VIDEO
HIGHLIGHT
Log InSign up
Herbal Medicine for Stress and Burnout | EP 118
SummaryTranscriptChat

Herbal Medicine for Stress and Burnout | EP 118

Introduction to NTI Pod Talk

Overview of the Podcast

  • The host, Diane Kaylor, introduces herself as the director of the Nutrition Therapy Institute (NTI) and welcomes listeners to the podcast.
  • The podcast aims to explore conversations in health, wellness, food, and farming that are significant for the community.

Guest Introduction: Megan Grover

Background of Megan Grover

  • Diane introduces Megan Grover as a top-rated instructor at NTI who teaches various courses.
  • They will discuss Megan's passion for herbology and herbal medicine.

Megan's Journey with Herbal Medicine

Initial Experiences

  • Megan shares her journey into herbal medicine starting in England with a workshop at Healey Farm where she learned through experiential tea ceremonies.
  • Participants would smell and taste different teas without knowing their ingredients, focusing on bodily sensations and responses.

Development of Interest

  • After moving back to Colorado, she became more interested in herbs due to their synergy with nutrition during personal challenges. She used ashwagandha and kava-kava for stress relief.
  • This led her to enroll in an herb school in Denver for deeper knowledge about herbs' effects on the body and contraindications with medications.

Focus on Stress Management

Connection Between Herbs and Stress

  • Diane highlights that herbs can help manage stress, which is a shared interest between her and Megan. They discuss adaptogens like ashwagandha used for stress management purposes.

Importance of Understanding Stress

  • Megan explains how personal experiences with family stress influenced her focus on understanding stress's impact on health, particularly its link to autoimmune diseases.

Mind-Body Connection

Scientific Basis

  • Discussion revolves around how chronic stress affects bodily functions leading to disease pathology due to prolonged activation of the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response).

Autoimmunity Insights

  • There’s a strong correlation between childhood trauma and adult-onset autoimmunity; many clients have experienced significant trauma before developing autoimmune conditions.

Challenges in Managing Stress

Overcommitment Issues

  • Diane discusses how overcommitted lifestyles prevent individuals from managing their stress effectively; people often lack time for self-care practices like yoga or cooking healthy meals.

Role of Adaptogens

  • Both agree that adaptogens can be beneficial since they require minimal lifestyle changes while helping individuals cope with overwhelming commitments without adding extra tasks into their lives.

Understanding Adaptogens

Definition & Functionality

  • Adaptogens are defined as plants that improve non-specific resistance to various stressors by helping organisms adapt or adjust to environmental changes; this promotes balanced responses rather than overactive or underactive reactions to stressors.

Examples of Adaptogens

  1. Ashwagandha - Grounding effect; helps those struggling with anxiety or sleep issues by inhibiting excess cortisol secretion.
  1. Rhodiola - Stimulating effect; beneficial for those feeling exhausted who need energy support.
  1. Shatavari - Supports female hormonal balance; considered "queen" among herbs in Ayurvedic medicine.

Corporate Wellness Initiative

New Ventures

  • Megan shares plans about starting a corporate wellness company aimed at addressing burnout among employees in high-stress careers such as law firms or finance sectors by providing education on nutrition and wellness strategies tailored towards managing workplace-related stresses effectively.

Goals & Approach

  1. Monthly educational sessions (lunch-and-learns).
  1. Weekly nutrition content via emails.
  1. One-on-one consultations available for employees seeking personalized guidance.

This structure provides an organized overview of key discussions from the transcript while allowing easy navigation through timestamps linked directly back to specific moments within the conversation.

The Importance of Employee Wellness in High-Stress Environments

Empowering Employees Through Education

  • The speaker emphasizes the joy of educating employees about health, enabling them to manage stress, improve sleep, and enhance productivity.
  • There is a recognition that high-stress jobs are prevalent not only in New York City but globally, highlighting the broad appeal of wellness services.

The Financial Impact of Stress on Healthcare Costs

  • A significant portion of healthcare insurance is provided by employers; increased employee health issues lead to higher costs for companies.
  • Chronic stress among employees results in frequent doctor visits, creating a vicious cycle that escalates healthcare expenses and undermines employee wellness.

Stress and Its Physical Manifestations

  • Students often cope with academic stress through unhealthy eating habits (e.g., sugar consumption), which can weaken their immune systems.
  • The speaker notes that many individuals are unaware of how stress affects their overall health and bodily functions.

