? And so, and at the time my children were small, like I had a baby and a 3-year-old.

And so it was this weird time, you know, where we were like caring for a 85-year-old woman and also babies at the same time. And I just remember like. All we did was take her to doctor’s appointments, one doctor after another doctor after another doctor and all, and our whole half of our day was medication management.

What pills she’s supposed to be taking at what time. Right. And it wasn’t until later that, you know, ’cause it was just in the, this. Crazy season of life that you don’t, you, you all you can do is react to it and not really be introspective at it. Right? You’re just, this is what we do right now. And, uh, and it wasn’t until later, until after she died that when I really had a chance to reflect on how sad.

That was right to her end of life. And how sad that was because she, she, she, you know, she’s on all these medications and her whole life was consumed with what pill am I supposed to be taking at what time? And that’s all she really thought about. And she was always just worried about it. And yet for what?

Because she died anyways and she didn’t die in, in. Like living li Well, exactly what you’re about. Yeah. Vitality, living life and vitality and living life to the fullest and having that And it and, and now, you know, it’s been so many years, my husband and I have had so many chances to think about that and to reflect on what we want in our older age.

And it’s not that it’s. It’s to like live as well as we can so that we can enjoy life, uh, for as long as we have it right. For as long as we are blessed to be on this earth, we are able to just do that with, with full vitality. And I really, I, I think about that all the time is just the medication management and the, and the fact that there.

Not a single one of her doctors was concerned with her quality of life. They were never asking like, what is the quality of life? Or even like, what other medications are you on? Well, you 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: know, in all fairness, I, I think that, that, that really has to be our decision as individuals. Yeah. They’re just trying to make her survive.

They’re just trying to give her that extra day the next day. Yes. But that’s our quality of life is determined by what our effort. Like what you do today determines 10 years from now. Yes. So I try to put it back on people because I own it. It’s my decision to eat that. It’s my decision to sacrifice, like, like sleep for, you know, doing this.

And I, I feel like, you know, we’re in a, it’s so important to empower people and say, Hey. If you wanna be better and you wanna get off these prescriptions, you wanna graduate taking these me medications, then you have to up your game. You have to eat better, you have to move more. And you may not, you could maybe only move 10 steps today, but maybe tomorrow it’s another 10 steps and it’s another 12 steps.

But you’re right. It’s very sad to see that and witness it. But it’s, 

Ruth Soukup: but I hope people are taking to heart what you’re saying right now, like really listening to it. And I will give this like word of warning because her pers her entire personality her entire life of, well, for as long as I knew her, but my husband said she was like, that is, she was a, a.

I will always defer to the experts person. So if my doctor says this, I will do this. She would never Yeah. Question one single thing. If a doctor said she needed this pill, then she needed that pill. Right? Like she would never question it. And that’s not what you’re saying. You’re saying take onus for your own health take.

Yeah. Responsibility for your own health. Find a, find a functional health doctor who will Yes. Who will, ’cause that’s mm-hmm. Work with you and give you answers. Exactly. But you are a capable person and there is no excuse, especially in this day and age, to not be doing your own research and looking at your own things and understanding what is out there and what options are out there, because that’s right.

At the end of the day, you’re the one who has to live 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: with the 

Ruth Soukup: Yes. 

Dr. Gowri Rocco: And you’re the one who’s gonna take that medicine. Like when, when you go to see a doctor for high blood pressure, our goal is to lower the blood pressure. Okay. There’s multiple ways. A lot of people, I’ll be honest with you, when I tell them, look, this is what we’re gonna, they’re like, oh my God, just gimme the pill.

Are you kidding me? That’s too much work. Mm-hmm. So you have to really understand like, is your, you know, do you wanna do it the right way or the long way? You know, like. Which is a long way. Or do you wanna do it just a quick fix? So it’s not up to doctors to say us, to make those decisions all the time. We get, we have to present options.

That’s why functional medicine is different because we present more options and we’re willing to work with you and teach you. But I think medicine’s after what’s happened in our country now, especially right now, we’re seeing dynamic changes happening. Like doctors want to go back to the roots, like, you know, even doctors are damaged.

Like nurses are damaged, like our society is damaged by food, by the toxins in our environment. And it’s really sad. Like we have to provide people different options, not just medicines, but that’s usually what insurance companies want you to do is give them a drug. So I don’t blame my colleagues. I really think that everyone has to be accountable for their own health, you know?

Yeah. And people have to ask like, is there another option for me? Like, what else can we do, doc? Like, because sometimes that’s what most people want is just a prescription. Yes. And you are not in the majority, Ruth, you are educated. You, you dive in, you read, you, you find out you’re an advocate for your health.

But not everybody does that. 

Ruth Soukup: No, they don’t. And that’s where I, hopefully a podcast like this where you’re Listen, yes. It opens up. Yep. It’s opening your eyes to know, like you can’t advocate for yourself. You can’t ask questions. There are alternatives, and you might not also be presented with those alternatives if you, and because, and you’re right, like it’s the, a lot of the doctors are product of the A system, a medical system that is bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical industries.

That’s how they trained. Mm-hmm. That’s what they know. And so they don’t even know to, to. Offer anything different unless they’ve gone out and done their own research and Yes. A little bit. Is that on them too? I would say so, but I think Yeah. Oh, for sure. For sure. And it’s a systemic problem, right? Yes.

There’s, there’s a systemic, and I, and I hope you’re right, right? Like we’ve seen some of the changes that have just been happening. I know, I hope that I’m very, very hopeful that the, the conversation in this country is changing. But man, this was a good conversation today and I feel like we keep going forever.

Yes. We are out of time, so, um. Just to follow up where I’m sure everybody who’s listening is gonna be like, do you see people online? Because I want you to be my doctor. So how, how can people follow up with you? Where can they find you online? What do, what options do you have? And tell us, tell us all the things.

Dr. Gowri Rocco: Um, you know what? I don’t really have that big online presence. I am you. I have, I have my book I wrote for everybody to read. ’cause I feel like if I can’t see everyone, at least I can teach them my pearls of knowledge. So it’s called Growing Younger and they can get that book if they wanna read. Start off with that.

’cause it’s a lot of valuable information. Um. And I wrote it myself. You know, I really wrote it in plain English, not just medical lingo. And then also, um, you know what, I do a lot of fun stuff. Like, um, I have a website. It’s drgowrirocco.com. And, and I’m, you know, I just. I try to do what I can do ’cause I have three kids and I work and I love it and I really try to keep myself balanced and self care.

So it’s, it’s not too, it’s just like a moms and pop shop. So I just do what I can do for my people and I love what I do.  

Ruth Soukup: I love that. Well if you wanna follow up and get Dr. Rocco’s book and find, see your website and all the things, we will make sure to link to all of those in the show notes.

And this was amazing. Thank you so much for being here today. Oh, my pleasure, my pleasure. Story and love what you’re doing, so keep it up. Thank you, Ruth. Thank you so much.