Inspired Living with Autoimmunity

Julie Howton

The podcast for high achievers who want to stay sharp, focused and full of energy despite their diagnoses. Those who know there has got to be something better than simply accepting decline.

Hosted by Julie Howton, a National Board Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach who used to suffer from crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis until she learned the tools and strategies to take her power back from autoimmunity.

In this podcast, Julie brings you interviews with thought leaders in the Functional Health and Wellness space. You will get actionable recommendations to Take Your Power Back and catapult your health. No fluff, just concrete, useful steps to improve your health!

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27 episodes
weekly
Avg 48 min
English

Episodes 27

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#264
Monday · 44 min
Why Your Fibromyalgia Pain Was Never In Your Head
For years women with fibromyalgia were told the pain was in their heads. Dr. Anna Esparham walks through what's actually happening in the body — nervous system and immune inflammation, interleukin-8, small fiber neuropathy — and the research that points t
#263
September 28 · 35 min
The Clutter Weighing You Down Isn't the Stuff in Your Closet
Heather Aardema woke up with wrist pain she blamed on her ski poles. It was rheumatoid arthritis, and her rheumatologist handed her brochures for drugs with brutal side effects and told her not to bother looking at food. She changed her diet anyway, and a
#262
September 21 · 47 min
The Energy Center Tied to Your Immune System
The root chakra is linked to the immune system and the adrenals — which makes it a strange thing to have never heard about if you're living with autoimmunity. Lisa Erickson, energy healer and author of Chakra Empowerment for Women, walks me through all se
#261
September 14 · 57 min
What Your Mitochondria Need Before You Start Exercising
ER doctor turned cellular medicine expert Dr. Siobhan Newman explains why your mitochondria need recovery before you add exercise, how the low-fat era damaged our cells, and what the "three nos" are that she starts every patient with. We also get into why
#260
September 7 · 56 min
Stop Treating Hair Loss Like a Scalp Problem
Johanna Dahlman treats hair loss the way autoimmune work actually works: the scalp is not the problem. We talk through the blind spots even functional practitioners miss, why minoxidil and other hair-loss fixes so often rebound, and what changes when you
#259
August 31 · 43 min
One Swap a Month Can Cut the Chemicals Making You Sick
Rheumatologist Dr. Aly Cohen breaks down the everyday chemicals making us sick — from what's really in your tap water (and bottled water) to the unregulated ingredients in household products. We talk about why US chemical regulation is decades behind, how
#258
August 24 · 37 min
Your Diagnosis Might Actually Be a Symptom
Dr. Casey Kelley was diagnosed with POTS in med school — then discovered the diagnosis itself was a symptom of adrenal burnout and chronic infections. In this conversation, we get into what POTS actually is, why infections and toxins are driving the rise
#257
August 17 · 59 min
3 Autoimmune Myths That Are Keeping You Sick
Dr. Cory Rice and I bust three autoimmune myths that keep people stuck — that autoimmune disease is rare, that there's one root cause, and that these conditions can't improve. We get into why women are disproportionately affected, why hormones matter at e
#256
August 10 · 52 min
The Cheap Lab Test Your Doctor Is Reading Wrong
Your CBC with differential is one of the cheapest, most common labs out there — and it may be hiding critical clues about chronic infections, immune stress, and autoimmune flares that your doctor is overlooking. Functional wellness practitioner Hali Laric
#255
August 3 · 49 min
Stop Turning Your Diagnosis Into a Life Sentence
Tiffany Kaloustian was handed a lupus diagnosis that felt like a life sentence. In this episode we unpack how she stopped becoming the label, embraced the messy dance of healing, and used mindset, nervous system work, and root-cause care to rebuild her he
#254
July 27 · 45 min
How Shifting Her Mindset Cleared 12 Years of Psoriasis in 5 Days
I'm talking with Dr. Anik St. Martin, a chiropractor and author of Skin on Fire: Healing Psoriasis Naturally, who spent over 12 years battling psoriasis before discovering the one piece she'd been missing — her mindset. After years of dialing in her nutrition, supplements, and gut healing, Anik's skin finally cleared completely after a self-directed 5-day intensive where she did nothing but walk, observe her thoughts, and flip every self-deprecating thought to its opposite. We get into the science behind why this works — from a 1940s Harvard placebo study to real-time synaptic rewiring — and why the fact that your skin turns over every 21 days is actually great news. We also cover: • The environmental triggers that worsened her psoriasis (vaccines in one sitting, formaldehyde, tattoo ink) • Why obsessing over a "perfect" healing protocol can be just as harmful as the condition itself • Her go-to supplements and GI repair formula for managing flares • The one morning practice she recommends everyone start today If you've tried everything and still aren't where you want to be, this episode is worth your time. For the complete show notes, links and transcripts, visit inspiredliving.show/254
#253
July 20 · 54 min
Why Your Body Refuses to Heal No Matter How Perfect Your Diet Is