Understanding Stress Awareness and Management

Lack of Awareness About Stress Levels

  • Many people do not recognize their own stress levels; they may be surprised when presented with measurable data indicating chronic stress.
  • Wearable technology like aura rings or Whoop bands provides insights into personal health metrics, helping individuals understand their stress responses.

Case Study: Realizing Chronic Stress

  • A client discovered her low cortisol levels indicated chronic stress despite high physical activity; adjustments were made to her exercise routine.
  • This realization led to exploring relaxation techniques such as yoga nidra and meditation to help regulate her body's response to daily stresses.

Societal Norms Surrounding Stress

Normalization of High-Stress Lifestyles

  • In fast-paced environments, especially urban settings, living with constant stress has become normalized; this is particularly evident among women who often prioritize others' needs over their own.
  • There’s a cultural joke about anti-anxiety medication reflecting how common it is for people to feel stressed regularly.

Challenging Unsustainable Mindsets

  • The speaker reflects on college experiences where students bragged about lack of sleep as a badge of honor, leading to unsustainable lifestyles that ultimately result in burnout.

Setting Boundaries for Personal Well-being

Importance of Self-Care

  • It’s crucial for individuals to establish boundaries regarding personal needs without feeling guilty about prioritizing themselves over others.
  • A case study illustrates how one individual learned she could prioritize her dietary preferences at home rather than accommodating every guest's needs.

Recognizing Individual Needs

  • Women often struggle with prioritizing their own needs due to societal expectations; recognizing the importance of self-care can prevent resentment and anxiety over time.

Connecting with Wellness Resources

How to Reach Out

  • Megan Grover shares her contact information: website (meganbgrover.com), email (info@meganbgrover.com), and Instagram handle (@mebrover).

This structured summary captures key discussions from the transcript while providing timestamps for easy reference.

Video description

In this episode of the NTI PodTalk, Dianne chats with NTI instructor, Megan Grover. They discuss chronic stress, burnout, and the role herbal medicine can play in supporting resilience and recovery. Megan explains the science behind adaptogens, like ashwagandha, and discusses how chronic stress impacts the nervous system, immune health, sleep, hormones, and digestion. They also discuss the realities of modern burnout culture, and practical strategies for supporting emotional regulation and nervous system balance.  In today’s fast-paced, high stress world, the information in this episode is so relevant and beneficial for anyone. Tune in to learn how to build resilience with herbs and reduce your stress.  About Megan Grover: Megan Grover is a nutrition scientist and educator, based in New York City. With a Master of Medical Science in Human Nutrition from the University of Sheffield and over a decade of experience bridging science, education, and public health, Megan has built her career on translating complex nutritional science into actionable strategies. As the former Director of Education and Research at a growing wellness company, Megan led clinical research initiatives, served as the Principal Investigator on IRB-approved studies, and supported product development. She also created and oversaw the nutrition continuing education department for integrative nutrition coaches and dietitians, and managed all science-facing content across the organization. Megan teaches multiple nutrition science classes at NTI and previously served as a full-time professor of human anatomy, physiology, and nutrition at the university level. She started MBG Wellness to address a critical gap she observed throughout her career: driven executives and professionals were experiencing burnout despite outward success. Through corporate wellness programming, Megan delivers the nutrition education, strategic support, and science-backed interventions that enable teams to sustain performance without sacrificing wellbeing. Connect with Megan: MBG Wellness: https://www.meganbgrover.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meganbgrover/ Substack: https://megangrover.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mbg-wellness/ **Timestamps for the topics discussed can be found on this episode's NTI PodTalk page: https://ntischool.com/herbal-medicine-for-stress-and-burnout/ Are you ready to start your journey as a Nutrition Therapist Master? To learn more about NTI's Nutrition Therapist Master Certification, visit ntischool.com for more information, or call 303-284-8361 to speak with our admissions team. This discussion is not intended to provide Medical Nutrition Therapy, nor in any way imply that Nutrition Therapists who graduate from NTI are qualified to provide Medical Nutrition Therapy. The scope of practice for graduates of NTI is to deliver therapeutic nutrition guidance to our clients which helps support their natural biology to achieve optimal function in whatever wellness path they are on.