Dr. Jolene Brighten is one of the foremost practitioners of functional medicine to try to understand health holistically, recognizing the connection between mind and body, nutrition and emotion, wellness and community. On this episode of Health Theory with Tom Bilyeu, she shares her own intense stories of dealing with autoimmune issues, chronic illness, an abusive family, bullying, and the long-term effects of using hormonal birth control. While describing her journey to genuine health, Jolene Brighten also talks about the three keys to rapid healing, explains why she doesn’t focus on what not to eat, and gives plenty of concrete suggestions on how to improve your diet. SHOW NOTES: Jolene shares her battles with chronic illness and bullying [0:50] Jolene talks about growing up in an abusive and controlling household [5:25] We can choose to re-write our narratives [7:00] One tactic Jolene always uses is to carve out time to just think [10:41] Jolene talks about how her negative experiences contributed to her chronic illness [11:43] Jolene shares a story of when she publicly called herself on her own BS [14:21] Tom talks about the connection between mind and body, nutrition and emotions [18:25] Jolene strongly advocates that food is medicine, and that food is communication [20:13] Jolene explains the benefits of turmeric [22:27] Inflammation is not always bad--you need a little bit of it [23:25] “I don’t want to focus on what NOT to eat.” [24:27] Jolene is not a fan of products that have been dramatically genetically engineered [27:29] Jolene discusses the connection between soy and estrogen [30:00] Jolene describes good ways to get proteins and fats [31:50] Jolene talks about the difficulty of making recommendations when evidence is limited [34:09] Jolene explains the real effects of the birth control pill [36:00] A woman may find a different man attractive when she’s using birth control [39:55] Jolene advocates for a more balanced view of hormonal birth control [43:00] Unapologetically love yourself fiercely, set and hold your boundaries [47:35] FOLLOW JOLENE: WEBSITE: https://drbrighten.com INSTAGRAM: https://bit.ly/2RkdSpH FACEBOOK: https://bit.ly/2QTn3OB TWITTER: https://bit.ly/3a9yv0o