If you've been eating well, doing all the right things, and still not feeling better — this one's for you. I sat down with Stephanie Nelson, a trauma-informed somatic coach and founder of The Stress Healers, to talk about something most health conversations completely miss: what happens in the body when stress and trauma don't get processed. Stephanie was diagnosed with arthritis, bursitis, and tendinitis in both hips at age 12. She spent years trying to heal through diet, yoga, and supplements — and while those helped, it wasn't until she discovered nervous system and somatic work that things actually shifted. In this conversation, we get into: • Why your nervous system — not your diet — is the master coordinator of your health • What fascia actually is and why it's your body's richest sensory organ • How perfectionism, procrastination, and anxiety are all adaptive survival strategies (not character flaws) • The three body languages we're born with — and how Western culture teaches us to ignore two of them • Why the goal of somatic work isn't to be calm — it's to have *choice* • A simple 10-second practice you can do today to signal safety to your nervous system Stephanie also shares how her forever-free "Resourced" membership is a great starting point if you want to actually try this work. Find her at thestresshealers.com or @thestresshealers on Instagram. For the complete show notes, links and transcripts, visit inspiredliving.show/253
#252
July 13 · 42 min
The Dangerous Lie Mainstream Medicine Tells About Lyme Disease
If you've been told your labs are fine but you still feel terrible, this episode is for you. Dr. Pamela Cipriano is an ILADS-trained nurse practitioner who spent ten years watching her own son deteriorate from undiagnosed Lyme disease — dismissed by doctor after doctor — before she finally figured out what was wrong and healed him herself. In this conversation, she breaks down why standard Lyme tests are practically designed to produce false negatives, what the HNK-1 natural killer cell count reveals that most labs miss, and how a co-infection called Bartonella is quietly being misdiagnosed as ALS. She also gets into the Lyme biofilm problem — why even IV antibiotics can't touch it — and the stevia + serrapeptase protocol that finally broke through for her son. Plus, her emerging research on ivermectin for Bartonella, and what she's seeing with seizures triggered by Herxheimer reactions. If you or someone you love has unresolved neurological symptoms, autoimmune markers that don't quite add up, or a history of tick exposure, this is a conversation worth your full attention. Find Dr. Cipriano at thepracticeofhealthandwellness.com For the complete show notes, links and transcripts, visit inspiredliving.show/252
#251
July 6 · 52 min
Your Simple 3-Step Skincare Routine for Women Battling Autoimmunity
I sat down with Natalie Novak, co-founder of Kindness Powered Skincare and certified oncology esthetician, who spent years battling debilitating symptoms — constant anxiety, RA-like joint pain, vision problems — while doctors told her nothing was wrong. The culprit turned out to be her breast implants, which were full of mold. After having them removed in 2018, her RA symptoms vanished almost immediately. Her eyesight returned the next day. But Natalie's story doesn't stop there. Long before her own health crisis, she'd already been on a mission to clean up the beauty industry — sparked by watching a skincare product literally eat through carpet and padding at a Nordstrom stockroom. In this episode, we talk about why what you put ON your body matters just as much as what you put IN it, how the FDA hasn't updated the Cosmetics Act since 1938, and why "it's sold in a store" doesn't mean it's safe. Natalie also walks us through a simple 3-step skincare ritual — cleansing oil, probiotic toner, and the right face cream — designed specifically to support women dealing with autoimmunity, hormonal shifts, and sensitive, compromised skin. Find Natalie and her products at kpsessentials.com For the complete show notes, links and transcripts, visit inspiredliving.show/251
#250
June 29 · 43 min
Why Your Doctor Told You IBS Is Just Stress (And Why That's Costing You Your Health)
I was diagnosed with IBS about 10 years before I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis — and I had no idea the two were connected. That's exactly why I wanted to have this conversation with Izabella Wentz, pharmacist and founder of Thyroid Pharmacist. Izabella was told her IBS was just stress during pharmacy school. She ignored it — until Hashimoto's showed up years later and forced her to dig deeper. What she found became the foundation of her work, and now her newest book: IBS: Finding and Treating the Root Cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. We talk about why IBS so often shows up years before an autoimmune diagnosis, the gut testing that actually finds answers (and why a colonoscopy alone won't cut it), which foods and additives are quietly making things worse, why SIBO keeps coming back if you're not addressing the real drivers, and how her husband went from a brand-new UC diagnosis to full remission in under eight weeks. If you've been told your gut issues are just stress, or you're managing an autoimmune condition and still struggling — this one is worth your time. For the complete show notes, links and transcripts, visit inspiredliving.show/250
#249
June 22 · 50 min
How a Missed Lyme Diagnosis Destroyed a Family (And What We're Doing to Stop It Happening to Yours)
