TBTCE: Carol Alt Believes in a Healthy YOU

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RadioMD Presents: Naturally Savvy | Original Air Date: March 11, 2015
Hosts: Andrea Donsky, RHN & Lisa Davis
Guest: Carol Alt

Whether you are new to the living healthy lifestyle or a healthy living veteran, this is the place for the honest answers to your questions. Naturally Savvy with registered holistic nutritionist, Andrea Donsky and health journalist, Lisa Davis, on RadioMD.com

LISA: Here on Naturally Savvy, we are huge fans of Carol Alt and we are so glad that she joins us twice a month on the show. Well, she is back today to talk about her new book, A Healthy You.

Hi, Carol. So glad to have you back.

CAROL: Hi. Yes. Thank you for having me back.

LISA: Alright, Carol. Tell us all about A Healthy You.

CAROL: You know, first, if you don't mind, I just wanted to interject a little bit because I know both of you girls wrote books and, Lisa, I had you on the show about your book, which was a very interesting segment. But, Andrea just sent me a book called Unjunk Your Junk Food. I have to tell you this is like a very cute little book, but I wanted to just say to your listeners is, what's great about this book is it's kind of a bridge to raw because what Andrea's trying to do is teach people how, if you're going to eat junk food, to find the least junky junk food, if that's possible. You know what I'm saying?

ANDREA: Yes. Exactly.

CAROL: And what I try to do when I teach people to go raw is, I try to give them the junky food to transition from first and then to take the next step, so that you're doing things in steps and it's not overwhelming. So, you know, this is a nice little adjunct to what I do because if you can, from here, once you start being aware of what's in your food, you can become more and more aware and then possibly, add more and more raw as you go along. So, it's a cute little book, Andrea. Thank you for sending it to me.

ANDREA: Well, thanks, Carol. I appreciate that. Well, I'm very excited about your new book. Tell us a little bit about what inspired you to write it.

CAROL: Well, I think what happened was, is there were a lot of people asking questions for the "Ask Carol" segment of the show and then there were people who would write in after the show was over and say, "Oh, this was a great segment, but I didn't catch the lower third on the bottom of the TV with this person's website, so could you send it to me or how do I get it?" And, even though we were doing a lot of stuff on CarolAlt.com, I was re-running segments and doing recaps of the show and trying to give the information and everything. I just realized that sometimes people miss it, because they're listening to the show, but they might not be watching, which is cool, too, because as long as you get the information, I don't care how you get it.

ANDREA: Right.

CAROL: So, I was talking with the people up at Fox and I was like, "You know, the best way to get all of the best of the best information on my show to people is to put it down. Write it somewhere." And they went, why don't we just put this in a book?

ANDREA: I love that.

CAROL: I was like, "You know what? That's a really good idea because in a book, what I get to talk about, "Now, this isn't every exercise out there, it's the best of the exercises we had on the show for my watchers, you know? It's the best of the best nutritional information." That goes across the board because, you know, I'm heavy into nutrition because without good nutrition, everything else is just not worthwhile, really. If you don't feel good, you can't work out. If you don't feel good, you don't look good in those new jeans you bought. If you don't feel good, you're not nice to the people around you. So, if you don't feel good, you're not going to age well, either. So, for me, nutrition is the lynchpin which is where we start in the book. So, the best of the best doctors who came on the show and this is also things that I have been doing for 17 years and, you know, I like to hold myself out as an example, not because, "Oh, you know, I'm so proud of what I did." No. It's because I've had such health issues and I have come back from the brink several times and I just want to teach people that if I can do it, you can do it. If I can make my health better, you can make your health better. These are the things that I did and here's a doctor who backs up what I did because, you know, I'm just a model. I get it. But there are certain things that just really, really work. You go out there in the marketplace and you have all these people marketing all this garbage to you. Things that don't work; they didn't try; they wouldn't even put their face on the product because they're like 90 years old and they look terrible. They put some 20-year-olds on there to sell you wrinkle cream. So, this is just…Sorry. But it's true. I mean, you know, I was that 20-year-old and I was like in a studio with 50-60 year old people who were pushing a wrinkle cream and I'm like, "Man, do you use this because, you know, I don't want to be 60 and look like you."

ANDREA: Seriously.