My guest Nicole Bell is the CEO of Galaxy Diagnostics and author of What Lurks in the Woods. She came to this work after her husband's Lyme disease — along with co-infections Bartonella and Babesia — was misdiagnosed as early-onset Alzheimer's. He passed away in 2022. In this episode, we talk about why the standard Lyme test misses so many people (hint: it's 30-year-old technology that relies on antibody detection from a pathogen that actively suppresses your immune system), what co-infections like Bartonella and Babesia actually do to the brain and body, and how Galaxy Diagnostics is using urine-based antigen testing and digital PCR to find what older tests can't. We also get into the myths that keep people from getting the right diagnosis — including why only 14% of Lyme patients get the classic bullseye rash, why Lyme is present in all 50 states, and why finishing a round of doxycycline doesn't mean you're in the clear. If you or someone you love is dealing with unexplained mood changes, cognitive decline, chronic fatigue, anxiety, or joint pain — this conversation is worth your full attention. For the complete show notes, links and transcripts, visit inspiredliving.show/249
#248
June 15 · 1 hr
How Women With Autoimmunity Are Finally Seeing Symptom Relief Without Giving Up Every Food They Love
If you've heard of the Autoimmune Protocol but felt like it was too restrictive to even try — or you've done it and wondered if you were doing it right — this episode is worth your time. I sat down with Mickey Trescott, one of the key people behind AIP, to talk about her new book The New AIP. We get into the actual clinical research (IBD, Hashimoto's, and RA studies), what the results really showed, and the newly formalized Modified AIP pathway that makes the protocol far more accessible than most people realize. We also bust the biggest myth about AIP — that it's just a restrictive diet — and talk about what the protocol actually involves beyond food, how long you should stay in elimination, when to troubleshoot if it's not working, and what the long game looks like when you're living with a chronic condition. Mickey also shares her own recent health setback — a new psoriatic arthritis diagnosis 15 years into her journey — and what she actually did about it. Practical, research-backed, and refreshingly honest. For the complete show notes, links and transcripts, visit inspiredliving.show/248
#247
June 8 · 48 min
The Hidden Reason You're Exhausted, Anxious, and Not Getting Better
If you've been doing everything right and still feel exhausted, anxious, and like your body just won't cooperate — this episode is for you. I sat down with Dr. Scott Sherr, a board-certified internal medicine physician and COO of Troscriptions, to talk about the sympathetic spiral: a chronic fight-or-flight loop most people don't even know they're in. And here's what surprised me most — you don't have to feel stressed to be stuck in it. We get into why your cellular energy and your anxiety are locked in a loop, what mitochondrial dysfunction actually means for your daily life, and how a specific sequence of support can help you finally start feeling better. We also go deep on methylene blue — the history, how it works, the right dosing range, and the sourcing and safety details that most people skip (including who should absolutely not use it). Plus: why GABA deficiency is so common, how to calm your nervous system without sedating yourself, and why sleep is a full-day practice — not just a bedtime routine. For the complete show notes, links and transcripts, visit inspiredliving.show/247
#246
June 1 · 46 min
3 Tests Every Homeowner Should Run to Find Out If Their House Is Making Them Sick
Could your home be the reason you're not getting better? I sat down with Paul Kealey, founder of EcoBuilt, to talk about something most of us never think to question — the air inside our homes. Paul has spent nearly 25 years in construction, and what he shares might change how you see your living space entirely. We get into why new homes aren't automatically healthier (studies suggest over 25% have hidden mold inside the walls), how bedroom CO2 levels can hit 5x what's outside — quietly wrecking your sleep and your body's ability to detox overnight — and why "energy efficient" and "healthy" are not the same thing. Paul also walks through three tests any homeowner can run right now to find out if their home is working against them: a mold dust swab test, a CO2 and humidity monitor, and an energy audit. If you're dealing with an autoimmune condition, chronic fatigue, or symptoms that never quite have an explanation, this one is for you. For the complete show notes, links and transcripts, visit inspiredliving.show/246
#245
May 25 · 50 min
The Dangerous Bone Health Lie Most Women With Autoimmune Disease Have Been Told
If you have autoimmune disease, you've probably been told to keep an eye on your bone density number. But here's the thing — that number only predicts fractures in about 44% of women with osteoporosis. Most of what's actually driving your fracture risk isn't showing up on that scan. I brought Dr. John Neustadt back to talk about his newly expanded book, Fracture-Proof Your Bones, and this conversation goes well beyond what we covered last time. We get into how gut inflammation — the kind that comes with autoimmunity, leaky gut, Crohn's, or celiac — directly triggers bone loss through inflammatory cytokines that activate the cells that break down bone. We also talk about the medications most doctors aren't warning you about (SSRIs, prednisone, PPIs) and how they're silently destroying bone tissue. Plus: what your diet is actually doing to your skeleton, a simple 10-second balance test that predicts fracture risk better than a bone scan, the surprising link between oxytocin and your osteoblasts, and which routine labs to ask for that most people never get. People with autoimmune disease face a 200–400% increased fracture risk. That's the reality — but there's a lot you can do about it. Find Dr. John Neustadt at nbihealth.com For the complete show notes, links and transcripts, visit inspiredliving.show/245

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