CAROL: So, you know, I see them selling with these 20-year-olds. You know, a 20-year-old doesn't need wrinkle cream, but you want to look like that 20-year-old, so you buy that wrinkle cream. I'm going, "You know what? It starts from the inside." So, it's nutrition. The best of the best nutrition. It's fitness. It's anti-aging. We do some great home remedies so you don't have to spend a fortune because beauty shouldn't be just for the rich. You know, stuff like that. Of course, I put a lot of anecdotes and things that I've learned over the course of the years to help guide you through this. It's a labyrinth of garbage out there. When someone is sitting there and saying, "Listen, this is tried and true. I did this. I'm 54 years old. I did this. It helped me. I would be dead right now if I didn't do some of these things."

ANDREA: Wow.

CAROL: A lot of people, unfortunately, they wait until something happens instead of saying, "Hey, this is so easy to do every day." It's just so easy to do, girls. It really is.

LISA: Yes, it makes a huge difference and exactly, if you have somebody who's done it and it's worked for them and we look at you and you're such a perfect model, no pun intended, of perfect health. But, I have to say something about those wrinkle creams. When I was a kid, and this is true, I would watch those commercials and I would think, "Those girls are so young. What? Like, this is totally false advertising. They don't have any wrinkles." So, I was on the ball. I'm just telling you.

CAROL: Right. And, as you get old, you go, "Geeze. I'd really like to look like that. Let me try that cream." You forget that little voice in your head when you were a kid looking at television going, "Hmmm. That's silly. Why does she need wrinkle cream?"

ANDREA: Yes. You know, it's very true. Listening to this and then laughing because, you know, as we age, most of us, I mean, I only started to care about wrinkles, as I started to get older, like you're saying, Carol, and I think the key is like you're saying, it's not so much on the outside, it's from the inside and we really have to nourish ourselves to make it inside out. Having the experience that you've had and interviewing the people that you've interviewed, you've really got the best of the best information so I think it's amazing that you've compiled it.

CAROL: Yes, it's a resource book. We compiled it and took the best of the things; the things that I know work and I compiled and I think that I know that everybody can do. You know, but you just said something that was really quite interested, however. You said to me, I didn't really care about wrinkles. But, you know, that's the problem. You know, that statement I always think of as the older I get that, "Youth is wasted on the young." I didn't think about wrinkles when I was a kid. I didn't think about getting sick or having health issues. In fact, when I turned raw, it wasn't about health issues at that moment. It was minor health issues. It was heartburn, etc., I just thought if I could feel a little better, great, but it really was about vanity when I first did this.

ANDREA: Right.

CAROL: I'm the first to admit it. It was, "I'm starting to look old." If I had done this when I was 20 or 30, I would have saved myself so many issues: the fear, the waste of time going to doctors and all this stuff that just interferes with your life and the lack of joy because you're not feeling good and maybe they don't even know what's wrong with you. The truth of the matter is, I don't ever wish that on my worst enemy. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy because it's a horrible way to live. So, I do these things exactly because of what you said. Not because of, "Oh, you're going to get old and wrinkly." But, because you forget or you don't want to face the fact that you're going to get old and wrinkly. This is like, do this every day and keep yourself from getting into that moment where you go like, "Oh, shoot. I need to do something." But now, you've got to dig yourself out of a hole.

LISA: Yes. And then you've got to do something bigger. Cosmetic procedures or surgery. It is. So, if you can start young and, even you can't, any age you can make a difference is huge.

Carol, this is so fantastic. Tell us where we can pre-order your wonderful book, A Heathy You.

CAROL: For sure on Amazon.com. Those guys are amazing over there. Amazon.com has our book pre-ordered. Or, you could go to your bookstore and ask them to bring it in. I even say, "You know what, go to your library and ask them to bring it in." Then, you could borrow it. You know?

LISA: Oh, that's a great idea.

ANDREA: That's a great idea.

CAROL: For me, these things aren't about raising money. This stuff is about me getting this information out there. You guys do such a good job in helping me do that. Thank you so much, always, for having me on your show.

LISA: Oh, Carol, it is our pleasure. I want to thank everyone for listening. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @YourRadioMD and @Naturally Savvy.

Have a great day and stay well.